Executive search software

The client asks
why these five.

A retained search starts with a mandate and a long list of 40. Paste the mandate into Kretsia and every name on the list carries each requirement marked met, partial or missing, with the line from the profile that proves it. "Has run a P&L above 50 million": met, and here is the sentence. The five you present to the client arrive with the argument already written. Executive search software for firms that search worldwide and have to show their working.

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84.12 on PeopleSearchBench, 30 queries, our own run in June 2026, ahead of Lessie, Juicebox and Exa

Kretsia sourcing: four profiles ranked against a role, each with the reason it fits and what is missing KretsiaConsultantsAssignmentsMatchesAlertsRanked byFit to your briefSenior React developerGöteborg · ranked against your briefCANDIDATEWHY THEY FITFITARAmira RahimiFrontend · GöteborgSix years of React and TypeScriptMissing: no Next.js listedAll metJKJonas KarlssonFrontend · StockholmReact and TypeScript, four yearsMissing: not in GöteborgMostly metLMLena MårdFrontend lead · MalmöLeads a React team of sixMissing: no Swedish listedPartly metOBOmar BakrDeveloper · SolnaReact, some TypeScriptMissing: no lead experienceSome missingEvery profile says why it is here and what is missing.None of these four have applied to anything.

Who it is for

Headhunter software
for the long list and the argument.

Kretsia is for the research half of a retained search: building the long list, reading it against the mandate, and presenting five people with the reason for each. The partner's judgement stays the partner's. The reading is done by the time the call starts.

  • The mandate

    Eight requirements, not a job title

    "CFO, listed company, Nordic, has taken a company through a listing, speaks Swedish." Paste it. Each line becomes a requirement, must-have or nice-to-have, that you edit before the search runs, with an estimate of how many people match. A title search finds people called CFO. This finds the listing.

    How the long list is read

  • Your own network first

    The people the firm already knows

    Twelve years of searches is a database. Run the mandate over your past candidates, your talent pool and your Teamtailor records in the own-database mode, with the same marks per requirement, before you look outside. See searching your own database.

    Candidate rediscovery

  • Worldwide

    The candidate is in Singapore

    Public professional profiles worldwide, read in any language, with the quote shown as written. A location is a city, a radius or a region, so "Denmark" is one chip and "within 100 km of Copenhagen" is another. Nothing leaves the list until you decide; the approach is yours, in your name.

    Candidate sourcing

Why Kretsia

From the mandate
to the five you present.

The long list

Forty names, each one read against the mandate.

A search returns 30 people, strongest first; fetch 30 more and the next page is read and ranked the same way. Beside each name, every requirement from the mandate: met, partial or missing, with the line from the profile the mark rests on. "Has taken a company through a listing" is met by a sentence, or it is not met. A researcher checks the quote in seconds instead of reading 40 profiles end to end.

  • Thirty per page, 30 more on request, each page read in full
  • Every requirement quoted; no quote, no tick
  • Filter the list to people verified on one requirement
Kretsia candidate matching: one profile beside the role's requirements, with what is met and what is missing KretsiaConsultantsAssignmentsMatchesAlertsAmira RahimiChecked against Senior React developerARAmira RahimiFrontend developerLocationGöteborgLanguagesSwedish, EnglishMain skillsReact, TypeScriptAvailableFrom MayPublic profileROLE REQUIREMENTSReact, senior levelMetTypeScriptMetSwedishMetBased in GöteborgMetNext.jsMissingTeam lead beforeNot foundFour of six requirements met. The two gaps are written out.

The shortlist

Five people, and the reason the client can read.

The client does not want a score. They want to know why this person and not the one they had in mind. The card answers it: the requirement, met or missing, and the sentence it came from. Where a requirement is partial, the card says so in words, next to the gap, so the conversation about trade-offs starts from the same page.

