Here at Top Echelon, we like to have fun.  We like to not take you too seriously.  I’m sorry—what I meant to say is that we like to not take ourselves too seriously.

With that in mind, we’re soliciting your help in the creation of a future Top Echelon e-Book.  The reason we need your help is because we want your “tales from the trenches.”

We would say that we want your “Tales from the Crypt,” but I’m pretty sure that phrase has already been trademarked.

Besides, “tales from the trenches” is more accurate.  Recruiters definitely feel like they’re in the trenches most days, whether they’re making marketing calls to cranky hiring managers, trying to reach a candidate who hasn’t shown up for their first day on the job, or calmly explaining to a client why their first choice already accepted another position because they didn’t move quickly enough.

If you’ve been a recruiter for any length of time, you have some tales to tell, perhaps many tales.

Here’s the deal: send us your “tales from the trenches” via email at marketing@topechelon.com.  By doing so, you give us permission to publish your tale of woe in our e-Book.

Keep in mind that you can remain anonymous.  In other words, you can submit your tale, but request that we withhold your name and firm name for privacy reasons.

What we’ve discovered is that recruiters enjoy reading about other recruiters’ “tales from the trenches.”  That’s because they’ve been in the trenches themselves, and they can relate to these headhunter horror stories.  They share a common bond, one built upon frustration, stress, and exasperation.

However, these tales aren’t just about that.  They’re also a way of celebrating—specifically, celebrating the fact that no matter what crazy things might happen, you’re still standing.  You’re still a recruiter, you’re still making money, and you still love what you do.

When all is said and done, that’s a tale with a happy ending.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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There’s so much to like about this week’s installment of “‘Comments’ and Compliments” that it’s almost difficult to keep track of it all.  Almost.

First, the recruiters involved met face-to-face at the recent Top Echelon Network National Convention in Nashville, Tenn.  That meeting helped to further strengthen the bond of their Trading Partner relationship.

Second, that strengthening is evidenced by the fact the recruiters have made a pair of split placements since returning from the National Convention.

Third, the recruiters involved have now made three split placements together and are primed to make more in the future.

Fourth, add two tablespoons of salt, then mix on high for 60 seconds . . . no, wait.  I got my notes mixed up.  Hold on.  Okay, here we go.  Fourth, the second of these two split placements refers directly to the Geico Piggy, and when you think about it, how much better can it get than that?  Not much, my friends, not much.

If you’d like to thank another recruiter for their efforts in a split placement situation, send your information to marketing@topechelon.com.  Your comments might be included in an upcoming issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

— — —

“Pete is a great teaming partner!  This placement is all that much sweeter, having just met him and his wife in Nashville at the [Top Echelon Network National Convention]!”

Submitted by Julie Smith of The Smith Consulting Group, LLC regarding her split placement with Peter Oettinger of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Position Title—EPIC OPTIME CONSULTANT
Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: this is the second split placement that Smith and Oettinger have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

— — —

“Thanks for another split placement, Pete!  I am yelling the Geico Piggy ‘WEET WEET WHEEEEE!’ all the way to PNC . . .”

Submitted by Julie Smith of The Smith Consulting Group, LLC regarding her split placement with Peter Oettinger of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Position Title—MCKESSON CONSULTANT
Fee Percentage—Flat

(Editor’s note: this is the third split placement that Smith and Oettinger have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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Okay, so you’re already a member of our “Split Placements for Recruiters” group on LinkedIn.

What’s that?  You’re not?  You should be ashamed of yourself.  Join immediately by clicking on this link.

Done?  Okay, where was I?  Ah, yes.  Okay, so you’re already a member of our “Split Placements for Recruiters” group on LinkedIn.

The fun doesn’t stop there.  We also happen to have two other groups on LinkedIn for recruiters.

One of them is called “Software Solutions for Recruiters” and the other one is called “Website Strategies for Recruiters.”  The nature of these groups mirrors their names.

“Software Solutions for Recruiters” includes topics pertaining to any and all software that recruiters use to run their desks more effectively and make more placements.

(Of course, our recruiting software Big Biller, might be discussed from time to time . . . but you probably already guessed that.)

Meanwhile, “Website Strategies for Recruiters” includes topics that pertain to ways in which recruiters can leverage the power of the Internet—and specifically their website—to secure more job orders, attract more qualified candidates, and make more placements.

Remember, you do NOT have to be a Big Biller customer or have a Hiring Hook website to be a member of these groups.  You just have to be a recruiter who wants to discuss these particular topics and share valuable information that could lead to more business for everybody involved.

Click here to join ‘Software Solutions for Recruiters.‘

Click here to join ‘Website Strategies for Recruiters.’

Click here to join ‘Split Placements for Recruiters.’

So join us . . . let’s have some fun and make some money!  I’m serious—join us.  Remember, we know where most of you live.  Let’s do this the easy way, shall we?

Don’t make me get Drea involved.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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There’s a good chance you know of a game show by the name of The Price is Right.  This means you also know that at the beginning of each round, the show’s next contestant is introduced in grand fashion by the announcer, who loudly proclaims:

“[Your name here], come on down!  You’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!”

The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog isn’t a game show, and it doesn’t play one on TV, either.  However, when we see a Top Echelon Network recruiter has made two split fee recruiting placements in the same week, we sit up and take notice.  (Most of the time, though, we’re just slouched in front of our computer screens, watching The Price is Right.)

There is just such a recruiter in this week’s installment of split placements.  This recruiter has been a Preferred Member in Top Echelon Network since 2007.  He’s been a regular attendee at Network conferences.  He’s already made five split placements in 2012.

“Travis Jones, come on down!  You’re the next recruiter to be highlighted in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!”

