We’re nearing the end of our “Networking Tips” series of blog posts. This one might be the most important!

Why is that? Because the more things change, the more they stay the same.

That old axiom definitely applies to this tip, especially in the world of recruiting. In short, the personal touch gets results!

Recruiting is all about relationships, namely because there are so many people involved in the process. As industry trainer Barb Bruno is fond of saying, there are people on both sides of the sale . . . and they both talk back!

That’s why this week’s networking tip is so important, even though it doesn’t deal specifically with candidates or hiring officials. Instead, it deals with other recruiters: your trading partners.

When it comes to making split placements, those are the relationships that can really make or break a deal.

So, our ninth “Networking Tip” is . . .

Use technology to communicate quickly, but remember that it’s the personal touch that gets results!

1. Submit job orders and search for job orders in our recruiting network daily.
2. Email your job orders to your inner circle and Core Group of trading partners.
3. Call each trading partner who received your email.

As a member of Top Echelon Network, you should allow technology to provide you with a competitive edge. This is especially the case if you’re also a user of our recruiting software.

If you have a good job order or candidate, submit that job order or candidate to the Network. In this fashion, your job orders and candidates will receive the most exposure in the least amount of time.

When you submit job orders and candidates to the Network, they’re searchable by over 1,000 other recruiters.

After submitting your job orders and candidates, we recommend that you also email them to those trading partners you feel might be able to help you. This will increase the number of responses you receive.

If you really want to see results, personally call each recruiter who received your email. This method works the best.

Many recruiters have told us that the personal phone call is the real key to receiving assistance.

Another way to gain productivity is to use the Network Candidates sourcing tool.

However, keep in mind the central theme of this tip. No matter how much technology gives you a competitive edge, it’s the personal touch that ultimately gets results!

If you have any questions, please contact me by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

You’ve no doubt heard the phrase, “New year, new me!” We’re not doing that here at Top Echelon.

Instead, we endorse, “New year, new fee!”

As in the placement fee recently shared by Network members Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc. and Rob Hunter of Questgroup Consultants, Inc. Veronica and Rob placed a Product Engineer to earn a split placement fee of $40K at 25%.

But of course, that was not the only split placement made by Network recruiters before the end of 2023. As you can see below, there are plenty more where that one came from . . . and plenty more in store for the rest of 2024! (I’m not trying to rhyme. I promise.)

As a friendly neighborhood reminder, here is the information that we publish with our weekly placements:

• Names of the split recruiting partners involved (with their profile photos, when available)
• Job title
• Overall placement fee (before TE’s 6% brokerage fee, of course)
• Fee percentage

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in Top Echelon Network for the period from December 18, through December 31, 2023.

Remember, if you don’t want information related to your Network placements published in The Pinnacle, please send an email to marketing@topechelon.com to that effect.

Congratulations to everybody below for the split placements they made in Top Echelon Network!

This Week’s Top Echelon Split Placements

— — —

Paul Danowski

Bruce Widnes

Job recruiter: Bruce Widnes of Bruce Widnes

Candidate recruiter: Paul Danowski of Grace Search Service, Inc.

Job title: FIELD SERVICE ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $15,100

Fee percentage: 22%

— — —

Brad Dodge

Steve Schroeder

Job recruiter: Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum

Job title: CLINICAL EDUCATOR – VOCATIONAL NURSING

Overall placement fee: $6,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Larry Gallin

Shannon Spinks

Job recruiter: Shannon Spinks of Gateway Sourcing, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Larry Gallin of Gallin Associates

Job title: C# OR DELPHI DEVELOPER – INNOVATION

Overall placement fee: $25,960

Fee percentage: 22%

— — —

Rob Hunter

Veronica Snyder

Job recruiter: Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Rob Hunter of Questgroup Consultants, Inc.

Job title: PRODUCT ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $40,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Terry Rhodes

Steve Schroeder

Job recruiter: Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Terry Rhodes of NewCareers

Job title: SENIOR BEHAVIOR TECHNICIAN – RBT BILINGUAL SPANISH

Overall placement fee: $6,000

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Joni Sappenfield

Edward Duff

Job recruiter: Edward Duff of RCD Group

Candidate recruiter: Joni Sappenfield of Sappenfield Staffing, Inc.

