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Top Echelon President Mark DemareeWhile Preferred Member firm Stephens International Recruiting is celebrating its 15-year anniversary in Top Echelon Network this month, there are other Network recruiting firms that are also celebrating anniversaries!

As we’ve stated, we don’t recognize every agency that’s celebrating an anniversary.  Instead, we focus on the “big” ones—five, 10, 15, 20, and 25-year anniversaries.

This month, we have three Network recruiting firms celebrating their 10-year anniversary and four more that are celebrating their five-year anniversary!

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10-YEAR ANNIVERSARIES

Front Line Solutions, LLC in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Recruiter: Rich Harrold
Agency Join Date: June 16, 2004

Clinical Dynamix, Inc. in Boynton Beach, Florida
Recruiters: Heidi Rosen, Andrea Robles, and Andy Sheppard
Agency Join Date: June 23, 2004

SAP Recruiters in Chicago, Illinois
Recruiter: Susan Stone
Agency Join Date: June 29, 2004

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FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARIES

Dayspring & Associates in Rolesville, North Carolina
Recruiters: Chelsea Knutsen and Laurie Gillespie
Agency Join Date: June 1, 2009

Spaulding Associates in Kennebunk, Maine
Recruiter: Rob Spaulding
Agency Join Date: June 4, 2009

Shanklin & Associates in Cleveland, Ohio
Recruiters: Joy Shanklin and Thom Besso
Agency Join Date: June 25, 2009

Ehlers Recruiting Partners in Quogue, New York
Recruiter: Mike Ehlers
Agency Join Date: June 30, 2009

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We’d like to congratulate these recruiters and their firms for these milestones, as well as thank them for their commitment as Preferred Members!

— — —

(Mark Demaree is the President of Top Echelon.)

SPLIT JOBS FILLED:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiter Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group and his Trading Partners.  As you can see, Cameron, the three-time defending Recruiter of the Year in Top Echelon, made five Network split placements during the week.

Is that a record for the most split placements during one week by a Preferred Member?  Unfortunately, that’s not a question we can answer at the moment.  However, if it’s not a record, it has to be close.  After all, how it could it not be?

The split jobs filled included the following:

  • Process Engineer
  • Fabrication Manager
  • Desktop Support
  • Process Control Engineer
  • Quality Engineer

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network (and perhaps make five split placements in one week), call Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.


TREY CAMERON’S SPLIT PLACEMENTS THIS WEEK:

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey Cameron

Lawrence T. Ploscowe of EXEK Recruiters, Ltd.

Lawrence T. Ploscowe

Job recruiter: Lawrence T. Ploscowe of EXEK Recruiters, Ltd.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: PROCESS ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

Action causing split placement: A Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter’s Hiring Hook recruitment website

— — —

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey Cameron

Reed Hein of Premier Employment Solutions

Reed Hein

Job recruiter: Reed Hein of Premier Employment Solutions

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: FABRICATION MANAGER

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: A Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter’s Hiring Hook recruitment website

— — —

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey Cameron

Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc.

Kerry Boehner

Job recruiter: Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: DESKTOP SUPPORT

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: A Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter’s Hiring Hook recruitment website

— — —

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey Cameron

John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

John Peterson

Job recruiter: John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: PROCESS CONTROL ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: A Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter’s Hiring Hook recruitment website

— — —

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: (Name of Network recruiter withheld by request)

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: QUALITY ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

Action causing split placement: A Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter’s Hiring Hook recruitment website

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(Matt Deutsch is the Chief Marketing and Content Officer at Top Echelon.)

SPLIT JOBS FILLED THIS WEEK:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiters.  The majority of them were filled because of recruiter communication between Preferred Members.

  • Electrician
  • Production Manager
  • Business Unit GM
  • Chemical Process Engineer
  • Store Manager
  • E-Billing Analyst
  • Human Resources Manager

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network and make more split placements, call Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.


THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Nick Stoia of ASAP Search and Recruiters

Nick Stoia

Job recruiter: Nick Stoia of ASP Search & Recruiters

Candidate recruiter: Joe Miglizzi, CPC of Perspective

Split job title: ELECTRICIAN

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Nick Stoia of ASAP Search and Recruiters

Nick Stoia

Eric V. Stearley, CPC of Eric V. Stearley, CPC and Associates

Eric V. Stearley, CPC

Job recruiter: Eric V. Stearley, CPC of Eric V. Stearley, CPC & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Nick Stoia of ASP Search & Recruiters

Split job title: PRODUCTION MANAGER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Joe Noto of Regency Search Group

Joe Noto

Joe Pozsgai of Spyglass Search, Inc.

Joe Pozsgai

Job recruiter: Joe Pozsgai of Spyglass Search, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Joe Noto of the Regency Search Group

Split job title: BUSINESS UNIT GM

Fee percentage: 22.5%

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

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John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

John Peterson

Jack King of Newman-Johnson-King, Inc. and A.H. Justice Search Consultants

Jack King

Job recruiter: John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jack King of Newman-Johnson-King, Inc. and A.H. Justice Search Consultants

Split job title: CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Jim Strickland

Cheryl Campbell Lang of Career Search Associates

Cheryl Campbell Lang

Job recruiter: Cheryl Campbell Lang of Career Search Associates

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Split job title: STORE MANAGER

Fee percentage: Flat

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

— — —

Debra L. Stitt, CPC of Quality Source Inc. of Ohio

Debra L. Stitt, CPC

Dan Kovats of CMW & Associates

Dan Kovats

Job recruiter: Debra L. Stitt, CPC of Quality Source Inc. of Ohio

Candidate recruiter: Dan Kovats of CMW & Associates

Split job title: E-BILLING ANALYST

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Ken Nunley of 7 Solutions USA

Ken Nunley

Jean Imbler-Jansen of Strategic HR Solutions

Jean Imbler-Jansen

Job recruiter: Ken Nunley of 7 Solutions USA

Candidate recruiter: Jean Imbler-Jansen of Strategic HR Solutions

Split job title: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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(Matt Deutsch is the Chief Marketing and Content Officer at Top Echelon.)

THE SPLIT CANDIDATES:

Everybody wants great candidates.  Companies want them. Recruiters want them.

And recruiters who are part of Top Echelon Network are finding them.  HOW are they finding them?  By investing in their Membership and using their Trading Partners for help.

Like, for example, the Network recruiters in this week’s installment of’ “‘Comments’ and Compliments.”  Every single one of the job recruiters listed below are ecstatic about the quality of the candidates they received from their Trading Partners.

Below are some of the phrases that were used:

  • “great attention to what is really wanted”
  • “needle in a haystack”
  • “hit the nail on the head”
  • “great candidate for a hard-to-fill position”

These kinds of placements happen in Top Echelon Network every week.  To learn more about how YOU can start making more placements in the Network, contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

Congratulations to everybody who made split placements this week!

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Nick Stoia of ASAP Search and Recruiters

Nick Stoia

“Thanks, Joe, for this candidate and your great attention to what is really wanted from the job order to make the match!”

Submitted by Nick Stoia of ASAP Search & Recruiters regarding his Network split placement with Joe Miglizzi, CPC of Perspective

Position Title—ELECTRICIAN

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the fifth Network split placement that Stoia and Miglizzi have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

Joan R. Walters, CPC of JR Walters Resources

Joan R. Walters, CPC

Ann Boland of The Boland Group

Ann Boland

“Ann is wonderful to work with.  She knows how to drill down and find the ‘needle in a haystack.’  Thank you, Ann!”

Submitted by Joan R. Walters, CPC of JR Walters Resources regarding her Network split placement with Ann Boland of The Boland Group

Position Title—DIRECTOR SALES/MARKETING

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — — 

Robert Wilson of R.L. Wilson and Associates

Robert Wilson

“Robert Wilson and I had a discussion on the types of Engineers that I need for open jobs, and he hit the nail on the head.  It happened fairly quickly.”

Submitted by Tim Hughes of Hughes & Associates regarding his Network split placement with Robert Wilson of R.L. Wilson & Associates

Position Title—PROJECT ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

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Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc.

