AI can produce a convincing application in seconds. [solved] looks past the application to what each candidate has built, led, improved and delivered.
Every recommendation shows what the evidence supports, how it relates to your role and what your team still needs to test.
Tell us about the role. Within one business day, we confirm whether we are the right firm to lead the search.
Bring the job description you have, or the role in your head. We define the role with you.
One complete search, from role definition to signed hire.
A senior talent partner leads every search and remains accountable for calibration, market direction, assessment quality, candidate communication, and your experience with [solved].
[solved] Runtime is the system connecting research, outreach, assessment, identity verification, and your Hiring Workspace. You can see where the search stands, review the evidence supporting each recommendation, and make every decision using a shared record.
Every search includes
01
Role definition and calibration
In one working session, we document what the hire must deliver and how candidates will prove it. That becomes your Signal Spec. Before anyone is contacted, you review a few representative profiles to confirm the direction. Your search starts targeting the right people, and every later decision has a clear reference point.
Define
Agree on the decision before approaching the market.
In one working session, you and one of our senior talent partners define what the hire must achieve in their first year, which trade-offs fit and what should stop the process. If the market sees the scope, level or compensation differently, you hear it here, before outreach begins.
We turn that session into your Signal Spec, the written foundation for the search. It covers:
- Performance outcomes at 3, 6 and 12 months
- Candidate criteria
- Accepted trade-offs
- Evidence requirements
- Market direction
- Assessment design
- Interview stages
- Decision scorecards
- Candidate proposition
- Working cadence
You then review a calibration slate: 3 to 5 representative profiles, selected before anyone is contacted, to confirm the search is aimed at the right market. The calibration slate confirms direction. The shortlist holds the people ready to meet you.
Reach
Map the market and engage the right people.
Many of the strongest candidates are focused on their current work. We map where they are, including adjacent backgrounds a title search would pass over, and write to each one personally.
Before investing any time, candidates receive the mandate, compensation, expected outcomes, working environment and interview plan. The people who say yes want this role.
You decide when your company enters the conversation: from the first message, or once there is mutual interest. One senior talent partner is your point of contact from the first conversation to your hire.
Prove
Establish what each candidate can support with evidence.
We examine what the candidate personally owned, what changed because of their work, the resources and authority behind the result, and whether that experience transfers to your environment.
We also assess how candidates use AI: they explain the judgment, decisions and personal contribution behind the output. A polished résumé, take-home, or interview answer is only a starting point for evidence.
Every candidate completes the full assessment and identity verification before reaching your shortlist. Your shortlist holds 3 to 5 candidates who:
- Meet the approved minimum criteria
- Fall within the agreed trade-offs and stretch parameters
- Align with the approved compensation
- Understand the mandate and the process
- Have confirmed interest in the role and in meeting your team
Each arrives with a Candidate Evidence Brief: why they are recommended, what the evidence shows and what your team should still examine.
Hire
Give every interviewer a purpose and keep the decision moving.
Each interviewer knows what they are responsible for testing and what credible evidence sounds like. Findings carry forward, so every stage builds on the last.
We coordinate candidate communication, interviews, feedback and open questions through the signed employment agreement. Your time goes to the decisions only you can make.
After signature, we:
- Support any counteroffer conversation
- Stay in contact through the start date
- Check in at 30, 60 and 90 days
- Hold a one-year conversation
- Lead a replacement search within your coverage period
Know who is entering the process.
Remote hiring and AI-assisted applications have made identity harder to establish. Before reaching your shortlist, every candidate completes document validation, facial matching and liveness detection, confirming they match a valid government-issued identity document.
Every candidate is told about verification before it begins.
See the search. We run it.
[solved] keeps the pipeline, candidate evidence, interview debriefs, communication and open decisions current in your private Hiring Workspace. Your team steps in when judgment or approval is needed; we manage the administration, candidate follow-through and day-to-day progress.
In your Hiring Workspace, you can:
- Follow search progress
- Review Candidate Evidence Briefs
- See identity-verification status
- Follow interviews and read debriefs
- Leave feedback
- Track open questions
- See communication and the next decisions
With their consent, other strong candidates from the search stay visible for your future roles.
Working with your existing tools
Where your systems offer an API or webhook, we connect the workflow. Where they do not, we agree on an operating model that keeps one version of the work and full visibility for your team.
[solved] keeps the pipeline, candidate evidence, interview debriefs, communication and open decisions current in your private Hiring Workspace. Your team steps in when judgment or approval is needed; we manage the administration, candidate follow-through and day-to-day progress.
