This is it!  Early Bird Registration for the 2013 Fall Conference will be available by the end of this week!

Actually, registration will probably be available in the Members’ Area at the end of the business day tomorrow, July 25.

Remember, the Fall Conference is scheduled for Thursday, October 3, and Friday, October 4, at the Sheraton Gateway O’Hare in Chicago.  And as many of you may already be aware, Greg Doersching of The Griffin Search Group is the keynote speaker for the conference.

More details about the Fall Conference will be forthcoming in The Pinnacle, as well as in the News Section of the Members’ Area.  I know for a fact that many of your are looking forward to the conference and to registering for the event, so please be on the lookout in the Members’ Area tomorrow.

And I’ll be on the lookout to see you in Chicago in October!

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330.455.1433, x156
Drea@TopEchelon.com
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THE RECRUITERS:

While it’s not surprising that recruiter Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group made four split placements in one week, it’s also not surprising that he’s the Recruiter of the Quarter for the second quarter in Top Echelon Network.  After all, Cameron also won the Recruiter of the Quarter Award for the first quarter and has won the award on a number of other occasions, as well as the Recruiter of the Month Award.

While Cameron is currently the number-one recruiter in the recruiter split fee Network in terms of cash-in during the past 12 months, Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc. is quickly closing the gap and is only the equivalent of two split placement fees behind him.  Can Napoles overtake Cameron and snap his two-year streak?  Or will Cameron three-repeat?  Stay tuned to find out!

THE AWARDS:

At Top Echelon Network, we recognize recruiters for both monthly and quarterly performance in four categories—Recruiter of the Month, Recruiter of the Quarter, Largest Split Fee of the Month, and Largest Split Fee of the Quarter.

For more information about the recruiter awards listed below, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the Network recruiters who won them.

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RECRUITER OF THE QUARTER:

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Cameron made seven split placements during the second quarter of 2013.  That was the most of any recruiter in Top Echelon Network and two more than the second-place finishers, Debi Apple of Apple & Associates, Inc. and Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc.

Making four split placements apiece during the second quarter were Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search and Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC.

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OUR CRITERIA FOR THESE RECRUITER AWARDS:

Top Echelon Network determines the monthly and quarterly recruiter award winners based upon two things, 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

This explains why, when multiple recruiters are tied with the same number of split placements during a given month or quarter, the recruiter with the largest ‘cash-in’ total for their placements is deemed the winner.

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SPLIT PLACEMENTS THIS WEEK:

Last week, we presented a few recruiters who were “on fire” in the Network, so to speak, but none of them are able to “hold a candle” (how many pyrotechnic references am I going to make?) to Network recruiter Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group.

That’s because he has four split placements in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!  Is that surprising?  Not really.  Cameron has been Top Echelon recruiting solutions Network Recruiter of the Year for the past two years, with a three-peat directly in his sights.  The only question is this one: will there be a week when he makes five split placements?

SPLIT JOBS FILLED THIS WEEK:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon split fee recruiting network.

• Plant Superintendent
• Marketing Survey Consultant
  
• Account Manager
  
• Forensic Engineer
  
• Quality Manager
  
• Director of Sales Operations
  
• Pharma Vertical New Business Sales Executive
  
• Design Verification Engineer
• Mechanical Design Engineer

To find out how YOU can enjoy more success in Top Echelon Network, contact Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at (330) 455-1433, Ext. 156 or via email at Drea@TopEchelon.com.

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Job recruiter: Rose Langhals of Bridgeway Professionals, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: PLANT SUPERINTENDENT

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Joan R. Walters, CPC of JR Walters Resources

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: MARKETING SURVEY CONSULTANT

Recruiter $ Per Hour: $11.51

Action causing split placement: Top Echelon contract staffing recruiters will handle this contract placement.

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Job recruiter: Darrin Skinner of Howe & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: 340B ACCOUNT MANAGER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: Jeff Peters of Peters Search Group, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: FORENSIC ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: Joe Noto of Regency Search Group

Candidate recruiter: Anjela Mangrum of Mangrum Career Solutions, LLC

Job title: QUALITY MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Janet Miller of Computer Management, Inc.

Job title: DIRECTOR OF SALES OPERATIONS

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: Carolyn Barcus of Barcus Associates

Candidate recruiter: Mark London of Command Consultants, Inc.

Job title: PHARMA VERTICAL NEW BUSINESS SALES EXECUTIVE

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: Jim Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Marty Stan of Samaritan Technical Professional

Job title: DESIGN VERIFICATION ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Rick Krumel, CPC of SearchWise, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

Job title: MECHANICAL DESIGN ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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THE SPLIT RECRUITERS:

Deb North has made 9 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, Deb North Consulting, LLC, has been a Preferred Member since 2012.

