Ah, springtime . . . a time of renewal . . . a time for hope . . . and time for large placement fees.

Large placement fees? Sure, why not? Actually, when you think about it, ANY time is a good time for large placement fees, even if those placements are splits. Because once again, “Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.”

So it makes sense that “Half a large placement fee is better than no fee at all.”

With this in mind, we announce the largest split placement fees in TE Network for the month of February. At the top of the heap is a $72K fee earned by Ron Thomason of Source Financial Staffing and Ali Taghikhani of Synapse International.

Ron and Ali placed a Head of Fund Accounting to earn their $72K fee at 25%. However, as you can see below, they were not the only TE Network recruiters to share big fees in February. Take a look and see the fees!

As a friendly reminder, Top Echelon determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its TE 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 – February 2025

— — —

First Place:

Ron Thomason of Source Financial Staffing and Ali Taghikhani of Synapse International (inactive)

Ron Thomason

The position for this split placement was a Head of Fund Accounting and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Ron was the job order recruiter and Ali was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $72,000.

— — —

Second Place:

Phil Hurd of Oculus Search Partners, LLC and Rick Gallin of Gallin Associates

Rick Gallin

Phil Hurd of Oculus Search Partners, LLC

The position for this split placement was a Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Phil was the job order recruiter and Rick was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $46,000.

— — —

Third Place:

Michael Lebowitz of Global Personnel and W Scott Krepps of We Do The Search

Michael Lebowitz

W. Scott Krepps

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $35,750.

— — —

Fourth Place:

Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC and Gary Schultz of Work 22, Inc.

Ron Sunshine

Gary Schultz

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $33,750.

–— — —

Fifth Place:

Andrew Norton of T. Burks & Associates and Tom Honeywill of Decide Consulting (inactive)

Andrew Norton

Tom Honeywill

The position for this split placement was an IT Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Andrew was the job order recruiter and Tom 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.

Can you believe that it’s the middle of March? We can not believe it.

Can you believe that we have the recruiters of the month in TE Network for February? We can believe it, and so should you! Why? Because they’re right there, down below. Do you see them?

Anyway, Ron Thomason of Source Financial Staffing won Recruiter of the Month accolades for the split he made with Ali Taghikhani of Synapse International. That one split brought Ron a cash-in of $33,840 for the month.

In addition, we had not one, but two ties among the top five recruiters of the month. But enough pontificating . . . see for yourself!

Here is the information that we include with the Recruiter of the Month feature in TE 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’ve made.)
3. The number of splits that the recruiters made during the month.
4. The number of splits each recruiter has made during their TE Network career.
5. Each recruiter’s cash-in total for their TE Network career.

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

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

Recruiters of the Month – February 2025

— — —

First Place:

Ron Thomason

Recruiter: Ron Thomason 
Agency: Source Financial Staffing
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $33,840.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 3
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $46,530.00

— — —

Second Place (Tie):

Phil Hurd

Recruiter: Phil Hurd 
Agency: Oculus Search Partners, LLC 
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $21,620.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 67
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $541,030.21

— — —

Second Place (Tie):

Rick Gallin

Recruiter: Rick Gallin 
Agency: Gallin Associates
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $21,620.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 17
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $192,224.67

Third Place:

David Wood

Recruiter: David Wood, CPC 
Agency: The David Wood Company
Placements: Two (2)
Cash-in total: $21,334.24
Career Top Echelon placements: 119
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,275,969.18

— — —

Fourth Place:

Michael Stuck

Recruiter: Michael Stuck
Agency: Gables Search Group
Placements: Four (4)
Cash-in total: $17,409.58
Career Top Echelon placements: 599
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $4,232,408.46

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

W. Scott Krepps

Recruiter: W. Scott Krepps
Agency: We Do the Search
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $16,802.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 1
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $16,802.50

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

Michael Lebowitz

Recruiter: Michael Lebowitz
Agency: Global Personnel
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $16,802.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 1
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $16,802.50

— — —

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.

I’ve blogged on numerous occasions about the importance of both the candidate recruiter and the job order recruiter doing their due diligence in Top Echelon’s recruiting network.

I know that it’s human nature to “cut corners” in the interest of saving time and doing less work. However, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to overcome human nature and instead adhere to The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network . . . especially the Pillar of QUALITY.

Let’s start with what you should NOT do as the candidate recruiter in Top Echelon. You should NOT just send a resume without screening or qualifying the candidate at all.

Yes, that’s easier. Yes, that saves time. But no, that is NOT what you should do if you want to brand yourself as a quality recruiter and a quality split recruiting partner in the Network.

Drea says: CALL the candidate!

Instead, you should CALL the candidate and speak with them. First of all, they should know who you are when the job order recruiter drops your name at a later date. Second, you need to qualify them.

In fact, below are six things you should find out during that phone screening:

1. The type of position they’re looking for.

2. Whether or not they’re currently employed.

3. If they are employed, what their compensation requirements are.

4. If they’re open to the position for which you’d like to submit them.

5. If there’s relocation or travel associated with the position, if they’re open to those, as stated in the job description.

6. The reason that they’re looking for a new job.

This initial phone screening is the important first step of the candidate recruiter’s responsibility during the split placement process. I’ll be addressing the next steps in future Pinnacle blog posts.

