We have yet another batch of steaming hot split placements this week, fresh off the griddle! All we need are butter and syrup! (No, wait . . . those are pancakes I’m thinking about.)

And included in this batch of splits are some new names and faces. In fact, the following members made their first Network split placement recently:

• David Johnson of Genesis Resources
• Tish Stanton of Triad Consulting, LLC
• James Pruiksma of Gradient Talent Solutions

So we’d like to extend our hearty congratulations to these members for achieving this milestone. (And if you’re going to extend congratulations, they might as well be hearty.) Hopefully, these are the first of what will be many split placements during the course of the next several years.

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 two-week period from January 16 through January 22, 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

— — —

Job recruiter: David Johnson of Genesis Resources

Candidate recruiter: Rick Boysal of ManuSearch, Inc. (inactive)

Job title: LEAD QUALITY ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $29,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Neily Horan of Horan Hiring Solutions, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Joe Cresci of Food Management Search

Job title: MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

Overall placement fee: $14,508

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Alex Bakker of USA Staffing Network

Candidate recruiter: Phil Hurd of Oculus Search Partners, LLC

Job title: SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST

Overall placement fee: $6,475

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Job recruiter: Kym Springer of Team Builders Recruiting and Consulting

Candidate recruiter: Gary Schultz of Work 22, Inc.

Job title: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER 

Overall placement fee: $26,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Amber Schleinkofer of KB Search Team, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Jay Sitapara of Talent Partners, Inc. (inactive)

Job title: HEAD OF GLOBAL BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION 

Overall placement fee: $50,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Angela Marasco of A. Marasco Recruiting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Tish Stanton of Triad Consulting, LLC

Job title: STRATEGIC MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Overall placement fee: $31,250

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters

Job title: FIELD SERVICE TECHNICIAN

Overall placement fee: $15,080

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: James Pruiksma of Gradient Talent Solutions

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: SOFTWARE ENGINEER – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 

Overall placement fee: $14,250

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Job recruiter: Robert Litton of Litton Resource Group

Candidate recruiter: Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Job title: NURSE PRACTITIONER

Overall placement fee: $12,000

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

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 is a community, and as such, there are as many personalities and styles of recruiting as there are members.

The Top Echelon Network process has been the same since 1988. We still check references and interview those who meet certain criteria to be sure we are bringing in recruiters who are cut from an ethical cloth who understand, not only the business, but also how to build trusting relationships that last.

Alongside that, I still reject more applications than I approve. When a new agency starts, training is mandatory. We emphasize that a large part of that success is the relationships they build.

How do I get everyone to call everyone else back? That is an age-old problem. Here are a few couple thoughts.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. However, you can give him salt. If someone is not calling another member back regarding the candidates they are being sent, perhaps the candidates are not what they are expecting. It is not a reasonable expectation for a member to let every single recruiter know why their candidates are not a fit.

So . . . give them salt. The more quality the candidates and information you offer, the more likely someone has reason to return a call.

Consider there is something you just don’t know. One thing that I have learned standing in this role for over 16 years, is that life gets in the way. This is a community of recruiters who are mostly “mom-and-pop shops.” This is wonderful and it is a part of what makes Top Echelon Network so special. However, when “life happens,” which is the case for most of you, it has a drastic effect on how much time and bandwidth you have to work, respond, and handle what’s coming at you.

If you are overloaded and can’t find the time to return a call, email is a quick way to say, “I received your call, I am swamped at the moment, but I want to connect, so let’s talk” or some type of response. (It only took me 10 seconds to type that and pretend to hit “send”.)

Communication is not only a two-way street in Top Echelon Network, but it’s everything in terms of making more placements and enjoying more success!

If you have any questions about this blog post or your about Top Echelon Network membership, please contact me. You can do so at 330.455.1433, x156 or at drea@topechelon.com.

Now that we’ve begun a New Year in 2023 (and we’re already halfway through the first month of the year), I’ve prepared a list of 10 things to keep in mind while working in Top Echelon’s recruiting network.

This list will help guide you down the correct path of productive relationships, proper networking, and more split network success. (Of course, more success = more split placements.)