Veronica Snyder

Denise Mancuso of Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Denise Mancuso

“Thanks, Denise, for providing a great candidate for a hard-to-fill position!”

Submitted by Veronica Snyder of Career Professionals, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Denise Mancuso of Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Position Title—HR MANAGER

Fee Percentage—30%

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

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(Matt Deutsch is the Chief Marketing and Content Officer at Top Echelon.)

Top Echelon Network Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CERS

Drea Codispoti, CERS

Summer is here!  This is a cause for celebration.

If you remember, I’m the guy who did a snow angel in sub-human temperatures back in the winter to drive attendance for the 2014 National Convention.  I know just how cold it can get here in the great state of Ohio.

But all of that is in the past.  In the future is the Virtual Core Group (VCG) teleconference call schedule for the month of July in Top Echelon Network.

As I’ve stated before, during Virtual Core Group meetings, Network recruiters share hot job orders and candidates, information about the activity they’re seeing, and ideas for increased production on their desk and within their firms.  These are the activities that lead most directly to making more placements.

If you’re a newer Preferred Member in Top Echelon Network, I especially encourage you to join one of these existing Virtual Core Groups for recruiters . . . or start a new one.

Please note, though, that the Healthcare Virtual Core Group has been suspended for the time being.  I will, of course, let everybody know if that group resumes its meetings.

Below is the full VCG teleconference call schedule for the month of July (all times listed are Eastern Standard Time):

Date Core Group/Time Core Group/Time Core Group/Time
Thursday, July 3 Manufacturing, Engineering
noon to 1 p.m.
Accounting, Finance
1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
 Biotech, Pharma, Medical Device
3 to 4 p.m.
Thursday, July 10
Software Sales
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Information Technology
3 to 4 p.m.
No Group
Thursday, July 17
No Group
noon to 1 p.m.
Insurance
2 to 3 p.m.
No Group
Thursday, July 24
Open for New Group
Open for New Group Open for New Group

To join an existing Virtual Core Group or to start a new one, contact me at 330.455.1433, x156 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

RECRUITER POLL QUESTION:

We recently conducted a poll of Top Echelon Network recruiters by posting a question in the Members’ Area.

That question was as follows:

Do you use the Network in your recruiter marketing message to clients and/or candidates?

POLL RESULTS:

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters that selected each one:

  • Yes, with clients only — 4.3%
  • Yes, with candidates only — 7.3%
  • Yes, with both clients and candidates — 63.8%
  • No, I do not. — 24.6%

ANALYSIS:

The majority of recruiters participating in the poll use the Network when marketing to both clients and candidates (63.8%).  Not only that, but a smaller number use it to market to candidates only (7.3%) and to clients only (4.3%).

Those percentages together add up to more than three-fourths of the Members in the poll (75.4%).

On the flip side of the coin, nearly one-fourth of the recruiters participating in the poll (24.6%) indicated that they don’t use the Network in their marketing message to either clients or candidates.

CONCLUSION:

For many recruiters, having access to the resources of over 1,000 other recruiters across the country is a selling point when marketing their services to clients and candidates.  That’s why we at Top Echelon encourage our Preferred Members to do just that:

  • Talk about the Network during marketing calls.
  • Include the benefits of your Network Membership on your firm’s website.
  • Mention the Network in your email and newsletter correspondence.

For more ideas about how YOU can use your Top Echelon Network Membership to brand your firm and to sell its services more effectively, contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

Debbie Fledderjohann, President of Top Echelon ContractingEmployer-sponsored healthcare insurance is becoming more complex and expensive every year.  Whether or not you have employees or offer healthcare insurance, this is a trend that WILL impact your recruiting business.

In the past decade, health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored plans have gone up 80-100%.  Nearly half of the employers surveyed for the Aflac Workforce Report listed cost containment, including healthcare insurance costs, as their top business concern, compared to 28% in 2011.

“The research shows how the need to control costs is driving workforce decisions,” said Teresa White, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Aflac Columbus.  “For four consecutive years, we have witnessed this growing trend and can foresee the possible ramifications for the U.S. workforce.”