Job title: SURVEY PARTY CHIEF

Overall placement fee: $13,728

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Michael Stuck

Alex Bakker

Job recruiter: Alex Bakker of USA Staffing Network

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST

Overall placement fee: $12,480

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Michael Stuck

Spencer Welsh

Job recruiter: Spencer Welsh of Welsh & Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Overall placement fee: $22,810

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Michael Stuck

Marissa Marsala

Job recruiter: Marissa Marsala of Employer & Candidate Connection

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: ASSISTANT PLANT MANAGER OR PLANT MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $27,500

Fee percentage: 22%

— — —

Gary Thompson

Keith Cornelison

Job recruiter: Keith Cornelison of Personnel Resources

Candidate recruiter: Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Job title: MEDICAL LAB SCIENTIST – MT OR MLT

Overall placement fee: $12,596

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

If you’re a newer Network member and you’d like to enjoy more success in our recruiter network, then I encourage you to contact Top Echelon Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Top Echelon Network recruiters finished 2023 with a flourish, especially the recruiters who are the focus of this particular post in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

And that’s because they represent the Recruiters of the Month for December!

Perhaps not surprisingly, at the front of the pack was Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, followed by some strikingly familiar faces. (Stuck, as you will discover in the coming weeks, also secured his third straight Recruiter of the Year honor in the Network for 2023.)

Below is the information that we include with the Recruiters of the Month feature in Top Echelon Network:

1. The top five (5) recruiters for the month.
2. The cash-in total for each recruiter during the month. (We base the order of the recruiters on their amount of cash-in dollars, as opposed to the number of split placements they made.)
3. The number of splits that the recruiters made during the month.
4. The number of splits each recruiter has made during their Network career.
5. Each recruiter’s cash-in total for their Network career.

With this format, it’s more likely there will be ties among recruiters, especially with those Network members who have made split placements with each other.

Congratulations to the recruiters listed below . . . and congratulations to every Network member who made a split placement (or multiple splits) during the month!

Recruiters of the Month – December 2023

— — —

First Place:

Michael Stuck

Recruiter: Michael Stuck
Agency: Gables Search Group
Placements: Six (6)
Cash-in total: $48,421.52
Career Top Echelon placements: 553
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $3,972,357.45

— — —

Second Place:

Amy Chapman

Recruiter: Amy Chapman
Agency: Key People Staffing
Placements: Three (3)
Cash-in total: $39,362.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 73
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $874,553.91

— — —

Third Place:

Brad Dodge

Recruiter: Brad Dodge
Agency: iLocatum
Placements: Five (5)
Cash-in total: $27,686.45
Career Top Echelon placements: 210
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $871,493.58

— — —

Fourth Place:

Steve Kohn

Recruiter: Steve Kohn
Agency: Affinity Executive Search, Inc.
Placements: Two (2)
Cash-in total: $27,337.08
Career Top Echelon placements: 537
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $4,888,918.25

— — —

Fifth Place:

Brad McMillan

Recruiter: Brad McMillan
Agency: RPM ReSearch
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $24,675.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 9
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $143,749.50

— — —

If YOU want to make more money through Top Echelon’s recruiting network, then contact Director of Network Operations, Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can reach Drea by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

The only thing better than starting the year strong is finishing the year strong.

I stand corrected. The only thing better than starting the year strong is starting the year strong AND finishing it strong. Because why be forced to pick just one? Why not both?

Before we begin to spiral into a philosophical discussion, let’s look at the top five split placement fees in Top Echelon Network for the month of December, shall we?

And ranking first in this category is a $52,500 fee! Brad McMillan of RPM ReSearch and Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc. generated this fee by placing a Director of Site Operations at 25%.

Although the photo above might suggest that we’re only highlighting five recruiting fees in this blog post, we’re actually highlighting seven. The reason? There were two ties, of course!

As a friendly reminder, Top Echelon determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its Network split fee recruiting awards in four distinct categories:

1.) Recruiter of the Month
2.) Largest Split Fee of the Month
3.) Recruiter of the Quarter
4.) Largest Split Fee of the Quarter

We only announce the winners of these awards in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. We do so usually (but not always) in the issue following the conclusion of each month and/or quarter.

