Perhaps no other member recruiter embodies the Top Echelon Network Pillar of Quality like Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services.

Throughout his tenure as a Network recruiter, Bob has placed a high premium on quality. Specifically, that premium has included:

• His dealings with trading partners
• The candidates presented, either by himself or his trading partners
• Interactions with both candidates and hiring authorities
• The entirety of the placement process

In fact, Bob’s dedication to quality is one of the reasons that he’s the Recruiter of the Week in Top Echelon Network!

Bob Long: quality AND consistency

Bob Long

Bob has consistently made split placements in Top Echelon Network. He’s made at least one placement every year since 2008. But as you might expect, it’s more about quality than quantity.

Bob makes it a point to praise his trading partners for the high quality of work that they do during the placement process. He shows appreciation for their efforts and he lauds those efforts. For the vast majority of placements that Bob has made in TE, he has praised his trading partners in this fashion. Three examples of this are located below.

Bob recently earned the largest placement fee of his Network career, splitting a $50,000 fee with John Moskonas of The ARGroup of Search Companies. Alas, it was not large enough to be considered the Largest Split Fee of the Month for February. However, it serves as a fitting centerpiece for Bob’s winning of this award.

So congratulations to Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services, the Recruiter of the Week in Top Echelon Network!

— — —

Greg Downs, CPC

“Greg came up with an excellent candidate for this very specific opening. His wife already lived in the area and the candidate was working out of state. Everything worked out for both the client company, the candidate, Greg, myself, and Top Echelon. This is the second placement we’ve made together. I look forward to doing more with you!”

Submitted by Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services regarding his Network split placement with Greg Downs, CPC of Downs Associates

Position Title—MRO SOURCING MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

Trey Cameron

“Trey, excellent candidate. They did an onsite interview with another candidate. Then I brought up [our candidate], who they previously phone interviewed. The interview did not go as well as I had expected. I persuaded them to talk to [our candidate] before they made a decision. I gave him excellent preparation and he followed all of the pointers, sold himself. They were ready to make him an offer, then they wanted to consider another candidate. They offered [our candidate] the job on Friday. He accepted on the spot!

Submitted by Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services regarding his Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—SR. ENGINEER – MECHANICAL

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

John Moskonas

“John’s insurance expertise provided an outstanding candidate for the job. The candidate was somewhat difficult to work with. Once she was given an offer, she gave the company a counter-offer, and fortunately the company agreed to meet her on some of her terms. John did an excellent job by finding a highly qualified candidate for a very difficult position to fill. I look forward to more splits with John in the future!”

Submitted by Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services regarding his Network split placement with John Moskonas of The ARGroup of Search Companies

Position Title—DIRECTOR – FINANCIAL AND REGULATORY REPORTING

Fee Percentage—25%

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

Typically, the Largest Split Fee of the Month in Top Echelon Network is somewhere in the $35,000 to $50,000 range. Well, that wasn’t the case in February. Put your hands together and applaud the largest split fee in the Network last month: $67,500!

One of the recruiters associated with the placement just happens to be the Network’s top producer. That’s right, Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group. The other recruiter was Debbie Winkelbauer of Surf Search, who is in her second stint of Network membership.

Let’s break down the return on investment on a placement fee of this size. As we’ve detailed before, the cost of Network membership for an entire year is $130 x 12 months = $1,560.

So then let’s take the placement fee of $67,500. Subtract the 6% brokerage fee, with 3% paid by each recruiter. That 3% is represented by $2,025. So both Cameron and Winkelbauer paid $2,025 to Top Echelon Network for this placement.

Get your hands on this ROI

However, both Cameron and Winkelbauer also received $31,725. So even if that placement was the only placement they made in the Network all year, this would be their ROI:

$1,560 + $2,025 = an investment of $3,585. (Even though we don’t have to include the brokerage fee as part of the investment, we will.)

$31,725 of return on $3,585 of investment = a nearly 900% return on investment!

No matter how you do the math, the investment you make in a split placement network like Top Echelon pays off. All you have to do is make one placement per year. And it’s a placement you would NOT have made otherwise, anyway!

So congratulations to Trey Cameron and Debbie Winkelbauer for making the biggest split in the Network for the month of February! Put your hands together . . . again!

— — —

Largest Split Fee of the Month:

Debbie Winkelbauer

Trey Cameron

Debbie Winkelbauer of Surf Search and Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

The position for this split placement was a Director of Utilization Management. Winkelbauer was the job order recruiter, and Cameron was the candidate recruiter.

The action that stimulated this split placement was listed as “Network Jobs Feed.”

The fee for this split placement was $67,500.

— — —

Top Echelon determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its Network recruiting awards in four distinct categories, which are listed below:

1.) Recruiter of the Month
2.) Largest Split Fee of the Month
3.) Recruiter of the Quarter
4.) Largest Split Fee of the Quarter

The winners of these awards are only announced in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, usually (but not always) in the issue following the conclusion of each month and/or quarter.

Last week, I asked you to “change your tune” about the upcoming National Convention. This week, I’m asking you to “take the plunge” and attend the Convention!

As usual, I’m not asking you to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. And when I say something like that, you know there’s entertainment coming your way.

Plunge away, Andreas COLD-ispoti

A couple of years ago, I made a “snow angel” outside of Top Echelon corporate headquarters. It was cold as cold can be. Why did I do that? To promote the 2015 National Convention, that’s why!

And so I’ve done something borderline crazy yet again. To find out what that might be, watch the video below. As you might have already guessed, it involves freezing-cold temperatures. But instead of snow, it’s water.

