A rather sizeable percentage of Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiters use job posting measures in order to gain more exposure for the their job orders.  Do you know what day is the most popular day for job seekers to apply for jobs online?  Well . . . we do!

In this episode of “Top Echelon TV,” Top Echelon President Mark Demaree and Internet Strategies Manager Todd Bossler not only reveal the day of the week that’s the most popular, but they also disclose the time of day, as well.  They also present some action steps that recruiters can take based on this information.

If you use job posting, when do you typically post your jobs to the Internet?  When do you update them?  Have you found that you experience more success with one day over another?  Has job posting been successful for you overall in terms of making placements?

Seven placements in 2010.

Five so far in 2011.

Judy Kaplan of Prof’l Recruiting Consultants knows how to be successful as a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network.

Kaplan has a made a total of 66 placements in Top Echelon Network since 1999.  That’s an average of just over five placements per year—quite a healthy return on her investment.

So, how does she do it?  What’s her secret?  How is she making money, even during tough economic times like these?

In essence, Kaplan employs a simple, three-step method when it comes to making split placements with other recruiters in Top Echelon Network.  Those steps are as follows:

Step #1—Find other recruiters who work in the same industry, discipline, niche, etc., as you do.

Step #2—Of those recruiters, identify the way in which they like to work in a split placement situation, from beginning to end.

Step #3—Work with those recruiters who work the same way that you do or a way with which you feel comfortable.

Step #4—Make split placements.

Step #5—Repeat as necessary.

“The key is finding the right people, those people who work the same way that you do,” said Kaplan, who started recruiting in 1998.  “Everybody has a different way of working.  I’ve been able to find people like that, and it’s paid dividends for me.”

However, it does NOT stop there.  That’s because not only does Kaplan make direct-hire split placements, but she also makes split contract placements, as well.  Of the 12 placements that’s she made in the past 14 months, over half of them have been contract placements.  The others?  Direct-hire placements with hefty fees associated with them.

Kaplan specializes in exporting candidates in the Information Technology, Pharmaceutical/Biotech, Medical Device, Manufacturing, Environmental Health & Safety, and Accounting industries nationwide.  When it comes to dispensing advice to other Network Members, Kaplan’s is simple.

“Recruiters should share their information in the Network,” she said.  “When I see jobs on the Network that I think I can help fill, I contact those recruiters.  If you don’t share your information, you can’t get help.”

Kaplan’s strategy for success sounds simple, and in actuality, it is.  But the steps she advocates requires a commitment and an investment of time.  Those Preferred Members who are willing to take the time and make the commitment dramatically increase the chances that they’ll enjoy more success and make more split placements in the Network.

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn.
Follow Matt on Twitter.

Okay, we’re a tad bit behind . . . it happens to the best of us.  However, we would be remiss if we didn’t announce the winners of our monthly awards, and this week, those awards are from the month of April.  We now recognize recruiters for achievement in two categories every month and quarter.  Those categories are “Recruiter of the Month” and “Highest Split Placement Fee of the Month.”

Below are the winners of these awards for April.  We’d like to congratulate the recruiters who earned them and thank them for their efforts.  Remember, for more information about the placements and cash-in totals associated with these awards, please login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.

(And yes, more information about the placements associated with these awards may be included in a future issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  Because inquiring minds want to know.)

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Recruiter of the Month
Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

Eric was one of two recruiters who made two Network placements during the month of January.  However, he edged out David Wick of Career Center of Cincinnati, Inc. based upon his cash-in total for those placements, which was $19,951.50.  In third place was Stephanie McGinty of Ives & Associates, Inc. and Steve Kane of Bio-Partners Search Group, LLC.

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Highest Split Placement Fee of the Month
Steve Kane of Bio-Partners Search Group, LLC and Stephanie McGinty of Ives & Associates, Inc.

Speaking of Steve and Stephanie . . . this placement was for a Senior Manager of Business Analytics.  The action causing this placement was listed as “Regular phone communication with a TE Network Member in my specialty area.”

