In another sign that the economy is perking up, Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY), a leading headhunter firm, showed remarkable growth for the third quarter. Yesterday, the company reported that fee revenues were $108.5 million, which was a 42% increase from the same period a year ago. During the period, earnings per share increased from $0.15 cents a share to $0.21 cents a share. The stock price of Korn/Ferry spiked 5%, up $0.90 to $20.15.

Such growth is usually the result of mergers and acquisitions. But this was not the case here. Instead, the company is experiencing growth in all regions and segments of its business. In fact, both the number of assignments and average fees have increased.

In other words, Corporate America is going beyond replacement hires and moving towards additive hires.

Over the years, Korn/Ferry has built a comprehensive platform, with 70 offices in 35 countries. Services include not only executive recruitment but also strategic assessment, executive coaching, and even corporate governance consulting.

Korn/Kerry has $122.3 million in the bank, which was up from $108.1 million in April. The company intends to use its cash to expand from its executive recruitment emphasis.

What's more, strong equity markets will certainly benefit Korn/Ferry. After all, the firm might charge part of its fee in options or warrants to one of its prospective clients. This is what Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (NASDAQ:HSII) did when it performed recruiting services for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2001. How much did this amount to? Oh, somewhere around $128.8 million. Not bad for one gig.

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Fool contributor Tom Taulli does not own shares mentioned in this article.