So, from the home office (or perhaps more accurately, from our socially distant and separate home offices) in Canton, Ohio . . . here is my “Top 10 List” for more split network success:

1. Have a great recruiter profile, one that includes the following: photo, personal profile, area(s) of specialization, and company profile.

2. Regularly share information with the Network: candidates and your newest job orders. This will show activity and that you’re here to build trading partner relationships and share with others.

3. Create Hot Job Alerts that will retrieve results to allow you to see what job orders are regularly being shared in your relevant niches.

4. Do NOT re-post other Top Echelon Network members’ job orders on the Internet without their written permission. This is a BIG DEAL and will get you in “hot water.” (Not literally, but if I had my way, it might be literally.)

5. Attend a Top Echelon Virtual Core Group meeting, every month if possible. This is a great way to share information and position yourself to make more splits!

6. Find a group of recruiters who are niche-like and establish regular communication with them.

7. Do NOT make candidate submissions to another member’s split job order until you’ve talked with them on the telephone, qualified the job order, and established a rapport.

8. When posting a split job order, be sure that you include the fee agreement and guarantees that you’ve established with your client on the JDS. This will ensure that any recruiter who works with you on this assignment knows the rules of engagement. This includes proration and replacement.

9. When posting a split job order on Top Echelon Network, make sure that a descriptive detail of your client’s needs are included. This is so your trading partners have a good idea of those needs before they call and qualify the job order. This will make the process move more smoothly.

10. Keep it simple with the basic Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you can live by this rule, then your experiences with your split recruiting partners will be that much better.

If you want to understand more about appropriate business conduct in our network, please refer to the Top Echelon Network Policies Manual.

If you have any questions about these guidelines or about how you can enjoy more split network success, please contact me at 330.595.1742 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

During the next several weeks in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, I’ll be examining each stage of being a networker. Although I’ve examined them in the newsletter previously, that examination was done in regards to a certain aspect of Network membership.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m doing this because I want you to enjoy more success in the Top Echelon recruiting network. Not just this year, but every year that you’re a member.

I want you to network more, communicate more, and make more split placements with your trading partners.

To that end, I’ll be presenting all of the characteristics and attributes involved in the first stage of networking in Top Echelon. And of course, I’ll be offering a comprehensive look at additional stages in the coming weeks. So, let’s get down to it . . .

Stage 1 Networker

Stage 1 Networkers are just “planting the seeds” of networking and are considering how it could have a positive impact on their business. They do not yet have a strong history of making split placements. Below are the characteristics of the first stage of networking as a recruiter in TE.

Mindset:

They’ve heard that networking is a good way to go, but they’re extremely skeptical. In most cases, they want networking to work for them. Many times, though, they are not prepared to give it the initial time investment required for it to work.

Trust:

They are normally non-trusting of other recruiters. They are reluctant to openly share candidate contact information and company names.

Effort:

They are often unwilling (or unable) to put forth enough effort to be successful.

Maneuverability:

They are overwhelmed by the vast amount of information in the Network, including its database of candidates for recruitment. The number of systems, the terminology, and the complexity of the systems are often difficult for them to process.

Expectations:

The expectations of networking fluctuate on a per-person basis. They always blame Top Echelon Network or some other recruiter if they are unsuccessful.

Submissions:

If they do input any job orders or candidates, the amount of effort is minimal. In addition, the quality of the information is lacking detail.

Quality:

They always hold back their excellent candidates and excellent job orders so they can earn a full fee. They only share what they can not use.

Trading partners:

They oftentimes view other recruiters in the Network as competitors.

Network billings:

Typically $0, whether it’s a good economy or a bad economy.

Network satisfaction:

Unless they get lucky, they will not make any split placements. If they do not quickly evolve into a Stage 2 Networker, they normally will quit the Network within the first three to nine months.

If you that believe you’re a Stage 1 Networker and you want to evolve as quickly as possible, please contact me at 330.595.1742 or at drea@topechelon.com.

Let’s discuss how you can take the next step in your development as a member of our split network.

Now that we’ve addressed the first stage of networking in TE, we’ll turn to Stage 2 next week.