So congratulations to everybody on the list below for scoring some BIG placement fees during the month!

Largest Split Fees – December 2023

— — —

First Place:

Brad McMillan of RPM ReSearch and Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc.

Brad McMillan

Steve Kohn

The position for this split placement was a Director of Site Operations and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Brad was the job order recruiter and Steve was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $52,500.

— — —

Second Place (Tie):

Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc. and Rob Hunter of Questgroup Consultants, Inc.

Veronica Snyder

Rob Hunter

The position for this split placement was a Product Engineer and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Veronica was the job order recruiter and Rob was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $40,000.

— — —

Second Place (Tie):

Jimmy Fong of Network Recruiting and Eric McDanel of Executive Search Partners, LLC

Jimmy Fong

Eric McDanel

The position for this split placement was a Project Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Jimmy was the job order recruiter and Eric was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $40,000.

— — —

Third Place:

Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC and Hani Mussa of Knowhirematch, LLC

Hani Mussa

Maria Hemminger

The position for this split placement was a Manufacturing Controller and the fee percentage associated with this placement was Flat.

Maria was the job order recruiter and Hani was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $36,750.

— — —

Fourth Place:

Paul Bossert of Premier Employment Solutions and Adam Pantelli of AJ Search

Adam Pantelli

Paul Bossert

The position for this split placement was a Chief Financial Officer and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Paul was the job order recruiter and Adam was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $31,250.

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Gary Thompson

Amy Chapman

The position for this split placement was a Bakery – Food Science Technical Leader and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Amy was the job order recruiter and Gary was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $30,000.

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters

Jim Strickland

Amy Chapman

The position for this split placement was a Chemical – Production Engineer and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Amy was the job order recruiter and Jim was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $30,000.

— — —

If YOU want to make more money through Top Echelon’s recruiter network, then contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can reach Drea by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

December was the 12th month of the year, so it’s only fitting that 12 agencies joined Top Echelon’s recruiting network during the month of December!

As you probably already know, we run the names of recruiting agencies applying for membership in the Network Dashboard section of the Top Echelon software. We list the names of new Network members, as well.

However, we also list our new members in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. This list typically includes the:

• Name of the agency
• Industries and/or specialties in which the agency operates
• Names of the recruiters working at the agency
• Geographic location of the agency

So I’d like to take this moment to once again congratulate the recruiting agencies listed below and publicly welcome them to Top Echelon Network. I look forward to helping them make split placements!

(Note: If you have any questions about reaching out to new members or about your split recruiting membership in general, please contact me. My contact information is listed at the end of this blog post.)

New Member Firms – December 2023

— — —

Alliant Management Professionals, LLC
Industries: Technical, Engineering, Manufacturing, Sales, and Healthcare
Recruiters: Chris Miller
Location: Columbia, MD

— — —

Caliber Recruiting
Industries: Construction, Manufacturing, Professional Roles, Scientific, and Technical
Recruiters: Tyler Steedman
Location: Hyrum, UT

— — —

Cantigny Group, Inc.
Industries: IT, Technology, Healthcare, Engineering, Accounting/Finance, Insurance, Manufacturing, Sales/Marketing, Non-Profit, and C-Level/Board-Level Positions
Recruiters: Gary Nelson
Location: Wheaton, IL

— — —

CareerNerds
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Scott Leishman
Location: Manchester Township, NJ

— — —

The Charlesworth Firm
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Samara Charlesworth
Location: Atlanta, GA

— — —

ExecuSearch USA
Industries: Medical and Healthcare
Recruiters: Donna Lester
Location: Plant City, FL

— — —

KBOtek LLC
Industries: IT, Accounting/Finance, Creative, Sales, and Project Management
Recruiters: Orlando Bullock
Location: Baltimore, MD

— — —

Marbella Consulting, LLC
Industries: Telecommunications, Web/Cloud, Manufacturing/Distribution, Medical Device, and Generalist
Recruiters: Katrina Munzer
Location: Novato, CA