(And no, none of “Barker’s Beauties” will be making an appearance.  I apologize for this egregious oversight.)

THIS WEEK’S COMPLETED SPLIT PLACEMENTS!

Job order recruiter: Andrea Ploscowe of EXEK Recruiters, Ltd.

Candidate recruiter: Travis Jones of Career Development Partners

Job title: RELIABILITY ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook recruiting website.

 — — —

Job order recruiter: Bob Millman of AutoPro Technical Recruiting

Candidate recruiter: Joanna Spaun of MJ Recruiters, LLC

Job title: MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

 — — —

Job order recruiter: Debbie Winkelbauer of Apple & Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Job title: COMPLAINTS SUPERVISOR—MEDICAL DEVICES

Fee Percentage—20%

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

 — — —

Job order recruiter: Lou Michaels of Lou Michaels Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

Job title: PLANT GENERAL MANAGER

Fee Percentage—20%

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

 — — —

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

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: SENIOR MECHANICAL DESIGN EINGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook website.

 — — —

Job order recruiter: Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

Candidate recruiter:Travis Jones of Career Development Partners

Job title: PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Fee Percentage—20%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook website.

 — — —

Job order recruiter: Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Steve Taylor of Career Professionals, Inc.

Job title: MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—20%

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

 — — —

If you’d like to see the amount of the fees associated with each of the split placements listed above, login to the Members’ Area and click on the profiles of the recruiters involved.  The fee totals will be included along with those split placements.

Remember, you can opt out of having your split placement highlighted.  Just send an email to marketing@TopEchelon.com indicating your desire to be left out.  Once you do so, you won’t be included in future installments of this feature.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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Preferred Member recruiters in Top Echelon Network make split placements for a lot of different reasons . . . but a pair of “lucky socks”?

Yes, a pair of “lucky socks.”  Or a pair of “stinky lucky socks,” depending upon your proximity to them.

At least, that’s the case if you ask Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC and Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC.  Steve and Jeff recently shared a huge placement fee (the amount of which you can see by checking their placement history in the Members’ Area), and that placement and subsequent fee may—or may not—have been the direct result of Jeff’s superstitious nature.

For the purposes of this blog post, though, let’s go ahead and say that his “stinky lucky socks” had something to do with it.

After all, once you see the amount of the fee involved, you’ll probably understand why Jeff refers to that particular pair of footwear as his “lucky socks.”

Call them “stinky.”  Call them “lucky.”  Or call them the key to a huge placement fee.  It all comes out the same in the wash.

If you’d like to thank another recruiter for their efforts in a split placement situation, send your information to marketing@topechelon.com.  Your comments might be included in an upcoming issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

— — —

“‘The Kingfish’ of passive recruiting!  It was the fact that Jeff wore his ‘stinky lucky socks’ since January 1 that gave this hire the boost it needed.  Jeff didn’t take those socks off until our candidate showed up on the job!  He even wore them to bed.  I bet he slept in the other room with the dog . . . if the dog could stand it, that is.”

Submitted by Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC regarding his split placement with Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC

Position Title—GLOBAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: this is the first split placement that Copeland and Gilbert have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

— — —

“We recruiters are a very superstitious bunch!  What can I say, I have my ‘lucky socks.’  Now that summer is upon us, you can imagine . . . they look pretty ridiculous with my flip flops.  Regardless, we have many more deals to close by year’s end!”

Submitted by Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC regarding his split placement with Steve Copeland of Albert Energy, LLC

Position Title—GLOBAL ALLIANCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Fee Percentage—25%

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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A few months ago, I announced that we were adding a new Virtual Core Group to the monthly teleconference schedule.  That group happened to be Aerospace/DOD.

Well, I’m happy to announce that I’m adding yet another group to the mix.

That group is Energy/Power/Oil & Gas.  That group is now part of the Virtual Core Group schedule for the month of June, and I’ve included the schedule in its entirety below.

As always, Virtual Core Group meetings are regularly scheduled conference calls for Preferred Member recruiters who work in the same industry or niche.  During these calls, recruiters share information about the activity they’re seeing, they share hot job orders and candidates, and they also bounce ideas off one another.

That being said, below is the Virtual Core Group conference call schedule for the month of June (all times listed are Eastern Standard Time):

As you can see, the first two Thursdays of the month and the first slot of the third Thursday are filled with conference calls.  That means the second and third slot of the third Thursday are open, as well as all three slots of the fourth Thursday.  It ALSO means that we have plenty of room for growth.

If you think you’d like to start a new Virtual Core Group—or join an existing one—please contact me!

I’d also like you to contact me if you have questions about other things you could be doing to maximize your Network Membership.

And when I say “maximize your Network Membership,” I mean “make more split placements!”

— — —

330.455.1433, x156
Drea@TopEchelon.com
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(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

While some employers have intentionally, and most likely illegally, shed their older workers in an effort to reduce costs, some companies are struggling to find experienced talent and are finding creative ways to find and retain it, according to a recent Washington Post article.

Older workers come with leadership and maturity that simply cannot be taught.  As they reach retirement age, they often want to cut back on work, but they don’t want to quit altogether.  Companies that can find ways to retain them or bring them back can benefit from their knowledge and experience.

One agency that has done this successfully is the U.S. Agriculture Department, according to the article.  Working with the National Older Worker Career Center, the department is hiring these workers on a temporary or part-time basis, often to complete specific projects.

As more retirees put off retirement, either due to the economy or their own desire to stay active, these types of retiree re-staffing arrangements are becoming more and more common.  We have even seen some recruiting firms focus their efforts solely on finding contract assignments for retirees.

If you have clients struggling to retain experienced talent and/or older candidates needing more flexible work, this is a niche you might want to look into.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
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