In Top Echelon Network, recruiter networking is the way you make more placements. This has been proven over and over (and over) again.

This is why we hold a National Convention and a Fall Conference every year. We know how important it is for Network recruiters to meet each other face-to-face.

And while getting to know each other over food and drink is important, it can’t stop there. We’ve designed these events to include both formal and informal recruiter networking opportunities. This way, we “cover all the bases,” so to speak, helping to maximize these opportunities.

Recruiter networking = more split placements

The bottom line is that recruiter networking = more split placements, pure and simple. That’s why we’ve stuffed the upcoming 2016 National Convention in Las Vegas full of both formal and information networking.

In this blog post, we’re identifying and promoting the formal sessions that will allow recruiters to network with one another at the convention. The titles of these sessions and their descriptions are below. (You can view the agenda for the convention in its entirety in the Top Echelon Network Members’ Area.)

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“Strategy-Building Lightning Rounds”

Network recruiters will discuss three different topics in this ever-popular session, during which they’ll share their thoughts and experiences while solving today’s recruiting problems.

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“Who’s Who and Who’s New”

New Top Echelon Network members will introduce themselves, sharing their areas of specialization. This is a great way to learn who is new to the Network and who your new trading partners are for tomorrow’s split placements.

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“Make Your Next Placement”

Connect with the new Network members to whom you were just introduced and the other recruiters in your niche and schedule time to talk at and/or after the convention. Set yourself up to partner for success.

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“Planning for Success in Your Niche”

Network members will sit at niche-specific tables to discuss the current struggles they face and plan for the future of recruiting in their niche. This session represents an excellent opportunity to plan for tomorrow’s success, today.

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To sign up for the convention with a credit card, login to the Members’ Area and locate the convention registration links on the left-hand side of the page. Click on the appropriate links and follow the instructions to submit the correct information.

Below are additional details regarding the convention:

• The dates are Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20.
• The cost of Regular Registration is $365 per person.
• The site is the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino.
• Industry trainer Greg Doersching of Bullseye Mentor will be the keynote speaker.

If you have any questions about registration (or about any other aspects of the convention), please contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispodi, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

The Top Echelon Network anniversaries that we’re celebrating during the month of March are by far the biggest that we’ve celebrated so far!

Not to downplay the ones we have celebrated so far, but we have 11 anniversaries this month. The lengths of those anniversaries include:

• 28 years
• 24 years (two firms)
• 23 years (two firms)
• 22 years
• 21 years

Steve Brody: Origin Story

The one on which we’d like to focus is the first one. Steve Brody of Executive Resource Systems is a Charter Member of Top Echelon Network. That means he joined the Network in its first year of existence.

In fact, Steve joined on the Network’s very first day of existence: March 8, 1988. (Yes, that’s right . . . we’re also celebrating an anniversary this month.) In 1988, Top Echelon Network was not named Top Echelon Network. It was named Nationwide Interchange Service (NIS).

Steve Brody has done just about everything you can do in this network. That includes making over 100 placements, attending numerous conferences and conventions, and visiting the TE offices even though he lives in California! (The photo above shows Steve shaking the hand of Top Echelon Network founder Mike Kappel in 2013.)

It’s been a wild ride with plenty of placements, relationships, and memories. Thanks, Steve!

Congratulations to Steve Brody and everybody else celebrating an anniversary this month in Top Echelon Network!

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28-Year Anniversary

Executive Resource Systems
Staff Members: Steve Brody and Stacie Miebach
Agency Join Date: March 8, 1988
Placements: 109

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24-Year Anniversary

Kersey & Associates, Inc. in Brevard, North Carolina
Staff Members: David Kersey
Agency Join Date: March 6, 1992
Placements: 109

Lordan & Associates, Inc. in Clearwater, Florida
Staff Members: Susan Lordan
Agency Join Date: March 13, 1992
Placements: 72

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23-Year Anniversary

Clifton Johnson Associates, Inc. in Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Staff Members: Cliff Johnson, Steve Silianoff, and Clay Johnson
Agency Join Date: March 25, 1993
Placements: 166

The Garret Group in Bridgewater, New Jersey
Staff Members: Bernard Stecker and John Wharton
Agency Join Date: March 25, 1993
Placements: 51

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22-Year Anniversary

Harper Hewes Executive Search & Recruiting in Rochester, New York
Staff Members: Debbie Harper, CPC/CERS
Agency Join Date: March 31, 1994
Placements: 63

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21-Year Anniversary

Search Team One in Syracuse, Indiana
Staff Members: Don Walker, CPC; Ed Chambers; Michael Faloon; and Frank Alvey
Agency Join Date: March 17, 1995
Placements: 109

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15-Year Anniversary

J.D. Cotter Search, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio
Staff Members: Joe Cotter, Steve Moore, Doug Boyce, Richard Lowe, Tom Bower, and Rhyan Lowe
Agency Join Date: March 14, 2001
Placements: 150

