It may seem like summer is halfway over, but it’s not. In fact, the calendar says that there are still two more months of the season left . . . so buckle up.

One of the central summer events in the Network this year is the upcoming “Networking on the FARM!” event being held at the Hemminger Farm on Wednesday, August 17. Top Echelon Network recruiters Maria Hemminger and Joanna Spaun are partners in MJ Recruiters, LLC, and they’re also the official hosts of this “summer shindig.”

Shut the barn door!

Although we’ve already published an article about the event in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, I wanted to highlight it again. This time, though, I’m presenting seven reasons why you should attend “Top Echelon Networking on the FARM!”:

#1—Hot job orders and candidates

If you need candidates OR jobs, this is the place to be. There will be plenty of both being circulated, all in a number of different industries. You can meet with recruiters who have job orders they must fill NOW, as well as recruiters who have highly place-able candidates looking for the right opportunity.

#2—Face-to-face networking opportunities

Networking is great, but doing it face-to-face is even better. That’s why we hold events like the National Convention and Fall Conference. This is how you build trading partner relationships and reach the “trust level” with partners, which is where the real money is made.

#3—FOOD!

MJ Recruiters will provide grilled hamburgers and bratwurst patties for everyone who attends, and drinks (water, beer pop/soda) will also be supplied. Those who attend are also asked to bring a side dish and a camp chair. If you leave this event hungry, that’s your fault.

#4—FUN!

Some of the activities on tap for the day include swimming, fishing, kayaking, sand volleyball, and corn hole. Not only that, but there might be some pickle ball. Did you hear what I said? PICKLE BALL!

#5—Placements, placements, placements!

Placements result from regional core group meetings like this one, every single year. That means . . . placements are going to result from THIS meeting. You could be a part of that placement action. And you could also be a part of PICKLE BALL!

#6—A ton of recruiters are planning to attend.

The Hemminger Farm is located in Ohio, but you’ll notice that not all of the recruiters attending are from Ohio. Recruiters are coming from all over the country for this event. Some are from as far away as Georgia and North Carolina. People don’t travel that far for NO reason. They travel that far because there is a tremendous amount of value in attending . . . so take your cue from that.

#7—Because you need to cool down from this summer heat.

There’s a good chance that wherever you are in the country right now, it’s hotter than the dickens. (Exactly how hot is “the dickens”? Don’t ask me that question.) Since that is the case, you probably need to cool down. And since THAT is the case, this the perfect opportunity to meld business with pleasure. Have some fun. Have some laughs. Make some friends. Make some placements.

If you want to attend or if you have any questions, send an email to maria@mjrecruiters.com or call 419.443.1840.

Oh, and after that, make sure you attend the Fall Conference in Chicago. This conference is not going to attend itself.

Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search has enjoyed high levels of success in Top Echelon Network.

After all, he’s billed over $500K through the Network during the past 12 months. However, he’s in the same Network that Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group is in. Trey has billed over $1 million through the Network during the past 12 months.

If not for Trey, Steve would be the #1 recruiter in Top Echelon. However, we’re not going to let that stop us from recognizing Steve and his accomplishments.

A Top Echelon anniversary and milestone

After all, Steve is about to celebrate an anniversary with us. Affinity Executive Search joined Top Echelon Network on July 28, 1994. That means Steve will celebrate his 22nd anniversary in TE later this week!

Not only that, but he’s also close to reaching another milestone. When that milestone occurs, you can rest assured that we’ll mention it in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. In the meantime, some of the things that Steve’s split partners have been saying about him are listed below.

Needless to say, they’re pleased and happy that Steve is in the Network . . . and so are we. So congratulations to Steve Kohn on his anniversary, on his production, and for being second to none in Top Echelon!

— — —

Steve Kohn

Jim Hipskind

“Steve’s network of providing candidates is impressive. We view each candidate as use the ones that are appropriate for the position. Industry-specific candidates we receive go into our Big Biller database for further use. We have known and appreciated Steve’s efforts for many years and anticipate doing so for many more.”

Submitted by Jim Hipskind, CPC of Continental Search & Outplacement, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Position Title—SR. ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

Kenny Frey, CPC/CERS

“Another solid candidate from Steve. On this search, two of Steve’s candidates made it to the final round of interviews. Nice win here.”

Submitted by Kenny Frey, CPC/CSP of The Frey Consulting Group, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Position Title—FLOW BUSINESS UNIT LIFECYCLE SERVICE DIRECTOR – LATIN AMERICA

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth Network split placement that Frey and Kohn have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

Melissa Truax

“Steve, let’s make many more! Keep doing an awesome job of marketing. I really appreciate your help when I need it in chasing down highly qualified candidates that you have submitted to me, so I can get them on the phone and work my magic! This was a real win . . . a very challenging search for our client for several months. I will be getting many more searches from them because of this huge accomplishment. Thank you!”

Submitted by Melissa Truax of Premier Health Careers, Inc./Career Paths regarding her Network split placement with Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Position Title—REGIONAL DIRECTOR HEALTHCARE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE/PATIENT FINANCIAL SERVICE

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the third Network split placement that Truax and Kohn have made together in Top Echelon. They’ve since made two more together.)

— — —

To find out how YOU can become a top producer like Steve Kohn, contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

If you haven’t seen the movie The Usual Suspects, you probably would not be surprised to know that one of the characters in the film says, “Round up the usual suspects.”

Well, it’s time to recognize the top recruiters in Top Echelon Network in terms of cash-in dollars. And you guessed it: we’re rounding up the usual suspects.