Why Health Insurance Premiums Are Increasing

Those workforce decisions are impacting everyone in the employment arena, including independent recruiters.  But before we discuss that, let’s look at what is feeding this upward trend in premiums.  The first place people tend to look is Obamacare, or more formally, the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Forbes magazine recently listed four factors related to the ACA that impact premiums:

  1. Commercial underwriting restrictions—Insurers can no longer apply a number of techniques they have used to lower their costs.  They must now offer coverage to participants’ children up to age 26, and they can no longer apply pre-exisitng condition exclusions or lifetime limits on coverage, for example.
  2. Insurers can no longer base premiums on age.
  3. The ACA applied new taxes and fees to insurance companies that are typically passed to employers.
  4. Plans must now include “Essential Health Benefits,” including ambulatory patient services, emergency services, substance abuse disorder services, etc.

However, the ACA is NOT the only thing to blame. Here are some other catalysts:

  • High insurance claims
  • Aging population
  • Unhealthy lifestyles
  • Costly technological advances
  • Inaccessibility of healthcare pricing to allow consumers to make cost-effective choices

Small employers are taking an even harder hit because their participant pool is not large enough to absorb high medical bills.  One participant with high claims can easily result in a massive premium increase at a smaller organization.

Cost-Containment Methods

Employers have to find a way to cover these high, and often unexpected, costs.  They are being forced to make difficult decisions that impact the entire business, including the following:

  1. Shifting costs to employees—To minimize the premium increases, many employers have been forced to choose plan designs with higher deductibles, co-pays, coinsurance, etc.  The number of workers covered under high deductible plans has quadrupled in the past 7 years, according to The Kaiser Family Foundation.  Some employers are contributing a lower percentage toward employees’ benefits premiums, as well.  The end result of these techniques is shifting more costs to the workers.
  2. Shifting costs to customers—Ultimately, some of the cost also shifts to a business’s customers in the form of higher prices on goods and services.  However, there is a limit to how high a company can raise prices while remaining competitive.
  3. Staffing decisions—You are probably already aware that some companies are freezing hiring and/or reducing employee hours to part-time to avoid the upcoming employer mandate of Obamacare.  While the effective date of the mandate keeps getting extended, employers with 50 or more full-time employees will be required to provide healthcare insurance to those employees.  But employers under the mandate aren’t the only ones to employ these techniques as premium increases affect companies of all sizes.  Any company grappling with high insurance costs will be looking at these and other methods (e.g., freezing raises) to reduce the impact of healthcare costs.
  4. Eliminating healthcare—Some employers will just drop healthcare coverage altogether, even if that means facing fines under the Obamacare employer mandate.  For some, it will be cheaper to pay the fines than offer coverage.

Impact on Recruiting Firms

Recruiters should also brace themselves for the impact of healthcare costs.  You may notice, for example, that more candidates will weigh the TOTAL compensation package in their decision to take a position, not just salary.   This is especially important now that the ACA is requiring most Americans to have health insurance under the individual mandate.  Therefore, negotiations may be more difficult if quality benefits are not available.

Direct-hire job orders could also decrease as employers try to contain costs.  Contract job orders, though, could increase because companies will still need to get work done.  This is likely one reason why contract staffing continues to grow.  If your firm does not already offer contracting, the time to start is now.

Recruiters who employ in-house staff and/or contractors will be more directly impacted by healthcare costs.  If you are a larger firm, you may be required to offer coverage under the employer mandate of the ACA.  But even if you do not meet the 50-employee threshold, you may need benefits to attract quality contractors.  You will have to weigh the cost and administrative burden of offering the benefits versus the candidates you may lose by not.  Another option is to outsource the employment of your contractors to a contract staffing back-office, such as Top Echelon Contracting, that provides contractor benefits.  That can be a great way to brand yourself as a recruiting firm of choice without taking on the complexities of offering healthcare insurance.

The cost of healthcare is a problem that is not going away.  You will want to remain educated on the issue and put yourself in the best position to succeed in this increasingly challenging environment.  The best way to do that is to become a sole-source provider who can provide all of your clients’ staffing needs by offering a variety of options, including contract staffing.

(Editor’s note: This article is intended for informational purposes only and should NOT in any way be construed as legal advice.)