Judy Kaplan has made 79 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, Prof’l Recruiting Consultants, has been a Preferred Member since 1992.

Joan R. Walters, CPC has made 58 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, JR Walters Resources, has been a Preferred Member since 2005.

Chuck Szajkovics has made 10 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  His firm, Bulldog Recruiters, Inc., has been a Preferred Member since 2011.

THE SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

These Top Echelon Network recruiting partners obviously enjoy working together, considering the glowing terms they use to describe each other, terms such as “awesome,” “fun,” and “great.”  These are genuine sentiments expressed by happy recruiters who made placements they probably would NOT have made otherwise.  Once again, this exemplifies one of the value proposition statements of Top Echelon Network: “Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.”  Pass the butter.

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“Judy is an awesome split partner!  Great communication and very fun to work with!  Can’t wait to do more deals together!”

Submitted by Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC regarding her Network split placement with Judy Kaplan of Prof’l Recruiting Consultants

Position Title—DIGITAL FORENSICS ANALYST

Fee Percentage—18%

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

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“Chuck is a great Trading Partner!  Looking forward to having many more splits in 2013!”

Submitted by Joan R. Walters, CPC of JR Walters Resources regarding her Network split placement with Chuck Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc.

Position Title—CIVIL ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—30%

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

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SURVEY QUESTION:

Success in Top Echelon Network is predicated upon a great many things, not the least of which is Active Participation, one of the Four Pillars of the Network.

Among the ways that Network recruiters actively participate are Regional Core Group meetings (such as the Kansas City meeting pictured above) and Virtual Core Group meetings, both of which Top Echelon offers.  But how often do Network recruiters participate in these Core Group meetings?

We recently conducted a survey of our Network recruiters, and that survey was based upon the following question:

Have you ever attended a Top Echelon Network Regional or Virtual Core Group meeting?

SURVEY RESULTS:

The choice of answers that were provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each answer:

• Yes, I’ve attended both. — 49.4%
• Yes, I’ve attended a Regional Core Group meeting. — 12.7%
• Yes, I’ve attended a Virtual Core Group meeting. — 11.4%
• No, I’ve attended neither. — 26.6%

SURVEY ANALYSIS:

Nearly 75% of the Network recruiters who responded to the survey have attended a Regional Core Group meeting, a Virtual Core Group meeting, or both of them.  That leaves just a quarter of participants having attended neither meeting.

If that was truly representative of the Network overall, it would bode quite well for the state of networking within Top Echelon.  However, since the recruiters most likely to attend a Virtual or Regional Core Group meeting are also the most likely to participate in a Network survey, extrapolating these results might make for a slightly skewed conclusion.

FEEDBACK:

How about YOU?  Have you attended a Regional or Virtual Core Group meeting as a Top Echelon Network recruiter?  If not, do you plan to attend one or the other in the near future?

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From Staffing Industry Analysts to the Associated Press (AP), there seems to be one hot topic this summer: contract staffing.

The word is that contract hiring is going to continue increasing throughout the rest of 2013, as it becomes more evident that contract staffing has carved out a permanent place in the American workforce. Consider the following statistics from recent reports on the Internet:

• 31% of companies surveyed by CareerBuilder plan to hire contract workers, up from 21% last year. (ERE.net)

• The third quarter of 2013 is expected to mark the 15th consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases in contract hiring. (G. Palmer & Associates via ERE.net)

• Contact/temporary work accounted for 15% of all American job growth in the past four years. (CareerBuilder via Staffing Industry Analysts)

• The number of contract/temporary workers has jumped by more than 50% since the end of the recession. (AP)

• 3/4 of the economists surveyed by the AP believe the increased use of contract workers is the start of a long-term trend. (AP).

What is behind these statistics and all the buzz surrounding contract staffing?  The economy is still one of the biggest factors.

“Companies are adding more employees to keep pace with demand for their products and services, but they’re not rushing into a full-scale expansion of headcount in light of economic headwinds that still linger today,” said CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson.  “The projected surge in temporary hiring from July to December is evidence of both a growing confidence in the market and a recession-induced hesitation to immediately place more permanent hires on the books.”

But Ethan Harris, global economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, does not believe the trend is tied solely to the economy.

“There’s been a generational shift toward a less committed relationship between the firm and the worker,” he said.

So the question is, with all this talk about contract staffing, are YOU talking about it with your clients?  If not, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase your sales and create a steady stream of income for yourself.

Don’t assume that your clients aren’t using contractors or are not interested in them just because they don’t discuss them with you.  They may have just assumed you don’t handle contract staffing.  When you start talking about contract staffing, you might just be surprised by the results!