It might be an understatement to say that Top Echelon Network recruiter Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc. is on a roll.

Stuck was named the Recruiter of the Month in the Network for the month of March.  For another, he’s made nine split placements in the Network already in 2013.  For yet another, he’s currently ranked fourth in the Network in terms of overall production during the past 12 months.

Stuck joined Top Echelon as a Preferred Member recruiter in 2004, but his Network production has grown by leaps and bounds during the past couple of years.  Consequently, we wanted to feature him in our “Recruiter’s Resume” segment in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog . . . so we are!

We asked Stuck some questions, and he was gracious enough to answer them.  So thanks and congratulations go to Michael Stuck.  May he make at least nine more Network split placements during the rest of 2013!

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What have been the keys to your success in Top Echelon Network?

“My keys to success are really simple.  I have found a few key Trading Partners I can trust to provide me with candidates who match what my client is looking for, and when I receive their candidates, I typically look at them quickly and get them right over to my client for review.

“I basically look at my Top Echelon Trading Partners as an extension of my firm, Gables Search Group.  So when I receive a candidate from a Trading Partner, I view it as if it were one of my own recruiters submitting the candidate, and I trust them the same as my own recruiters.  This makes the recruiting process run quickly and efficiently, and it allows for more submittals of good, quality candidates for my clients.”

Who are the Trading Partners you’ve been working with?

“I have worked with a number of quality Trading Partners with in Top Echelon.  There really are too many of them to mention here, but lately I have worked closely with and made placements with Sean Napoles, Mario Linale, Harry Anderson, Bill Law, Steve Strickland, Kevin Bautista, Trey Cameron, and Laurie Gillespie.

“Others who I’m currently working with, but we haven’t quite made a placement are Angela Marasco, Dave Sgro, Bob Small, Kristy Bellingham-Jones, Catherine Bateman, Justin Bidwell, Matt Dahm, Brenda Richardson, and Colleen Switala.  Other talented recruiters in Top Echelon I have worked with in the past, but not recently include Maria Hemminger, Joanna Spaun, and Jim Folger.  While I haven’t made a placement with any of them to date, I’m confident that one day I will.  That’s the beauty of TE.”

How would you describe the activity level in your niche?

“While we place in a few niches, our hottest niche right now is Information Technology, and the activity has been superb in the first quarter.  It goes back to last year, when it really starting picking up from about July through October.  It slowed down somewhat in November and December, but has been non-stop during the first quarter of 2013.”

What are your goals for future production in the Network?

“My goals are to continue the upward movement I’ve had lately in the Network and to catch Maria Hemminger for third place overall before the year is out.”

What advice would you give to a new Preferred Member just starting out?

“I have given advice to Mario Linale and a few other new Members in the past and love to help lead them in the right direction.  I tell each of them to make sure they research who works their niche and then actually call that Member and introduce themselves and see how they can help, as opposed to just sending an email.

“I also highly recommend attending the Top Echelon conventions.  I attended my first one in Nashville back in 2004 or 2005 when we first joined the Network, and I haven’t missed too many since then.  I’m attending the convention in Florida this month and can’t wait.  I’ve found that you do create lasting relationships at these conventions, and whether you’re making splits with the Members you meet or not, it makes the Membership in TE seem more ‘real’ and worthwhile.”

Of course, not every recruiting firm in Top Echelon Network is attending next week’s National Convention.  (Although . . . they should be.)

And not every recruiting firm in Top Echelon Network is on Twitter.  (Although . . . they should be.)

However, if you’re NOT attending the convention and ARE on Twitter, then you SHOULD follow me on Twitter.

That’s because I’ll be posting updates and photos on Twitter throughout the duration of the National Convention—before, during, and after, as a matter of fact.

Twitter is currently the best way to find out what’s happening at the convention in real-time (without actually being in attendance, of course).  While there will be updates posted to Facebook, they will be fewer, farther between, and more “after the fact.”

The Facebook mobile app is just not as easy to use as the Twitter app.  Not only that, but Facebook is a better vehicle for posting a large number of photos, which I’ll do after the convention has concluded.

You can follow me on Twitter here: @MattDeutsch.

You can follow Top Echelon Network on Twitter here: @TENetwork.

One more thing to remember: the official hastag for the 2013 National Convention is #TENAT13.

