‘All in the Family’ TE Success with Sarah Katz!

Although recruiter Al Katz of First Search, Inc. is not a Charter Member of Top Echelon Network, he would be inducted into the Top Echelon Hall of Fame. If there was a Top Echelon Hall of Fame, that is.

During his recruiting career (which is alive and well), Al has made many split placements in the Network and also many contract placements through Top Echelon Contracting . . . which is now known as FoxHire.

And now, there is another Katz who is making a name for themselves in Top Echelon Network. And that person just so happens to be Sarah Katz, the daughter of Al Katz!

Sarah has made 11 split placements since starting her Preferred Membership as part of First Search, and she’s made nine of those splits since the beginning of 2021. The recruiters at First Search fill executive-level openings within many industries, including Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Sales, and Human Resources, among others.

According to Sarah, her father has been instrumental not only in her entering the recruiting profession, but also in her using the resources of the Network.

“He’s been part of Top Echelon since before it was called Top Echelon,” she said. “He’s always had positive things to say, especially about the conferences. That’s where the relationships get built and you learn more about each recruiter. For many years, my parents were gone twice a year traveling to the conferences.”

Al, of course, lends a hand to his daughter in any way that he can, and she credits him with helping her to experience recruiting and Network success in a relatively short amount of time.

“Before I joined [Top Echelon], I had no idea what a Production Supervisor, Automation Engineer, Transportation Manager, etc. did,” she said. “But I took the time to learn and members in the Network who I was helping explained in more detail. My dad has extensive knowledge about most industries, and he’s been tremendous in helping me source candidates.”

While Sarah is impressed with the features and functionality of the Top Echelon split placement software, she emphasized that her success has also been the result of the relationships that she’s built and cultivated with other Preferred Members. She works as an exporter in the Network, which means that she typically supplies the candidate side of the split placement equation.

“It took me a bit to learn the software and all of the tricks, but after I learned, it’s been a great way to store candidates,” she said. “I get a lot of requests to view my candidates to see if they’re a fit. The success I’ve had is because of the relationships I’ve formed. There are many recruiters who send me emails asking for help because they know I can produce. I might not find the right candidate every time, but I find them quality candidates.”

According to Sarah, teamwork within First Search has also been a major factor in not only her success, but the success of the agency as a whole within Top Echelon.

“It’s a great way to make extra money when your own clients don’t have any work,” she said. “First Search had nine splits in the Network last year. That may not seem like a lot, but we worked very hard for those as a team.” (In addition to her father Al, the other member of the First Search team is Bill Griffis.)

In fact, the members of First Search work so often and so closely with their split recruiting partners, they consider those partners to be team members, as well.

“Speaking of team, all of the split partners we work with, we consider them as part of our team,” said Sarah. “You have to work as a team in order to make splits. We might be asked to prescreen candidates or help along the interview process, and have no issue helping in whatever way we need to. Our split partners are an extension of First Search.”

According to Sarah, she has definitely adhered to The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network in her quest to evolve as a trading partner. Those Pillars are Quality, Communication, Trust, and Active Participation.

“I provide quality over quantity and communicate with each split partner to know their needs and how to best help,” she said. “Everyone in Top Echelon has their own way of working together, and figuring out how to best work with each other is key! You have to be able to talk with your split partners. I have some split partners who I talk with each day, getting updates about my candidates.”

When it comes to experiencing success quickly in Top Echelon, Sarah singles out one of The Four Pillars as being the most important for newer Preferred Members of the Network.

“Communication, communication, communication,” she emphasized. “We all understand life gets in the way and sometimes you aren’t by your email. But if we have candidates for your positions and you aren’t responding to calls, emails, or texts, you might lose out on a split. When a candidate is in play, updating the split partner along the way speaks volumes about you.”

And regardless of what her father and First Search accomplished before her arrival, Sarah’s stellar performance in Top Echelon Network speaks for itself.