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Our criteria for these awards:

Top Echelon Network is a split placement network.  As such, we place an emphasis on split placements, and that emphasis constitutes the basis of our criteria for these awards.  We determine the monthly and quarterly award winners based upon two factors, which are listed below in order of importance:

1.) The number of split placements made
2.) The amount of cash-in dollars earned as a result of those split placements

In other words, the number of split placements that recruiters make is our first consideration.  In the event of a tie, the cash-total earned from those split placements is the deciding factor and serves to break the tie.  Obviously, the recruiter with more cash-in dollars in the event of a tie is the recruiter who wins the award.

It doesn’t matter how much social media takes over our lives.

It doesn’t matter how big the Internet grows and how much it influences all aspects of our lives.

It doesn’t matter how prevalent texting becomes, or sending instant messages, for that matter.

There is absolutely, positively no substitute for meeting somebody face-to-face.  This is also the case in the world of business . . . including when it comes to recruiting.  The instances are numerous, and the benefits can be endless.

For example, there’s conducting company visits, which can help recruiters to solidify their business relationship and the chances that hiring authorities will enlist your help in finding the very best candidates for their open positions.  Just ask Preferred Member firm MJ Recruiters, LLC.  That firm’s recruiters visit clients and prospective clients all the time, and they’ve enjoyed high levels of production despite the current economic malaise.

However, this article is not about company visits (although that’s a great topic).  It’s about another way that meeting face-to-face can help your business, and that’s by meeting other recruiters in person.  This is especially if split placements are part of your business model, which they obviously are, if you’re part of a split placement network like Top Echelon.

That’s why I want you to mark these dates on your calendar—Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21.  Why should you do that?  Because they’re the dates of the 2011 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference.  Why should you go?

Because Preferred Members who attend these events meet and talk with other recruiters in their industry, trade hot job orders and candidates, and eventually make split placements.

What proof?  I hope so, because we have plenty.  Split placements have resulted from every one the events that we’ve held down through the years, from the very first conference to our last National Convention, which was held last month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

I’ll be publishing some of that proof in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog over the next several weeks.  I’ll also be publishing the agenda for the Fall Conference over the summer, probably sometime in August.

In the meantime, though, mark these dates on your calendar—Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21—and make plans to join us at the Embassy Suites in Chicago.  (We’ll have more information about the hotel in future issues of the newsletter, as well).  Because, bottom line, this is what we want to happen:

1. We want you to attend the Fall Conference.
2. We want you to meet other recruiters in your industry and niche, preferably ones that you haven’t worked with before.
3. We want you to get to know these other recruiters and share hot job orders and information.
4. We want you to make more split placements.  Split after split after split . . . over and over again.

No matter how much the world changes, some things will always stay the same.  One of those things is the importance, not to mention the benefits, of meeting other people face-to-face.  Make the decision now.  Make the investment now.  Invest in your Preferred Membership and the future of your firm.  Join us in Chicago this fall.

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
(330) 455-1433, Ext. 125

When a recruiting firm in Top Echelon makes quite a few split placements with other recruiters in the Network, we often like to highlight that firm in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, often in this popular feature.  We’ve done it in the past, and we’ll do it in the future.  In fact, we’re doing it in the present with Preferred Member firm the Cameron Craig Group.

Trey Cameron has made 91 Network placements and Gene McQueen has added five more placements.  This week, we’re highlighting two of Cameron’s most recent placements, supported by the comments of the recruiters who made those split placements with him.  Congratulations to all of these recruiters, and we look forward to more comments—and split placements—in the future.

If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

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“Thanks, Trey!  Finally got a split with you!”

Submitted by Juli Smith of The Smith Consulting Group, LLC regarding her split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—Civil Engineer/Project Manager
Fee Percentage—26%

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“Love working with the Cameron Craig Group!  Hope to work with Trey and Gene multiple times this year.”

Submitted by Terri Conroy, CPC of Executive Search Associates regarding her split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—Director Test Kitchen
Fee Percentage—25%

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Remember, if you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.