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10-Year Anniversary

Neil Goldman & Associates in Briarcliff Manor, New York
Staff Members: Neil Goldman
Agency Join Date: March 24, 2006
Placements: 6

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5-Year Anniversaries

R.L. Wilson & Associates in Tyler, Texas
Staff Members: Robert Wilson, Boyd Collier, and Jim Stewart
Agency Join Date: March 22, 2011
Placements: 4

Lodestar Executive Search, LLC in Granger, Indiana
Staff Members: Michael Petras and Mark Petras
Agency Join Date: March 25, 2011
Placements: 10

ROCKSTAR PHOTO OP: Even though trading partner and top producer Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group didn’t contribute a photo for MJ Recruiters’ most recent “split placement selfie,” that did NOT deter Joanna Spaun (left) and Maria Hemminger. They put their creative skills to work and submitted perhaps the most imaginative “split placement selfie” to date.

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We now bring you the final installment of the “MJ Recruiters Split Placement Selfie Trilogy”!

It’s a trilogy namely because MJ Recruiters, LLC recently had three offers accepted in Top Echelon Network in a single week. Then the owners of MJ Recruiters—Joanna Spaun and Maria Hemminger—took a “split placement selfie” with all three of the trading partners involved in those splits.

The first one was with Carol Martin, CPC of Martin Management, Inc. Click here to see why that “selfie” was so noteworthy.

The second one was with Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc. Click here to see how Sean made that “selfie” unique.

And now we’ve reached the third split. This one was with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group. As you can see in the photo above, Spaun and Hemminger added their own creative flair to the “selfie.”

Have we at Top Echelon inadvertently sparked “The Split Placement Selfie Wars”? It would appear that might very well be the case.

After all, is it really that difficult to believe that recruiters enjoy “one-upping” each other? Of course it’s not.

Just remember: Dave Sgro is out there . . . watching . . . and waiting.

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Trey Cameron

Maria Hemminger

“OH MY WORD . . . a split with our dear friend TREY CAMERON! Yet another reason for a ‘split placement selfie’!”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC regarding her Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALIST

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the 15th Network split placement that Hemminger and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon.)

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If you’ve taken a “split placement selfie” with another Top Echelon Network recruiter and you’d like to share that “selfie” with the rest of the membership, send your photo and any accompanying information to marketing@topechelon.com! (The stakes have been raised. And you have been warned.)

There are now well over 1,200 split recruiters in Top Echelon Network, with more recruiters joining every week.

With that many split recruiters, you can expect quite a few success stories. In fact, there are so many that we don’t have time to include them all in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

However, we like to include the ones that highlight the benefits of membership in Top Echelon Network. These are the stories that illustrate exactly why working with another recruiter during the placement process can increase the chances that the process ends with a fee.

Great split recruiters = split placements

In all three of the success stories below, recruiters helped each other overcome obstacles and challenges they experienced during a search. That help translated directly into the successful completion of the search and a placement check. In one of the stories:

• The process took over a year.
• The candidate was interviewed twice by the company.
• The candidate was rejected twice by the company.
• The company eventually called back to hire the candidate.

You truly can not make up stuff like this. True life is stranger than reality, especially if you have chosen recruiting as a profession.

However, if you’ve also chosen to become a member of Top Echelon Network, you can enjoy success a little more often. And that pays off in more ways than one.

If you want to make more of them, I encourage you to contact Top Echelon Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

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Steve Kohn

Robert Alexander

“Renee applied more than a year ago. Client interviewed her twice and rejected her twice. Then they called me out of the blue last month, interviewed her again, and hired her. Even though my six-month dibs on her expired when they called again, they said they’re honoring the referral. This one is a true ‘bonus’ for us both and another great success story for the [TE website] system. Thanks, Bob!”

Submitted by Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search regarding her Network split placement with Robert Alexander of systems Technology International, Inc.

Position Title—SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the first Network split placement that Kohn and Alexander have made together in Top Echelon.)

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Mark London

Carolyn Barcus

“Mark came through again! Although he gets frustrated with my favorite client, he continues to ferret out quality candidates for them and for me. His help is greatly appreciated.”

Submitted by Carolyn Barcus of Barcus Associates regarding his Network split placement with Mark London of Command Consultants, Inc.

Position Title—PHARMA VERTICAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the eighth Network split placement that Barcus and London have made together in Top Echelon.)

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Maria Hemminger

Kenneth Lowry, CPC

“Ken sent us a candidate that was right in our discipline and back yard. I knew when I opened the email that he would be a placement! Thank you, Ken, for keeping in mind our constant need for fresh graduate manufacturing/process engineers.”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC regarding her Network split placement with Kenneth Lowry, CPC of Lowry Personnel Services

Position Title—PROCESS ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the second Network split placement that Hemminger and Lowry have made together in Top Echelon.)