RETAINED SEARCH
A retainer buys commitment. It should buy evidence.
What a retainer funds at Qualigence: research, market mapping, and a screen built on the behaviors the role actually demands.
THE RECOGNITION
You’ve paid retainers that bought a long list and a longer wait. The updates were polished. The evidence never showed up. This time, ask what the retainer is actually funding.
THE AUTHORITY
Qualigence began as a research firm. The retained model we run is still research-first - market map before intake closes, availability read before the first outreach, behavioral evidence before a name reaches your desk. The retainer funds the work that makes the decision hold.
Research heritage since 1999 · 60%+ of the Fortune 500 have used Qualigence · 85% retention on placed candidates over 24 months
THE SCIENCE
Why selection - the science under every service.
Most firms compete on access - who they know. We compete on evidence - what a candidate has actually done under pressure, tested against a definition of winning your team wrote down before the search opened. That is the 6-Step Performance Engine™: define winning, test identity and behavior against it, protect the standard through feedback and the decision.
It’s why 85% of our placed candidates are still performing at 24 months, and why 60%+ of the Fortune 500 have used Qualigence since 1999.
THE PLAN
Tell us the role, the market, and what a successful hire looks like in the seat.
We run it through the engine - intake, screen, evidence file, standard that holds.
You get a hire that holds - still producing at 24 months, because the decision was built, not guessed.
WHAT THE RETAINER FUNDS
Market map
Where the talent lives, what they cost, whether the market is accessible - before you spend a dollar on outreach.
Availability read
A structured assessment of candidate movability in the target market, tied to timing and compensation reality.
Behavioral screens
Every candidate evaluated against the definition of winning - not a resume review, not an impressions check.
Finalist write-ups
Each finalist arrives with a decision document - evidence, risk, recommendation - not a resume stack.
References against the standard
References are run against the definition of winning, not against generic competencies.
QUESTIONS
What does the retainer actually fund at Qualigence?
The retainer funds the work before the work: a market map that shows where the talent lives, an availability read that tells you whether the market is accessible, behavioral screens built from your definition of winning, finalist write-ups that contain evidence rather than impressions, and references run against the same standard. The retainer does not fund a long list and a longer wait.
What is a market map?
A market map is a structured assessment of the talent available for a specific role in a specific market - who exists, where they work, what they cost, and whether they are movable. It is the first thing we produce, and it shapes every decision that follows. You do not open the search until you know the map.
How are finalist write-ups different from candidate summaries?
A candidate summary describes what a person has done. A finalist write-up answers a specific question: will this candidate produce what the role requires? It contains the outcome at stake, the capability validated, the evidence gathered, the remaining risk, and our recommendation. It is a decision document, not a background summary.
How long does a retained search take?
Timeline depends on market availability, role complexity, and how tightly the definition of winning is written at intake. We scope each engagement before we take the retainer. We do not accept engagements we cannot complete with integrity on the timeline the business requires.
Another retainer without evidence buys you the same year back - polished updates, a long list, a restart. Or fund the screen that ends it.