In the meantime, do NOT just forward a resume to the job order recruiter. If you want your split network partners to take your candidate and the process seriously, they expect you to take it just as seriously.

Always submit a screened and qualified candidate to your trading partners.

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

If there’s one thing we like to do in Top Echelon, it’s make the new members of TE Network feel welcome.

And we have a new batch of recruiting agencies that joined TE Network during the month of February!

As you can see, the recruiting agencies listed below all work in different industries and disciplines. So what are the chances that they’re working in one of your industries and disciplines?

Take a look at the new TE Network members and find out!

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 TE 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 TE 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 – February 2025

— — —

Biotech Vista Recruiting
Industries: Biotech Start-up 
Recruiters: Mary Thacker
Location: Andover, ME

— — —

Catalyst Staffing
Industries: Pharma, and Fintech
Recruiters: Joe Esposito
Location: New York, NY

— — —

Kingfisher Recruiting
Industries: Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Corporate Retail
Recruiters: Derek Hilbert
Location: New Hudson, MI

— — —

Pinnacle Path Recruiting Firm
Industries: Engineering, Manufacturing, and Insurance
Recruiters: Dai Williams
Location: Richardson, TX

— — —

RaVenna Partners LLC
Industries: Healthcare, Manufacturing, Finance, Software, Construction, Elections
Recruiters: JoAnn Cox
Location: Omaha, NE

— — —

Veridian National Search
Industries: Audit/Tech/Tax Accounting, and Finance 
Recruiters: James McMahon
Location: Chicago, IL

— — —

It doesn’t matter if you’re a newer TE Network recruiter or an established member. If you want help making split placements with other 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.

March is a BIG month for Top Echelon and TE Network. One reason, of course, is that we’re celebrating our 37th birthday.

And a related reason is that we have some major anniversaries in TE Network this month. One of them is Steve Brody and Executive Resource Systems, the last Charter Member of Top Echelon.

Steve, who is a member of the Top Echelon Hall of Fame, has made 147 TE placements and billed over $1 million in his illustrious Network career.

However, he’s not the only member agency celebrating a big anniversary this month. That’s because Susan Lordan and Lordan Associates are celebrating their 33rd anniversary as a TE Network member.

And, as you can see below, there are also two member agencies celebrating an anniversary of 20 years or more: Easley Resource Group, Inc. and Gables Search Group.

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 March!

— — —

37-Year Anniversary

• Executive Resource Systems in Orange, California

— — —

33-Year Anniversary

• Lordan Associates in Clearwater, Florida

— — —

25-Year Anniversary

• Easley Resource Group, Inc. in Lake Oswego, Oregon

— — —

20-Year Anniversary

• Gables Search Group in Willoughby, Ohio

— — —

17-Year Anniversary

• Integritas Search in South Bend, Indiana

— — —

15-Year Anniversary

• KOB Solutions Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

— — —

14-Year Anniversary

• R.L. Wilson & Associates in Tyler, Texas

— — —

13-Year Anniversary

• Lakeview Staffing Solutions, LLC in Green Bay, Wisconsin

— — —

12-Year Anniversary

• Hollinger Jobs in Somerset, New Jersey

— — —

10-Year Anniversary

• Client Staffing Solutions, Inc. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• DriveStaff in Wheaton, Illinois

— — —

10-Year Anniversary

• Questgroup Consultants, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio

— — —

7-Year Anniversary

• CPG Talent Management, LLC in Elmhurst, Illinois
• James Grayem in Rancho Mission Viejo, California

— — —

6-Year Anniversary

• Pam & Co. in Orlando, Florida

– — —

5-Year Anniversary

• ProSource IT in Miami Lakes, Florida

— — —

4-Year Anniversary

• Cole Professional Search in Ivy, VA
• Confident Search Consultants in Old Medford, OR
• Harkins Smith & Associates in Fort Mills, SC
• HRTC Technology, LLC in Marietta, GA
• Selective Resources, LLC in Guilford, IN

— — —

3-Year Anniversary

• 3D Executive Search Partners in Dallas, TX
• Gruen Search Consultants, Inc. in East Alton, IL
• ParkerBeth in Roseville, CA
• Resource Squared, LLC in Columbus, OH
• Tri-Starr Group in San Antonio, TX

— — —

2-Year Anniversary

• A to Z Search Group in Cincinnati, OH
• DCS Consulting in Aurora, CO
• Everest Management Solutions in Brooklyn, New York
• Fischer Search Group, LLC in Royal Oak, MI
• The Greer Group in Raleigh, NC
• M-Works Search in Chicago, IL
• Pedagog in Indianapolis, Indiana
• VHCS in Sparta, NJ

— — —

1-Year Anniversary

• Advanced Worker in Lakewood, OH
• Bienville Recruiting in Mobile, AL
• Cour Consultants in Dallas, TX
• Imperative Recruiting in Denver, CO
• JKW Associates, LLC in Somersworth, NH
• The KPM Group in Northville, MI
• Priority Staffing Services in Norfolk, VA
• Resource Search, LLC in Brighton, MI
• SCOUT Solutions Group in Louisville, KY
• Tim Springer & Associates in Dublin, OH
• Texas Admin Partners in Plano, TX

— — —

Thank you to all of these recruiting 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!