EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Every search firm promises access. Ask what they test.
Qualigence runs retained executive search on selection science - a definition of winning written before the search opens, and evidence gathered against it.
THE RECOGNITION
You’re not short on firms willing to take the retainer. You’re short on a way to know the finalist will still be performing in two years. Chemistry reads well in a boardroom. It doesn’t run one.
An executive search isn’t a slate. It’s a decision your board lives with for years.
THE AUTHORITY
Qualigence has been running selection-science-based search since 1999. The model was not built around network access - it was built around the decision. Every engagement begins with a definition of winning and ends with a hire measured against it.
Research heritage since 1999 · 60%+ of the Fortune 500 have used Qualigence · 85% retention on placed candidates over 24 months
Use the shortlist meeting to compare substance
Critical leadership searches where a defensible decision matters more than resume volume.
Market mapping, structured evaluation, and a written finalist record.
What evidence will the final recommendation contain?
Buyer comparison guide. Engagement scope and terms are confirmed before search launch.
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. GuideSelection™ is the 6-Step Performance Engine™ applied to recruiting. It defines winning, tests identity and behavior against it, and protects 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.
Every retained search carries a written replacement guarantee - and if the honest answer is that you don't need us, that's the answer you'll get.
THE PRACTICE
We run retained search for CEOs, presidents, and functional executives across industries. Each practice is led by a leader who has held the seat - they know what the role actually demands when the pressure hits.
Every finalist comes with a written evidence file: the outcome at stake, the capability validated, the evidence gathered, the remaining risk, and our recommendation. Your hiring committee receives decision clarity, not resume volume.
The 30/60/90-day integration is built into every engagement. The definition of winning set at intake becomes the measurement standard post-hire.
Cross-link: The science underneath it all - why interviews miss, and what evidence predicts instead.
See the full practice at Executive Search →
QUESTIONS
What makes a search firm built on selection science different from a traditional retained firm?
Traditional retained firms compete on access - their networks, their databases, their reach into a candidate pool. Qualigence competes on evidence. Before a search opens, we define what winning looks like in outcome terms. Every finalist is evaluated against that definition - not against chemistry, not against how the interview room felt. The result is a decision backed by evidence, not a defensible slate backed by hours billed.
Why does chemistry fail as the primary screen for executives?
Chemistry measures how a candidate performs in a low-stakes room with people who want them to succeed. It does not measure how they perform when a strategy breaks, when a team resists, when a board asks hard questions, or when a market turns. Behavior under pressure is the only predictor that matters at the executive level - and chemistry never gets near it.
What is in the written evidence file behind every finalist?
Each finalist file includes: the outcome at stake in the role, the capability we validated, the specific evidence gathered, the remaining risk, the recommended interview focus for your team, and our recommendation. You receive decision clarity, not a resume summary. The file is built against the definition of winning set at intake - so it answers the only question that matters: will this person produce what the role requires?
Do you work across industries?
Yes. Qualigence operates across nine industry practices - executive search, manufacturing, banking and financial services, healthcare, life sciences, private equity, technology, health insurance, and commercial construction - each led by a Practice Leader who runs that vertical. The selection engine is industry-agnostic. If your vertical is not listed, the discipline still installs.
Ask for the work product.
Before choosing a firm, ask to see how it defines the mandate, maps the market, evaluates evidence, and records the finalist recommendation. The deliverable should make the decision easier to review, not simply make the candidate list longer.
Pick on chemistry and the board pays for it in quarters, not weeks - the exec you manage around, the strategy that waits. Or pick on evidence.
Your next executive decides more than the role.
34 questions. About fifteen minutes. A scored read of where your hiring breaks.