— — —

MET Resources
Industries: Manufacturing, Engineering, and Technology
Recruiters: Aaron Bonati
Location: Denver, CO

— — —

Next One Staffing
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Danessa Maynard
Location: Santa Rosa, CA

— — —

Staffex
Industries: Administrative/Customer Support, Healthcare, and Accounting/Finance
Recruiters: Jennifer Rodriguez
Location: Tampa, FL

— — —

Thornton Associates
Industries: Healthcare and Banking
Recruiters: Jack Thornton
Location: Valencia, PA

— — —

It doesn’t matter if you’re a newer Network recruiter or an established member. If you want help making split placements with other Top Echelon Network members, then I encourage you to contact me.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

It’s a new month and a new year, which means we have new Top Echelon Network anniversaries!

And what better way to start 2024 than with a 35-year TE anniversary? No better way, that’s what, and the recruiting agency in question celebrating said anniversary is Markent Personnel in Portage, Wisconsin.

Markent Personnel joined Top Echelon on January 20, 1989. At the time, the agency owner was the late Tom Udulutch. After his passing, Mark Udulutch took over the business, and other members of the firm currently include Cherry Abracia, Kelly Kallungi, and Kelly Zahn.

Mark Udulutch, CPC

Overall, Markent Personnel has accounted for 253 Network placements during their tenure in Top Echelon, generating a cash-in total of more than $1.7 million in the process. Tom Udultuch has made 113 of those placements, earning close to $900K in TE money.

But as you can see below, Markent Personnel is not the only Top Echelon recruiting firm celebrating a Network anniversary this month. All told, there are 34 firms with an anniversary in January.

When recognizing Network agencies for their anniversaries, Top Echelon includes the name of the agency; the length of the anniversary; and the location of the agency, including the city and state.

So congratulations to all of the agencies celebrating anniversaries in our split fee recruiting network during the month of January!

— — —

35-Year Anniversary

• Markent Personnel in Portage, WI

— — —

21-Year Anniversary

• Cameron Craig Group in Cornelius, NC

— — —

18-Year Anniversary

• Apple & Assoc., Inc. in Chapin, SC

— — —

17-Year Anniversary

• Ives & Associates, Inc. in Columbus, OH

— — —

12-Year Anniversary

• Sun Recruiting, Inc. in Glen Ellyn, IL
• The ARGroup of Search Companies in Sparta, NJ

— — —

7-Year Anniversary

• CRJ Search in Springboro, OH
• Max Populi, LLC in Export, PA

— — —

6-Year Anniversary

• GLS Management Services, LLC in Oakland City, IN
• JSR Associates, LLC in Goodyear, AZ

— — —

4-Year Anniversary

• McCord Executive Search in Red Wing, MN
• New Talent in Charleston, SC

— — —

3-Year Anniversary

• Corporate Strategic Resourcing in Chicago, IL
• TechniSearch Recruiters in Paducah, KY
• The Timberline Group in Sullivan, MO
• Work Horse Temps, LLC in Orlando, FL

— — —

2-Year Anniversary

• Albert Energy LLC/fulltimeGiGS in Saint Simons Island, GA
• FSN in Wake Forest, NC
• HG Arias & Associates in El Paso, TX
• High Performance Recruiting in Atlanta, GA
• Lazio Search Group, Inc. in Auburn Hills, MI

— — —

1-Year Anniversary

• Bay Colony Search in Boxford, MA
• Breezeway Corporation in Lynchburg, OH
• Chartier Group, LLC in Fond Du Lac, WI
• Concepts Staffing Solutions in San Francisco, CA
• Eden Capital Careers in Scottsdale, AZ
• French Connection Staffing, LLC in New York, NY
• Kevin White & Associates in Houston, TX
• New Heights Career Services in Conyers, GA
• SDLC Talent in Castle Rock, CO
• She Recruits, LLC in Desoto, TX
• Source Financial Staffing in Atlanta, GA
• Telescope Talent in Brooklyn, NY
• Transcend Recruiting, LLC in Massillon, OH

— — —

Thank you to all of these agencies and the many others that have joined Top Echelon Network over the years. We look forward to many more anniversaries and split placements in the years ahead!