  • The same requirements on every card, so five people compare on one sheet
  • Gaps written out, not folded into a percentage
  • Strengths, concerns and a short summary per person
Kretsia sourcing: a role written in plain words, with the ranked candidate shortlist it returned SearchSenior React developer, Göteborg.TypeScript, Swedish, start in May.ARAmira RahimiReact, TS · GöteborgAll metJKJonas KarlssonReact, TS · StockholmMostly metLMLena MårdFrontend lead · MalmöPartly metFound on the open web

Discretion

Nobody is contacted until you decide.

A retained search is quiet by design. Kretsia reads and ranks; the approach is made by a person, in the firm's name. One click looks up a work email when you are ready. Hide a name and it stays hidden in every later run of that search, so the person the client ruled out in week one does not come back in week three. Every search is kept, so the long list from a similar mandate two years ago reopens as it was.

  • No message leaves Kretsia on its own
  • Hidden names stay hidden across re-runs
  • Works with Teamtailor: send the five into the mandate's job with the reasoning attached
Kretsia sourcing: a role written in plain words, and the ranked profiles it returned KretsiaConsultantsAssignmentsMatchesAlertsNew searchFrom your brief to a shortlistSenior React developer, Göteborg. TypeScript,Swedish, start in May.PROFILEWHY IT RANKS HEREFITARAmira RahimiFrontend developerSix years of React and TypeScriptSwedish and English · GöteborgAll metJKJonas KarlssonFrontend developerReact and TypeScript, four yearsSwedish · StockholmMostly metLMLena MårdFrontend leadLeads a React team of sixEnglish · MalmöPartly metRanked against the brief you wrote. Edit a line and search again.Save shortlistEdit the brief

FAQ

What a search partner asks
before the first mandate.

Kretsia reads public professional profiles worldwide: what people have published about their own work, whether or not they are looking. Most of the 30 on a list are not applying anywhere. Every result links to the profile it was read from, so the researcher opens it before anyone is approached.

They do. Kretsia reads the long list against the mandate and quotes the line behind each mark. The partner decides who goes on the shortlist, who is called and what is said. What changes is how long the reading takes and how well the five are argued when the client asks.

It always does. Edit the requirements, move "listed company" from must-have to nice-to-have, add "has reported to a PE board", and run again. The marks and quotes are rebuilt from the new mandate, the names the client ruled out stay hidden, and both runs are kept side by side.

Nothing leaves Kretsia on its own. It reads, ranks and quotes; a person makes the approach. The work email is looked up one person at a time, when you click. Candidate data is held by Kretsia AB in Gothenburg under a data processing agreement; the detail is on the security page.

Then the free plan may be enough for a while: 90 credits a month, about three searches, no card and no end date. A mandate that needs a 90-name long list and several re-runs is a Starter month at 950 kr. The plans are on the pricing page.

Bring one to a 20-minute demo and we run it while you watch, or paste it in yourself on the free plan. The published number is PeopleSearchBench: 84.12 in our own run in June 2026, 30 recruiter queries, 13 of 15 people returned meeting the brief on average, ahead of Lessie, Juicebox and Exa. Method and limits on the benchmark page.

Bring the mandate
you are reading this week.

Start free, 90 credits a month, no card: paste it, confirm the requirements, and read the long list quote by quote. Or take twenty minutes and we read it with you.

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Kretsia sourcing: a role written in plain words, and the ranked profiles it returned KretsiaConsultantsAssignmentsMatchesAlertsNew searchFrom your brief to a shortlistSenior React developer, Göteborg. TypeScript,Swedish, start in May.PROFILEWHY IT RANKS HEREFITARAmira RahimiFrontend developerSix years of React and TypeScriptSwedish and English · GöteborgAll metJKJonas KarlssonFrontend developerReact and TypeScript, four yearsSwedish · StockholmMostly metLMLena MårdFrontend leadLeads a React team of sixEnglish · MalmöPartly metRanked against the brief you wrote. Edit a line and search again.Save shortlistEdit the brief