9 of Top 10 Recruiters Enjoy Career Year in TE

It’s one thing to have one person in the top 10 have a career year in Top Echelon Network.

It’s another to have two or three people have a career year. But almost ALL of them?

We don’t have to imagine what that would look like because it did happen in Top Echelon’s recruiting network in 2021. Specifically, nine of the Top 10 recruiters in the Network for the year enjoyed their best year in TE. (So far, we should say . . .)

To refresh our collective memories, below are the top 10 recruiters in the Network for 2021, along with their agency name and cash-in totals for the year:

#1—Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group ($1,014,100)
#2—Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc. ($673,696)
#3—Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group ($536,189)
#4—Terry Rhodes of NewCareers ($372,543)
#5—Gary Schultz of Work 22, Inc. ($271,131)
#6—Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing ($270,029)
#7—Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters ($229,982)
#8—Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC ($215,470)
#9—Larry Gallin of Gallin Associates ($190,484)
#10—Keith Cornelison of Personnel Resources ($189,928)

The only person on this list who did not enjoy a career year in Top Echelon Network was Trey Cameron. Trey, of course, has billed over $1 million through the Network on multiple occasions. After seeing his production dip during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, he billed over $500K in TE last year.

Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Michael Stuck

Speaking of billing $1 million through the Network, that’s exactly what Michael Stuck did in 2021. Now he and Trey are the only two recruiters in Top Echelon history to reach that mark within a calendar year. Michael joined Top Echelon Network in 2005, but he changed the way he viewed his membership and worked within TE two years ago, and that change has yielded big dividends.

According to Michael, success in the Network is all about networking and building relationships with other members.

“This past year has been truly amazing with all of the relationships I built, some new and some I have worked with for years,” he said. “I can’t really say that any have been better than others because every recruiter I have made a split with I feel I have developed a bond that will carry over into this year. TE is made up of some really good recruiters with all different kinds of styles.”

Not only was 2021 a career year for some of these recruiters in Top Echelon Network, but it was a career year for them as a recruiter overall. Steve Kohn is counted among their ranks. Steve, who has been a member of the Network for more than 25 years and is a perennial Top Producer, enjoyed a stellar 2021 all the way around.

“I smashed every personal record,” said Steve. “Over 300 interviews, 109 accepted offers, and $1.2 million in gross billings. Most recruiters I know also had their busiest and most green year, too.”

According to Steve, the COVID-19 pandemic may have had much to do with the record performances of many recruiters.

Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Steve Kohn

“After COVID really hit in March of 2020, all search activity instantly died,” he said. “We all know that a lot of times companies keep jobs open thinking they’ll hire if someone perfect comes along or just that they regularly hire certain types of people. All those jobs disappeared. Once they started reappearing in May and June of 2020, we had the unprecedented circumstance where every job order was a quality one.

“It was the same for candidates. Once they started reappearing, almost all of them were very serious and not kidding around. Because a lot candidates were happy working from home and/or didn’t want to relocate, we have a lopsided market where demand for talent is far outpacing supply.

“Quality job orders + serious candidates + talent shortages = a lot more placements and at higher salaries. Hooray for us. Let’s enjoy it and exploit it while it lasts!”

Not everybody in the Top 10 for 2021 is a long-time Network member, although the majority of them are. For example, Gary Schultz joined the Network in August of 2019. Despite being a member for less than three years, Gary has already made 87 split placements.

As another example, Amy Chapman joined top Echelon Network in February of 2018. Since then, she has made a total of 42 splits. According to Amy, who is 100% a job order recruiter in TE, only six of the placements she made last year were not split placements. She indicated that, like Michael Stuck, she changed her approach to using the Network.

“I stopped putting the focus on finding my own candidate, which means I would get 100% of the fee,” said Amy. “I switched from utilizing TE to fill the gaps of positions I couldn’t find on my own to utilizing TE to fill all my positions, and I only researched if I had a position lacking good candidates. It resulted in less down time researching candidates and more time spent aggressively processing candidates through interviews that were pipelined in through TE partners. And that is what makes you more money and equals more placements!”

Amy also stated that she experienced a 64% increase in gross sales last year over 2020. And of course, she was grateful for the role that her split recruiting partners played in her success.

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Amy Chapman

“I want to thank ALL the many split partners I had last year that made 2021 possible,” she said. “All your hard work behind the scenes makes a small company like mine be able to deliver results Fortune 500-style. I look forward to many more splits this year.

“But I also want to thank Top Echelon itself for providing a platform that has enabled me to expand my business in ways I didn’t think possible. The best way to end the year is increased sales, increased net earnings, decreased expenses, and more me time. I’m looking forward to more growth in 2022!”

We at Top Echelon are looking forward to more growth this year, as well . . . perhaps in the form of another top nine (or even 10) recruiters enjoying a career year in the Network.

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