Michael Stuck’s three-year run as Recruiter of the Year in TE Network has come to an end.

That means there is a new Recruiter of the Year, and that recruiter is . . . Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting! Brad racked up over $600K in split fee during the year, making him the runaway winner.

Sara Alexandroff of Sterling St. James, LLC finished in second place with a little over $250K, and Michael Stuck did manage to finish in the top three.

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing, by virtue of her flurry of large split fees, also landed in the top 10. And Adam Pantelli of Biosource Recruiters cracked the top 10 for the first time in his TE Network career.

Before we unveil the full list of top-producing recruiters, I must trot out our usual disclaimer regarding these rankings:

Our annual list of the top recruiters is determined by Top Echelon Network members’ cash-in total in our split network on a rolling 12-month basis. The order of the list below reflects the recruiters’ cash-in totals for the 2024 calendar year, which ended at midnight on December 31, 2024.

So congratulations to the recruiters listed below and congratulations to every Network member who made a split placement during the year of 2024!

Recruiters of the Year – 2024

  — — —

First Place

Recruiter: Brad Dodge
Agency: iLocatum Recruiting
Placements: 77
Commission: $626,476
Career Top Echelon placements: 189
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,530,146

— — —

Second Place

Recruiter: Sara Alexandroff
Agency: Sterling St. James, LLC
Placements: 28
Commission: $251,671
Career Top Echelon placements: 84
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $737,789

— — —

Third Place

Recruiter: Michael Stuck
Agency: Gables Search Group
Placements: 32
Commission: $235,428
Career Top Echelon placements: 590
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $4,207,892

— — —

Fourth Place

Recruiter: Amy Chapman
Agency: Key People Staffing
Placements: 16
Commission: $235,094
Career Top Echelon placements: 90
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,144,897

— — —

Fifth Place

Recruiter: Steve Kohn
Agency: Affinity Executive Search, LLC
Placements: 23
Commission: $230,513
Career Top Echelon placements: 557
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $5,099,456

— — —

Sixth Place

Recruiter: Sarah Katz
Agency: First Search, Inc.
Placements: 10
Commission: $119,850
Career Top Echelon placements: 30
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $337,633

— — —

Seventh Place

Recruiter: John Peterson
Agency: Sun Recruiting, Inc.
Placements: 9
Commission: $108,726
Career Top Echelon placements: 103
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,100,821

— — —

Eighth Place

Recruiter: Adam Pantelli
Agency: AJ Search
Placements: 9
Commission: $102,031
Career Top Echelon placements: 12
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $117,203

— — —

Ninth Place

Recruiter: Nick Stoia, CPC
Agency: ASAP Search
Placements: 9
Commission: $101,021
Career Top Echelon placements: 133
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,114,135

— — —

10th Place

Recruiter: Gary Thompson
Agency: Retail Options
Placements: 10
Commission: $94,503
Career Top Echelon placements: 75
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $638,946

— — —

Join us in congratulating the top-producing recruiters listed above. And here’s to hoping that 2025 is a better year for every recruiter in Top Echelon Network!

If you’re looking to make more placements with your Top Echelon split recruiting membership, then contact 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.

There is a LOT to unpack with the largest split recruiting fees in TE Network for the calendar year of 2024.

For starters, we may want to unofficially rename the award as the “Amy Chapman Largest Split Fee of the Year Award” . . . for 2024, at least. That’s because, although Amy wasn’t part of the largest split fee of the year, she was part of four of the top 10 fees!

Not only that, but there was a close race for the top spot. In fact, only $500 separated the #1 split free from the #2 fee. And speaking of the top fee, it belonged to Aldin Beslagic of BestLogic Staffing and Amir Asgari of Saba Talent.

Aldin and Amir placed a VP of Sales at 20% to earn a recruiting fee of $63,000.

But wait, there’s more! Believe it or not, a recruiter with the last name of Katz was also part of four of the top 10 fees in TE Network last year. Specifically, this involved three recruiters:

1. Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting
2. Uri Katz of Ortek Management Recruiters
3. Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

Has that ever happened before in TE Network? Not with three different recruiters sharing the same last name and as far as we know, are not related to each other.

Is that a harbinger of good things to come in 2025? We certainly hope so!

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 year.

Congratulations to everybody who made the largest split fees in Top Echelon Network in 2024!

Largest Split Fees of 2024

— — –

First Place

Aldin Beslagic of BestLogic Staffing and Amir Asgari of Saba Talent

The position for this split placement was a VP of Sales (Aerospace Services) and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Aldin was the job order recruiter and Amir was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $63,000.

— — —

Second Place (Tie):

David Wood, CPC of The David Wood Company and Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $62,500.

— — –

Second Place (Tie):

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

The position for this split placement was a Sr. Director of Global Maintenance Process Systems and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

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

The fee for this split placement was $62,500.

— — –

Third Place:

Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc. and Uri Katz of Ortek Management Recruiters

The position for this split placement was a Director and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Kerry was the job order recruiter and Uri was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $55,000.

— — –

Fourth Place:

Nick Stoia, CPC of ASAP Search and Sara Alexandroff of Sterling St. James, Inc.

