Now only do we have a $35K fee in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, but we also have Top Echelon members who recently made their first Network split placement!

Okay . . . I lied. The amount of the fee is $34,923.75. So I know what you’re thinking. What ELSE have I been lying about, right?

While you ponder the answer to that question, allow me to inform you that Roberto Briones of R.A. Briones & Company and Mark Steele of Steele Staffing, LLC were responsible for said split placement. Robert and Mark placed a Plant Operations Manager to generate that (almost) $35K fee at 25%.

In addition, two Network members made their first TE split recently. Those members were Steele and Petrina Orecchio of Bellwether Staffing Solutions. So not only did Mark made his first Top Echelon Network split placement, but the fee associated with it is also the largest split fee of the week in The Pinnacle!

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 period from March 18 through March 31, 2024.

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: Tom LaRosa of RML Specialty Group, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Maxwell Davis of Higher Talent Group, LLC

Job title: SENIOR FLIGHT TEST ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $27,750

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Job recruiter: Bruce Widnes of Bruce Widnes

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: APPLICATION ENGINEER – C

HEMICAL MIXING AND EXTRUSION

Overall placement fee: $18,260

Fee percentage: 22%

— — —

Job recruiter: Mark Udulutch of Markent Personnel

Candidate recruiter: Randall Hardwick of Avalon Recruiting

Job title: PRODUCT ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $13,250

Fee percentage: 13.25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Chris Ramsay, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Phil Hurd of Oculus Search Partners, LLC

Job title: ACCOUNT MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $20,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Jamie Frankovitch of Kyler Professional Search

Candidate recruiter: Petrina Orecchio of Bellwether Staffing Solutions

Job title: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Overall placement fee: $15,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Roberto Briones of R.A. Briones & Company

Candidate recruiter: Mark Steele of Steele Staffing, LLC

Job title: PLANT OPERATIONS MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $34,923.75

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Brenda Wylie-Biggs of KB Search Team, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: QUALITY SYSTEMS COORDINATOR

Overall placement fee: $15,100.75

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Sharon McCord of McCord Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: REGIONAL SALES MANAGER – INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY

Overall placement fee: $13,500

Fee percentage: 18%

— — —

Job recruiter: Nathan Gruen of Gruen Search Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Job title: WHOLESALE SALES ASSISTANT

Overall placement fee: $13,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

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 Connect 2024 will be here before you know it! We’ve already shared how attending this training and networking event can result in a healthy return on your investment in Top Echelon Network membership.

Now, though, I’d like to announce that there are three sponsors of Top Echelon Connect 2024. They are:

• Recruiters Websites
• Foxhire
• SourceWhale

This week, I’m going to focus on Recruiters Websites within the page of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

Recruiters Websites, a leading provider of cutting-edge website solutions tailored specifically for recruiters and staffing firms, brings a wealth of expertise and resources to the table. Their sponsorship of Top Echelon Connect 2024 underscores their commitment to supporting the growth and success of recruiters by providing them with the tools they need to thrive in a competitive market.

One of the key benefits of partnering with Recruiters Websites is their focus on user experience and functionality. Their websites are designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy for both recruiters and candidates to navigate and interact with the platform. From sleek and modern designs to seamless integration with applicant tracking systems and other recruitment tools, Recruiters Websites offers a comprehensive solution that meets the diverse needs of recruiters across industries.

In fact, Steve Gipson of Recruiters Websites will be presenting one of the sessions at Top Echelon Connect 2024 in St. Petersburg. The title of that session is “You, Marketing, and Your Website.” That session is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 2.

And you may know, Recruiters Websites is currently offering a complimentary Website Performance Review for Top Echelon customers. Below are the areas that Recruiters Websites will cover during your review:

Below is what you can expect from your FREE review from Recruiters Websites:

• Your messaging effectiveness
• Calls to action assessment
• Site navigation optimization
• Targeted improvements for better responses

Feel like your website could be doing more? Visit this link or call (573) 837-1315 ext. 217 to schedule your FREE 15-minute live review from Recruiters Websites.

Once again, below is the important logistical information regarding Connect 2024:

• Dates: Thursday, May 2, and Friday, May 3
• Location: Tradewinds Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida
• Room Rate: $229 per night
• Main speaker: Scott Love

To book a room at the Tradewinds, call the hotel’s group reservations number at (800) 808-9833 and mention that you are with Top Echelon in order to receive our special room rate. (And for you trivia buffs out there, it’s worth mentioning that the Tradewinds was the site of Top Echelon’s very first convention for recruiters more than 30 years ago.)

As we’ve done for our past several recruiter networking events, we have a special website dedicated to Top Echelon Connect 2024.

The URL for that website is connect.topechelon.com. In the meantime . . .

Click HERE to register for Top Echelon Connect 2024!

If you have any questions about registration (or about any other aspects of the convention), please contact me at 330.595.1742 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

Welcome to the third and final (?) installment about why you should be sharing all of your jobs with Top Echelon Network.

Actually, this blog post is a combination of posts from two different series. One series, of course, is the “Sharing ALL of Your Jobs with the Network” series. The other one is the “Recruiter Stories from Top Echelon Network Lore” series.

That’s because we have a Network story that involves sharing all of your job orders or search assignments with Top Echelon Network. The story in question involves TE member Keith Cornelison of Personnel Resources in Tipp City, Ohio. Keith shares his story below:

“I was using the Top Echelon recruiting software for my database for years, and Drea [Codispoti] had talked to me a couple of times and said [I should] try the Network. So reluctantly, I put one of my jobs out there and made a split. Then he said, you need to put more jobs out there, so I put a couple more in the Network and filled both of those.

