There will be a change to the Top Echelon Network monthly membership cost structure effective on June 1.
As of now, the cost of Network membership is $135 per month. On June 1, the cost will increase to $150 per month for all Network recruiting firms, including agencies that are currently members.

However, there is an opportunity to lock in the $135 per month price, and that’s by paying for a year of Network membership in advance. By choosing the annual payment plan, the cost is $1,620 for the year, which equates to $135 per month.

At the turn of the century, which unbelievably was almost a quarter of a century ago, the price of Network membership was $119 per month. That means we’ve raised the price of our monthly Network membership dues a total of $31 over the course of 24 years.

And as I’m sure you’re aware, inflation has been running rampant in the economy during the past several years. Unfortunately, we at Top Echelon have not been immune to these rising costs. That being said, we have made it a priority to absorb as much of the extra costs as we possibly could without raising the prices of our products and services. However, we’ve now reached the point where we must raise the cost of our monthly membership fees.

Once again, though, you can lock in the $135 per month rate by paying for a year of Network membership in advance. If you’d like to do so now, before the June 1 deadline, you certainly can, although you can still take advantage of the special annual pricing after June 1.

If you decide to opt for the annual payment plan, please keep in mind that the upfront payment is non-refundable. We acknowledge that by making an annual payment, you are making a significant investment in your Network membership.

That’s why during the 12 months of that annual plan, we will be doing everything in our power to help you make split placements so your agency can receive a healthy return on its investment in TE.

As always, I want to thank you for your commitment and loyalty as Top Echelon Network members, and I look forward to helping you become as successful as possible during the rest of 2024 and beyond.

At Top Echelon, we’re continually working to help recruiters make more placements.

And with that in mind, I’m pleased to announce that we have a new series of short training videos designed to help our Network members make more split placements in our recruiting network.

River Kale

And when I say “short,” I mean they will not take much time at all to view. Most of them are around one minute in length or shorter. However, they’re very impactful, as they address a wide range of topics pertaining to Top Echelon Network membership.

Top Echelon Network Success Specialist River Kale has meticulously created these videos, and you can view them all on the official Top Echelon YouTube Channel (@TopEchelonSoftware).

Below is a list of the titles of the videos, presented in the order in which they were uploaded to YouTube:

• How to Update Your Top Echelon Recruiter Profile
• How to Work a Network Partner’s Job
• How to Un-Share Your Job From the Network
• How to Advertise Your Job to the Network
• How to Share Your Job to the TEN Jobs Feed
• How to Update Your Agency Profile
• Creating a Search in Network Jobs
• Creating Network Job Alerts
• How to Do a Bulk Resume Upload
• How to Email Parse Resumes
• Creating a Search in Network Candidates
• How to Create Network Candidate Alerts
• Opting into the Network Candidates Database
• How to Run Advanced Job Searches
• Sharing Network Candidate Activity Details
• Creating a Network Placement
• How to Request Network Candidates
• How to Request Network Candidates in Bulk
• Accept or Deny Requests
• Sharing Candidates to Network Jobs
• Changing the Number of Open Positions
• Searching for Network Partners
• Creating Network Candidate Alerts
• Creating Quicklinks

We’ll be adding to his already vast library of Network training videos, of course. There is always ample opportunity to learn more about your Network membership and how you can maximize the value that you derive from it.

In addition, if you believe there is a topic that we should tackle with this video series, feel free to let us know about it. You can reach River at rkale@topechelon.com.

If you have any specific questions about your Network membership and/or how you can maximize your membership, please contact me. You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

In the meantime, please watch these videos and take a moment to subscribe to the official Top Echelon YouTube channel!

I’ll soon be sharing a series of blog posts about how to approach Network membership in the optimum way so that you can enjoy more success.

These blog posts (and that success) revolve around what are known as The 5 Stages of a Networker in Top Echelon’s recruiting network. Knowing what the stages are and identifying the stage in which you’re currently in can help you leverage your Network membership to a greater degree.

Good Habits = More Network Success

At the root of this endeavor is the belief that good habits within Top Echelon will invariably lead to more Network success.

Why is this? We’ve found that good networking habits lead to higher dollar revenues.

I want you to achieve the highest financial rewards that can be gained by networking. To do so, you need to recognize the stages through which you must evolve. Of course, the speed at which you progress through these stages is your decision.

To give you a visual representation of this process, we’re using the familiar growth and development of a tree, as it grows from a single seed to a full, fruit-bearing tree.

You could compare this to the growth of a networker who just has the idea that networking can work (the seeds of thought) and develops into a networker who has significantly increased their income by making more split placements (the fruits of their efforts).