All I want to do is get your attention and challenge your thinking. Press the play button and we’ll both “take the plunge”!

Once again, below is the “nitty-gritty”:

• The dates of the convention are Tuesday, April 25, and Wednesday, April 26.
• Jordan Rayboy of Rayboy Insider Search will be the keynote speaker.
• The location is the DoubleTree Hilton at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
• The cost of Regular Registration is $465 per person.
• The Regular Registration period ends on Friday, March 31.

That’s right, the Regular Registration period ends this Friday! Remember, you can sign up for the convention online in the Members’ Area with a credit card.

There are candidates waiting in Orlando

I’m not “all wet” about the National Convention. Okay, I might have been literally all wet. But not figuratively. I know what I’m talking about.

I get it. You’re busy on your recruiting desk. You’ve got job orders to fill. Clients are calling over and over asking for more candidates.

But that is exactly why you should attend the convention. There will be potential trading partners in Orlando who could have the candidates you need to make these placements.

Attending recruiter networking events like the convention is one of the best ways to make more money in TE. Like I said last week, I’ve never had somebody say that they regretted attending one of our events. Instead, they rave about their experience.

So “change your tune,” “take the plunge,” and join us in Orlando. You’ll be glad you did! (And I promise that we won’t do anything TOO crazy once we get there.)

Last week, we talked about whether or not TE recruiters have been surprised by Network placements. This week, we’re going to talk about how angry you people have been during your recruiting careers.

Boy, we’re getting pretty emotional during the month of March, aren’t we? Well, you know what they say: in like a lion, out like a lamb. (Or is that April? I can never remember for sure.)

Anyway, here’s the question we posed to the Network membership in our most recent Members’ Area poll:

What’s the angriest you’ve ever been about a lost placement in your career?

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

• “I nearly had a stroke” angry — 16.2%
• “I slammed down/threw the phone” angry — 12.2%
• “It almost ruined my day” angry — 31.1%
• “It briefly raised my blood pressure” angry — 31.1%
• I have never been angry about a lost placement. — 9.5%

“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry . . .”

We have a tie, believe it or not!

The same percentage of recruiters (31.1%) chose both “It almost ruined my day” and “It briefly raised my blood pressure.” All in all, that’s not too bad. That’s because:

• In 62.2% of the instances, it did NOT ruin the recruiter’s day. It almost ruined the recruiter’s day. By the time bedtime rolled around, these recruiters had forgotten all about their lost placement. They were humming a show tune and/or whistling to themselves, with nary a care in the world.
• High blood pressure is a health risk, but only if levels remain elevated for an extended period of time. Here, we’re just talking about briefly raising blood pressure. Maybe it was just for a few minutes. At any rate, it wasn’t enough to put the recruiters’ health at risk. Unless they’re already smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

Let’s switch over to our other group of recruiters: the raving lunatics. No, that wasn’t fair. I’ve never seen $25,000 go up in smoke right in front of my eyes. I can’t speak to the range of emotions that might cause.

Now THIS is quality phone time

Over 16% of poll participants “nearly had a stroke” while losing a placement once upon their career. Another 12.2% did one of four things or a creative combination thereof:

1. Slammed down their telephone
2. Threw their telephone
3. Slammed down their telephone and then threw it
4. Threw their telephone, then walked over to it, picked it up, and slammed it down

And then there are those who “have never been angry about a lost placement.” This angelic faction accounted for 9.5% of the recruiters in our poll. I’d like to commend you on your otherworldly disposition, but I noticed that your phone is ringing. Better pick it up.

It’s probably a fall-off.

If you’d like to be happier in our recruiting network, then contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS. You can do so by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Last week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we presented “6 Reasons Why Candidates Are Choosing Contracting.” And you absolutely want to keep your contractors happy. That’s because a happy contractor equals a happy client.

However, there’s one thing that can make contractors unhappy: lack of communication. With that in mind, here are four key conversations you may want to have with all of your contractors:

1. Before placing your contractors:

This conversation has more to do with listening than talking. In addition to skills and experience, find out what their career goals are, why they want to work on contract, and what they are looking for in a contract assignment. By doing this, you will be more likely to place them in the right contract assignment.

2. Before the assignment starts:

Be sure to provide your contractor with detailed instructions about the assignment. This includes when it will start, what the company culture is like, and exactly what will be expected of them. Also include what paperwork and tasks will need to be completed before they can start.

In addition, don’t assume that they understand how a contract assignment works. Explain who their employer will be (either you as the recruiter or a contract staffing back office). Also explain that they will be paid on a W-2 and what that means, and who they should contact for specific questions.

3. During the assignment:

Touching base with contractors periodically during their assignments is a good way to head off small problems before they become big ones. And it shows them that you care, which is one way to ensure a satisfied, loyal contractor. There’s also another benefit. By talking to an active contractor you have placed with a client, you may hear about other contract positions the client has open and that you may be able to fill!

4. When the assignment is being extended or is ending:

Contract assignments are always changing. A company may only plan to use a contractor for three months but end up keeping them for a year. Sometimes a contractor is promised temp-to-direct, but is left wondering when they will be converted.  The most important thing is to keep the contractor in the loop as much as you can about when the assignment will end or when they will go direct.

And if you do know an assignment is ending, ask if they’re interested in taking more contract assignments. Having another assignment ready to go when their current one ends will go a long way toward keeping your contractors happy. And it also keeps your contract staffing income flowing!

Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to these conversations. The point is that contractors want to hear from you. By making yourself available and communicating important information to them promptly, you will have happy contractors, and as a result, happy clients.