It has come to a point where I have to make a call on a very sensitive area that affects a few members in the Network.  So I will start with stating Top Echelon Network Policy to direct the issue at hand.

Top Echelon Policy #12: Candidate and Job Orders Submissions

“Preferred Members may only distribute their own candidates and their own job orders through Top Echelon Network. Submitting resumes and job orders for distribution through Top Echelon Network for a non-Network Member is prohibited.

“Job orders submitted to the Network must be for actual openings, where a client company has given assignment to the recruiter.”

In short, if it is not a job for which your client has engaged you directly for a set fee and guarantee, then it does not belong in Network. When viewed through the parameters of this policy, this means that no “middle man” type of service should be involved.

Thus, this brings me to my point. As of March 1, 2018, only job orders for which your client has engaged you directly for a set fee and guarantee will be permitted to be shared through Top Echelon Network’s Split Jobs Database. With that said, job orders that involve any type of “middle man” service will NOT be permitted to be shared.

Also for clarification, other jobs and/or candidates from outside entities (recruiters, networks, or groups) are NOT permitted, either.

There are many factors and problems that are involved with these types of jobs. However, they can be summed up be looking at two of of the Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network: Quality and Communication. Those factors and problems include the following:

• There is no guarantee that the “middle man” service or entity accepted the job order and wrote the job description with a strong grasp on the position, the company culture, and full picture of what it takes to make this placement happen.
• There is also no guarantee of connection or relationship with anybody working at the “middle man” service or entity. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the “middle man” service is reliable for proper response, feedback, or follow-up. As a result, Top Echelon Network split partners who are working these job orders may not know what is going on, when it is happening, and with whom. Relationships and communication are two of the cornerstones of our recruiting network.
• If a Top Echelon Network member submits a candidate through one of these “middle man” entities, that candidate could end up in a “black hole,” with no right of referral attached to them or accountability to the entity to fully honor that candidate submittal.
• You joined a split network to leverage your time and resources, not to waste those precious commodities. These type of job orders add a layer of unnecessary and unwanted complexity to the Network dynamic.

We utilize Top Echelon Policy to help guide the direction and focus of this Network.  Tools and services has entered the market over the years, but that hasn’t, and shouldn’t, and will not alter the direction of Top Echelon Network.

In addition, I have asked many members their thoughts regarding this issue, and those conversations have led me to the finalization of this issue.

If you have questions regarding this announcement or this issue, please contact me. You can do so by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Early Bird Registration for the 2018 Top Echelon National Convention is over, but you can still register! And to convince you to do so, one of the top industry trainers is here to deliver a special message.

Barb Bruno, CPC/CTS of Good as Gold Training is one of the main speakers for the convention. Barb has served as the speaker at Top Echelon recruiter networking events in the past. In addition, she’s a proven veteran of the recruiting industry.

30 years = a special convention

As we’ve announced before, this will be our 30th anniversary convention. (Top Echelon is celebrating the big 3-0 next month. Want proof? Visit our 30th anniversary convention website.) As such, this is a special convention! We have a LOT of celebrating to do, and we want to do that celebrating with you.

In the meantime, though, Barb is here with a special convention message. As you can see below, it’s a video message. Don’t worry, though. It’s not that long. And as you’ll see, it will introduce a little “Sunshine” into your day.

Presenting the one, the only Barb Bruno . . .

Below are some fun facts about the 2018 Top Echelon National Convention. (As you may notice, Barb covered some of this material in her video message. You DID watch the video . . . right?)

• The dates of the convention are Tuesday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 25.
  
• The location is the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Industry trainer Greg Doersching of Bullseye Mentor will also be a speaker at the convention.
• There are already almost 100 recruiters who have signed up!

In case you don’t know, you can register for the conference in the Members’ Area. The links are located on the left-hand side of the page, and you can sign up with a credit card.

Come to Nashville, meet your split recruiting partners, meet new recruiters, and make more placements!

We all know that the Stock Market has experienced some turmoil during the last couple of weeks. However, does that make you any more or less optimistic about the recruiting industry?

Well, that’s pretty much a moot question for the purposes of this blog post. That’s because we asked Top Echelon Network members how they felt about the industry before the Stock Market was in turmoil.

However, recruiters have told us that they believe the Stock Market has little to no effect on the recruiting industry. So if the Market goes down, they don’t really worry about it. If that’s truly the case, then what’s been happening hasn’t much affected the way recruiters think.

And how do they think? I’m glad you asked . . .

Are you more optimistic about the recruiting industry than you were a year ago today?

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of split network recruiters that selected each one:

• Yes, much more optimistic. — 26.4%
• Yes, a little more optimistic. — 31.8%
• Nah, my thoughts are the same. — 23.6%
• No, a little more pessimistic. — 10.9%
• No, a lot more pessimistic. — 7.3%

More optimistic than not

First the good news: recruiters are more optimistic than they were last year! The top answer in our poll was “Yes, a little more optimistic” with 31.8% of the vote. In second place was “Yes, much more optimistic” at 26.4%. Put those two answers together, and you have 58.2% of recruiters who are optimistic to some degree.

Then there’s the 23.6% of recruiters that chose “Nah, my thoughts are the same” as their answer. Unfortunately, we don’t know what their thoughts were last year. Specifically, we don’t know if they were optimistic or pessimistic last year. So we don’t exactly know if they’re more optimistic or pessimistic this year. (Hey, we never claimed this was perfect.)

But we have even MORE good news. That’s because 10.9% of recruiters indicated that they’re “a little more pessimistic,” while just 7.3% claimed to be “a lot more pessimistic.” Now let’s those percentages together.

The result: just 18.2% of recruiters are more pessimistic (in some fashion) than they were last year. That is a low level of pessimism and plenty of reason to think that 2018 will be just as good to recruiters as 2017.

As long as the Stock Market can behave. For the most part, anyway.