“Then Drea asked why I was not putting ALL of my jobs out there, and I’m glad that I took his advice. Things have gone great since then, and I’ve made several splits and met a lot of good people along the way.

“Thanks, Drea, for the nudge, and thanks to all the split partners who take time to look at my openings.”

Keith is being humble when he says that he’s made “several” splits in Top Echelon Network. In fact, since becoming a TE member, Keith has made 144 split placements. Those placements have generated a cash-in total of more than $824K.

All because he took my advice and shared ALL of his jobs with Top Echelon Network. Right now, Keith has 75 jobs shared with the Network.

How many jobs are you sharing? One of them? Half of them? More than half?

How much more convincing do you need than the story about a recruiter who reluctantly shared all of his jobs and then made 144 placements?

Keith was skeptical, just like you. However, he pushed past the skepticism and did what was best for his recruiting business. And he reaped the rewards . . . and continues to reap them.

If you have questions and/or you’d like more information, I encourage you to contact me.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Membership in Top Echelon’s recruiting network is like anything else in business . . . or in life, for that matter. You make an investment in it, and you would like a return on that investment, or a ROI.

(Not everything in life offers a return on investment. Like being a Cleveland Browns fan, for example.)

But membership in Top Echelon’s split network? Yes, you would like—and even expect—a return on your investment.

In fact, we JUST talked about how you can earn an almost 500% return on your TE investment by making just one split placement in the Network per year. So, we got the ball rolling . . . now let’s keep it rolling!

And of course, let’s run the numbers again . . .

Network ROI: Breaking Down the Numbers

So your agency pays $135 per month for your Top Echelon Network membership. Projected over the course of a year, your agency would pay $1,620 in membership fees.

Let’s say you only make one Network split placement during the course of your first year of membership. The average split placement fee in Top Echelon Network is usually around $20,000. And that might be a low estimate, depending upon the industry and niche in which you work. (In fact, the average placement fee in the Network in 2023 was a touch over $21K.)

Now, take away Top Echelon’s 6% brokerage fee (3% from each recruiter) and you have $18,800.

Divide that number by two, since it’s a split placement, and you have $9,400 for each recruiter. (Or for each recruiting firm.)

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you attend this year’s Top Echelon Network National Convention, also known as Top Echelon Connect 2024. However, let’s also say that you make a split placement as a result of attending. This is a placement that you would NOT have made otherwise.

But let’s also say that you spend $2,000 to attend the conference, what with registration, travel, and your hotel stay. Where does that leave us in the Land of ROI?

Once again, to calculate our ROI, we will subtract the initial cost of the investment from its final value, then divide this new number by the cost of the investment, and finally, multiply it by 100.

Initial cost: $3,620 ($1,620 in membership dues + $2,000 cost of attending the convention)
Final value: $9,400 (your agency’s half of the split placement fee)

• $9,400 (final value) – $3,620 (initial cost) = $5,780
• $5,780/$3,620 = 1.60
• 1.60 x 100 = 160

So, if you make one split placement as a result of attending Top Echelon Connect 2024, your agency will receive a 160% return on its investment.

And sure, a 500% return is better than a 160% return, but don’t forget that the cost of your initial investment ($5,780) may very well be tax-deductible. However, please consult your accountant for iron-clad tax advice. I am neither a real accountant, nor do I play one on television.

When you attend recruiter networking events like Top Echelon Connect 2024, you are dramatically increasing the chances that you’ll make split placements in the near future. And as we just calculated, you only need to make one split to receive a great ROI. If you’re a newer Network member, this is the perfect opportunity for you to “hit the ground running.”

But Early Bird Registration for Connect 2024 is ending soon. (It ends on April 15, as a matter of fact.)

So click HERE to register today and start getting a bigger return on your Top Echelon Network investment!

I’m pleased to announce the Virtual Core Group (VCG) meeting schedule for the month of April!

For those of you who don’t know, Top Echelon Network recruiters share the following information during Virtual Core Group teleconference call meetings:

• Hot job orders and candidates
• Information about the activity they’re seeing in the marketplace and/or in their niche
• Ideas for increased production on their desks and within their agencies

These are the activities that lead most directly to making more split placements in Top Echelon Network.

So that is why I’m inviting—or in other words, strongly encouraging—you to attend one of these Virtual Core Group meetings. Below is the complete VCG schedule for April, including the industries involved and the time that each meeting will be held. (Note: all times are Eastern.)

Tuesday, April 9:

• 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. — Healthcare
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Sales & Marketing

Wednesday, April 10:

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. — Manufacturing/Engineering
• 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. — Information Technology
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Biotechnology/Pharmacology

Thursday, April 11:

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. — Architectural/Engineering/Construction
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Accounting & Finance

You can join the meeting to which you belong by accessing the information listed below.

Google Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/qba-qdic-kou

Below is the agenda for each Virtual Core Group meeting:

1. Welcome
2. Roll call of the members
3. I will share the latest software updates for both Top Echelon Network and the Top Echelon recruiting software.
4. Members will share their hot jobs with corresponding group discussion.
5. I will direct a software and Network protocol Q&A session to close the call.

It is my goal that this agenda will help you take away more from the meeting than just hot jobs and/or candidates. Hopefully, it will help make you more knowledgeable in terms of the Top Echelon community.

If you’d like to join one of the groups listed above or if you’d like to start a new group, please contact me.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.