The position for this split placement was an Embedded Software Architect and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 30%.

Nick was the job order recruiter and Sara was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $53,400.

— — –

Fifth Place:

Michael Brown of Seneca Creek Executive Search and Jasmyn Smith of Hire Level Consulting, Inc.

The position for this split placement was a Chief Product Officer and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 17.5%.

Michael was the job order recruiter and Jasmyn was the candidate recruiter.

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

— — –

Sixth Place:

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $51,250.

— — –

Seventh Place (Tie):

Jamie Mathis of JM Recruiting and Stephen Kirk of Kirk Recruitment, Ltd.

The position for this split placement was a Senior Mechanical Integrity Engineer and the fee percentage associated with this placement was flat.

Jamie was the job order recruiter and Stephen was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $50,000.

— — –

Seventh Place (Tie):

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Sonia Malik of KAVA Talent Solutions

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $50,000.

— — –

Eighth Place:

Pam Ratz DeVille of Selective Resoruces, LLC and Maggie Wolgamot of Ridgeback Recruiting

The position for this split placement was an Executive Leader – Information Systems and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 22%.

Pam was the job order recruiter and Maggie was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $48,400.

— — –

Ninth Place:

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $46,250.

— — —

10th Place:

Russ Hovendick of Client Staffing Solutions, Inc. and Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

The position for this split placement was a Plant Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 22%.

Russ was the job order recruiter and Sarah was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $44,000.

— — —

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.

As you probably know, this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog contains the largest recruiting fees in TE Network for 2024.

The largest fee was $63,000. And we’ve already had a fee in 2025 that’s bigger than that one!

That’s because Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting placed a Vice President to earn a fee of $75,000 at 25%. And Amy and Jeff also contributed one of the top 10 recruiting fees in TE Network last year.

Needless to say, they’re off to a good start.

As are the rest of the recruiters listed below!

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

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

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in TE Network for the period from January 13 through January 19, 2025.

Remember, if you don’t want information related to your split 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 TE Network!

This Week’s Split Placements

— — —

Job recruiter: Doug Boyce of Priority One Search

Candidate recruiter: Zachary Anderson of Zaddy Solutions

Job title: INVENTORY & DEMAND PLANNING MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $26,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Job title: VICE PRESIDENT

Overall placement fee: $75,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Jim Petitpren of PRA USA

Candidate recruiter: Amir Asgari of Saba Talent

Job title: SR. ELECTRONIC HARDWARE ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $23,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Brenda Wylie-Biggs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Neily Horan of Horan Hiring Solutions, LLC

Job title: ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $27,500

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Bill Kubena of Kubena & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Donna Coleman of Donna Coleman & Associates

Job title: SR. CNC MILLING PROGRAMMER

Overall placement fee: $14,560

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Amylyn Kyler of Kyler Professional Search

Candidate recruiter: Sara Alexandroff of Sterling St. James, Inc.

Job title: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Overall placement fee: $22,500

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Job recruiter: Amylyn Kyler of Kyler Professional Search

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: MARKETING SPECIALIST

Overall placement fee: $13,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Nathan Gruen of Gruen Search Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: TECHNICAL DESIGNER

Overall placement fee: $11,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Nathan Gruen of Gruen Search Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DESIGNER

Overall placement fee: $11,000

Fee percentage: 22%

— — —

Job recruiter: Joe Cresci of Food Management Search

Candidate recruiter: Bob Calamita of Execu-Tech

Job title: DIRECTOR OF CONTRACT MANUFACTURING

Overall placement fee: $27,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

If you’re a newer TE 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 Customer Success Manager Todd Bossler recently conducted a special TE Recruit Training Tuesday webinar titled, “Post-Holiday Hotlist Primer for a Prosperous 2025.”

You may have attended this free webinar on Tuesday, January 7. On the other hand, you may not have been in attendance.

Regardless, we have the recorded version of the webinar, which I am presenting to you now. (The recording is also located in the Top Echelon Help Center.)

If you are not a user of our recruiting software, TE Recruit, then check out the video, anyway, to see how the software could benefit your recruiting desk and agency.

We at Top Echelon are continually working to make the resources that we provide to our customers better, and this is yet more proof!

Below is the official description of this training video:

— — —

Are you ready to tackle your recruiting desk in the new year? Are you ready for a prosperous (and profitable) 2025?

Then you need to watch the next webinar video in Top Echelon’s Training Tuesday series, during which Customer Support and Success Manager Todd Bossler will talk all about Hotlists within TE Recruit!

During this entertaining, information-packed, and FREE session, Todd will address:

• Creating and customizing Hotlists
• Adding records to a Hotlist
• Examples of different Hotlists within TE Recruit
• How to use Hotlists for business development
• And more!

The end of the year already gone and 2025 is most certainly live, so watch this FREE training video and get ready for a “Post-Holiday Hotlist Primer for a Prosperous 2025”!

Watch this Top Echelon ATS training video!

Remember to check The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog every week for more updates regarding Top Echelon software improvements and upgrades.

If you have any questions about how you can maximize your Top Echelon split network membership, please contact 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.