Include this hashtag with every one of your tweets regarding the National Convention.  You can use the hashtag while tweeting from any place at any time about any aspect of the event—and you don’t even have to be there!

Later, if you conduct a search in Twitter using #TENAT13, Twitter will find and present all of the tweets that include that hashtag.

So if I don’t see you in Florida next week, I’d better see you on Twitter!

What would The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog be without a pop culture reference?  And this week, we’re referencing that classic game show The Price is Right, which rewarded contestants for correctly guessing the price of products (or at least for coming the closest).

But for us, it’s not “Come on down, you’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!”

It’s “Come on, Downs!”  Why?  Because Network recruiter Greg Downs of Downs Associates has two split placements in the newsletter this week.

Downs joined the Network in 2008.  He’s made 20 placements as a Preferred Member of the Top Echelon recruiters network, including five in 2012 and three already in 2013.  Downs works primarily in Environmental Health & Safety, as well as in Engineering and Manufacturing.

So yes, winning a “Showcase Showdown” would be nice.  However, nothing compares to making two placements in a row.

So that means . . . the placement’s right!

While you mull that over, below are the positions that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiters:

• EHS Manager (two of them!)
  
• Casting Furnance Engineer
  
• Process Engineer
  
• Multicultural Marketing
  
• Operations Manager
• Process/Project Engineer

If you work within the industries represented by the positions listed above and want to know how you can make split placements in the Network, contact Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at (330) 455-1433, Ext. 156.

THIS WEEK’S COMPLETED SPLIT PLACEMENTS!

Job order recruiter: Mark Udulutch of Markent Personnel

Candidate recruiter: Greg Downs of Downs Associates

Job title: EHS MANAGER

Fee percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: Jan Hudson of Apple & Assoc. Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Greg Downs of Downs Associates

Job title: EHS MANAGER

Fee percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: “Greg saw our [job] order and sent the candidate over.”

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Job order recruiter: Carey Towe, CPC of Southern Recruiters

Candidate recruiter: Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

Job title: CASTING FURANCE ENGINEER

Fee percentage—15%

Action causing split placement: The job order or candidate was sent to me via the automated email alerts.

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Job order recruiter: Chuck Sissom of Sissom & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc.

Job title: PROCESS ENGINEER

Fee percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: The job order or candidate was found by searching Top Echelon Network’s split databases.

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Job order recruiter: Amy Lock of Ives & Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Frank Chavira of HG Arias & Associates

Job title: MULTICULTURAL MARKETING

Fee percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: “He was recommended due to a prior split placement.”

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Job order recruiter: Emily Brown of Management Analysis & Utilization, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: David Wick, CPC of Career Center of Cincinnati, Inc.

Job title: OPERATIONS MANAGER

Fee percentage—20%

Action causing split placement: Regular communication with another Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter

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Job order recruiter: John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: PROCESS/PROJECT ENGINEER

Fee percentage—15%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook web design for recruitment agencies.

It’s all about the candidates, isn’t it?

Your clients want the right candidates, so YOU want the right candidates, so you look for the right candidates, because that’s what you do.

But sometimes, they’re just more difficult to find . . . and that’s why you rely upon the resources of other Top Echelon Network recruiters.  Because when you rely on their resources, they provide you with the candidates you’re looking for (and more importantly, the candidates your clients are looking for.)

The result is a filled position and a placement fee—a split placement fee, to be more precise.

The Network recruiters below relied upon one another, and that’s why they’re sharing a placement fee, as well as the spotlight in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

If you’d like to be in the Pinnacle spotlight (along with a Trading Partner, of course), then submit your comments with your Completed Placement Form or send them to marketing@topechelon.com.

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“Ron sent me several good candidates who were interviewed, and Steve was just the right fit.  Without Ron’s help, this would have been a much harder position to fill.”

Submitted by Mark Udulutch of Markent Personnel regarding his split placement with Ronald L. Puibello of Ronald L. Puibello Search, Inc.

Position Title—PRODUCT ENGINEERING MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

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“Laurie, thank you for your hard work and the excellent candidate you provided!  Hopefully, this is the first of many splits!”

Submitted by Melinda O’Neil of Enterprise Search Associates, LLC regarding her split placement with Laurie Gillespie of Dayspring & Associates

Position Title—RISK MANAGER

Fee Percentage—20%

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