With their consent, other strong candidates from the search stay visible for your future roles.
Working with your existing tools
Where your systems offer an API or webhook, we connect the workflow. Where they do not, we agree on an operating model that keeps one version of the work and full visibility for your team.
In your Hiring Workspace, you can:
- Follow search progress
- Review Candidate Evidence Briefs
- See identity-verification status
- Follow interviews and read debriefs
- Leave feedback
- Track open questions
- See communication and the next decisions
Every candidate knows what they are considering and where they stand.
Before entering the process, candidates receive the mandate, compensation range, expected outcomes, working environment and complete interview plan. They use a private Candidate Workspace to follow progress, manage interviews and documents, and message [solved] directly.
We keep candidates informed through every stage and close the loop when a process ends. Credible candidates stay engaged, and your reputation in the market is protected.
Built for consequential hires at every stage.
The hiring context changes as a company grows. The need for a clear decision stays constant.
A fixed fee, agreed before the search begins.
The fee reflects the scope and complexity of the search, rather than a percentage of the hire's compensation. Each engagement has two parts: a retainer to begin, and the balance when the selected candidate signs the employment agreement.
Specialist Search
$10,000
Retainer: $2,500
Balance at signature: $7,500
For individual contributors and people managers within a defined functional market.
Leadership Search
$20,000
Retainer: $5,000
Balance at signature: $15,000
For executives, heads of function, and searches that need broader market mapping, multi-stakeholder alignment, leadership assessment or heightened confidentiality.
We confirm the search type before your engagement begins, based on the role's scope and complexity. Every search follows the same methodology; Leadership Search adds deeper stakeholder alignment, broader market calibration and leadership assessment.
Standard or Exclusive
Every search includes the full methodology, identity verification, the Hiring Workspace, the shortlist guarantee and post-hire support.
Standard Search
[solved] leads the search within the agreed scope, and you remain free to engage other external search firms. Your referrals, applicants and internal candidates can enter the same evaluation.
- Fee: the standard rate
- 90-day replacement coverage
- Full shortlist guarantee
Exclusive Search
Exclusive Search makes [solved] your sole external search firm for 20 business days, starting when you approve the Signal Spec and outreach is ready. Your referrals, applicants and internal candidates remain welcome.
- One coordinated approach to the candidate market
- A preferred rate
- 180-day replacement coverage
- Full shortlist guarantee
Preferred rates
One preferred structure: 10%. Two or more together, or six or more roles: 15%.
One role
One preferred structure: Direct Start, Exclusive Search, a portfolio partnership or 2 to 5 roles
Two or more preferred structures, or 6+ roles
Each role carries one preferred rate. The retainer stays the same at every rate.
Preferred structures are Direct Start, Exclusive Search, multi-role engagements and portfolio partnerships. Each role carries one preferred rate, and every other benefit of your engagement still applies. The retainer stays the same at every rate.
Multi-role engagements. Multi-role rates apply when two or more roles are commissioned together and launched as one engagement. The roles can span functions and seniority levels, because company discovery, the candidate proposition and the working cadence are shared.
Questions
Do I need a finished job description?
Bring the job description you have, or the role in your head. We define the role with you before outreach begins.
How do you decide between Specialist and Leadership Search?
Specialist Search covers individual contributors and people managers within a defined functional market. Leadership Search covers executives, heads of function and searches that need broader market mapping, multi-stakeholder alignment, leadership assessment or heightened confidentiality. We confirm the type before your engagement begins.
How is the fee structured?
A retainer begins the engagement. The balance is due when the selected candidate signs the employment agreement.
What does Exclusive Search mean?
For 20 business days, [solved] is your sole external search firm for the role, starting when you approve the Signal Spec. Your referrals, applicants and internal candidates remain welcome.
How much of my time does a search take?
Only the decisions that need you: the first working session, your interviews and the final call. We handle everything between them, and your Hiring Workspace holds the detail.
What happens if you cannot deliver the agreed shortlist?
We return the retainer in full. The shortlist criteria are approved during calibration and cover qualifications, compensation, assessment, identity verification and confirmed interest.
Can [solved] work with our existing hiring software?
Yes. Where your systems offer an API or webhook, we connect the workflow. Where they do not, we agree on an operating model that keeps one version of the work.
Tell us about the role.
Within one business day, we confirm whether we are the right firm to lead the search. Your engagement begins once the search and fee are confirmed.
Fixed fee. Defined shortlist. Identity-verified candidates. Retainer returned if we cannot deliver against the criteria approved during calibration.