Developing Like a Strong Tree

That being said, a networker develops through five stages, which we could compare to a tree’s stages of development:

1st Stage — Planting the seeds of networking
2nd Stage — Sending out roots
3rd Stage — Branching out in the Network
4th Stage — Growing strong and healthy
5th Stage — Bearing fruit

Be sure to keep an eye out for this upcoming series of posts in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. In the meantime, think about the stage in which you might currently reside and what you’ll have to do in order to “move up the ranks.”

If you have any questions about your membership or about how you can enjoy more success in our recruiter network, please contact me.

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

In this ever-changing employment landscape, sometimes traditional hiring methods just don’t suffice. Increasingly, recruiters are being viewed as strategic partners who are expected to help solve hiring problems, not simply fill job orders.

Are you in the position to serve as this type of strategic partner? If you’re offering contract staffing, then you can confidently say “Yes!”

Below are four client hiring problems that contract staffing can solve:

#1—Fear of hiring

The Stock Market (and the economy) can still be tumultuous at times, so it’s no wonder that some employers don’t want to fully commit to direct hires. Contract staffing offers a risk-free way to bring on help. If business slows or the economy “goes south,” your clients can simply end the contract assignments.

#2—Fear of hiring the wrong person

When companies do need to hire long term, they want to be absolutely certain they have the right person. You can suggest a contract-to-direct arrangement so they can “try-before-they-buy.”

If the person works out, then they can hire them directly (and you can earn a conversion fee). If not, then they can end the contract assignment and try somebody new.

#3—Hiring freezes

Contractors come from a different budget than traditional employees. As a result, they do not represent a permanent investment. Thus, hiring managers have an easier time getting approval for contractors.

Sure, the Great Recession is a distant memory. But uncertainty now appears to be a permanent fixture of our economy, so you want to make sure that you and your agency are ready for it.

#4—Short-term projects

Projects often require additional staff or specialized skills that won’t be needed after the project has been completed. Contract staffing allows companies to ramp up for the project and then scale back down when it’s complete.

For those agency recruiters and search consultants looking to get started with contract staffing, Top Echelon recommends using Foxhire (formerly Top Echelon Contracting). Foxhire serves as the Employer of Record while your contractors perform work at your client companies.

Click HERE for more information about how Foxhire can help you make more placements!

The “But For Rule” will never go away in this industry. It’s what separates the “snakes” from those who know what the right thing is and how to do it.

Without going back to Sunday school, we all know the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” There are many ways to state this philosophy of reciprocity.

With this thought, let’s approach the “But For Rule” in terms of best practices in Top Echelon’s recruiting network. Candidates and client leads come to you in many different ways.

Let’s face it: the Internet can be a messy, dangerous place.

Best Practices: ‘But For Rule’ Scenarios

A candidate named “Fred” applies to your job on your website and he is a fit for the role. (Names are withheld to protect the fact that they don’t actually exist.) However, a day, a few hours, or even minutes before that, a Network trading partner had sent you Fred’s resume for the same job.

“We need to talk about ‘Fantastic Fred’ for your XYZ-role,” they say. But here is “Fantastic Fred” in your hand. He applied through your site, and the other recruiter doesn’t know the time frame of this nomination. So . . . what do you do?

Which of these two submissions made you interested in the candidate? Which did you see first? You received “Fantastic Fred” from your Network trading partner first. Therefore, you should HONOR their submission.

In another (hypothetical) case, your Network trading partner sends you “Fantastic Fred” for your XYZ-role, and you remember this person. You turn around and find that you had just spoken to him last month for another role OR you recognize the name and find “Fantastic Fred” in your recruiting database.

What do you do? Did you think of Fred for the role in question or take action towards him before your trading partner’s submission?

Now let’s really “blow your doors off.” You’re trying to reach “Fantastic Fred” for the XYZ-role, and he is not responding to you. A Network trading partner calls and says, “I have been talking to ‘Fantastic Fred’ about your XYZ-Role. He is very excited, and I think he is a great fit for this position.”

“Really?” you ask yourself.

Consult the Network Policies

In this situation, according to scenario 2 in Top Echelon Network Policy 15a, you would have to honor your split recruiting partner’s submission of “Fantastic Fred.” That’s because they’ve established contact with him and you have been unable to do so.

In order to set guidelines for occurrences such as these, Top Echelon has carefully designed Policies 8, 9a, 9b, 9c, 15a, and 15b to cover the way Top Echelon Network recruiters are to handle these situations when they arise.

Just keep the following three things in mind:

1. Honesty is the best policy.
2. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
3. “But for” what action caused your interest in the candidate?

If you have any questions about the “But For Rule” or about any other policies or best practices in Top Echelon’s split network, then I encourage you to contact me.

You can do so by telephone at 330.595.1742 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.