Top recruiters and the usual suspects

Actually, we have a new face among those suspects: Melissa Truax of Premier Health Careers, Inc./Premier Paths. She cracked the top five for this award for the first time, and there’s a good chance that it won’t be the last time.

Melissa has been a member of the Network for just over three years. During that time, she’s made 30 placements. If everybody in our Network made an average of 10 placements per year, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. (After throwing a huge party, that is.)

Below is the information that we typically include with the announcement of the Recruiter of the Quarter Award:

• The top five (5) recruiters in the Network for the quarter
• The number of split placements those recruiters made during the quarter
• The dollar amount of commission that the recruiters earned as a result of those split placements

Below are the standings for Recruiter of the Quarter in Top Echelon Network for the first quarter of 2016. Congratulations to these top recruiters for their accomplishments in our split placement network!

— — —

First Place

Recruiter: Trey Cameron
Agency: Cameron Craig Group
Placements: Thirty-eight (38)
Commission: $325,423

Second Place

Recruiter: Steve Kohn
Agency: Affinity Executive Search
Placements: Eighteen (18)
Commission: $134,784

Third Place

Recruiter: Donna Carroll
Agency: Systems Personnel
Placements: Six (6)
Commission: $56,400

Fourth Place

Recruiter: Melissa Truax
Agency: Premier Health Careers, Inc./Premier Paths
Placements: Five (5)
Commission: $56,024

Fifth Place

Recruiter: Sean Napoles, CPC
Agency: Career Brokers, Inc.
Placements: Five (5)
Commission: $45,496

— — —

Top Echelon Network determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its recruiting awards based upon two criteria, 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.

— — —

Trey Cameron

Joy Shanklin

“Thanks for a great candidate! Talked to the candidate today and they are super-excited!”

Submitted by Joy Shanklin of Shanklin & Associates regarding her Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the second Network split placement that Shanklin and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

Lynda Mammel

“This is my second TE placement this year with Trey Cameron. We are on a roll with many more to come!”

Submitted by Lynda Mammel of The PRA Group, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—ALGORITHM SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—22.5%

(Editor’s note: This is the second Network split placement that Mammel and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

Dustin Griffin

“We’re celebrating our first year anniversary in Top Echelon with a few splits! This is our second split with Trey, but I don’t anticipate it being our last.”

Submitted by Dustin Griffin of Griffin Recruitment Group, LLC regarding his Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF QUALITY

Fee Percentage—20%

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

— — —

If YOU are looking to make more placements with your Top Echelon Network membership, contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

If it doesn’t lead to a placement, then recruiters are not likely to do it . . . and that very well applies to the reading of blogs.

How many people actually read these days, anyway? (Or like to read? If you’re reading this, then you’re probably an anomaly.)

Still, we wanted to know if Top Echelon Network members read blogs. So of course, we ran a poll in the Members’ Area. And yes, participating in that poll required some reading.

Do you read blogs?  If so, what kind?

Results:

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

• Yes, I only read recruiting-related blogs — 1.9%
• Yes, I only read blogs about my industry — 0.9%
• Yes, I read blogs about recruiting and my industry — 8.4%
• Yes, I read blogs about a wide variety of topics — 33.6%
• No, I don’t read blogs at all — 55.1%

Blogs: to read or not to read

Let’s start with the bad news: over half of the recruiters participating in our survey (55.1%) “don’t read blogs at all.” That leaves 44.9% that DO read blogs. But which blogs?

Well, not many recruiters read ones that are specific to recruiting (1.9%) or their industry (0.9%) only. However, 8.4% read them about both recruiting and their industry.

Then there’s the roughly third of poll respondents (33.6%) that “read blogs about a wide variety of topics.” We’ll go ahead and assume that the 8.4% are included in that 33.6%.

All about the Benjamins

What’s rather interesting about the results of this poll is that over a third of those who responded “read blogs about a wide variety of topics.”

Recruiters want to make placements. (Understatement of the Year, ladies and gentlemen.) Every day, they pursue making placements with a single-minded devotion that for some borders on obsession. So it’s no surprise that over half of them don’t read blogs at all.

But the other half? One would think that those recruiters are reading blogs about how to become better recruiters and make more placements.

Take, for instance, the 33.6% of respondents who indicated that they “read blogs on a wide variety of topics.” Sure, they read on a wide variety of topics, but I’d be willing to bet that those topics also include how to become a better recruiter and make more placements.

Reading for entertainment is fine and dandy. However, it doesn’t pay the bills.

Below are two recruiters who made their second split placement together, but who got the opportunity to meet each other at the 2016 Top Echelon National Convention earlier this year.

However, we also have a ton of stories about recruiters who met for the first time at a Top Echelon conference or convention and then made a split shortly thereafter. It’s not exactly a secret: if you want to make more split placements in Top Echelon Network, then attend one of our events!

Like the upcoming Fall Conference, for instance.

This year’s conference is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, and Wednesday, October 19. The site of the conference is the Sheraton O’Hare Suites (formerly the Sheraton Gateway Suites). The main speaker for the conference is Scott Love of The Attorney Search Group.

Our room rate with the Sheraton O’Hare Suites is $189 per night. That rate is good for Top Echelon Network members attending the conference for the dates of Monday, October 17, through Wednesday, October 19. The Early Bird Registration rate for the conference is just $235 per person.

To register for the Fall Conference, login to the Members’ Area of the Top Echelon website. The registration links are located on the left-hand side of the main page under the placement forms.

We hope to see you in Chicago . . . and we hope you make more split placements!

— — —

Michael Stuck

Cynthia Woods

“Cynthia is super to work with. I’ve been working with her for a few years now. This is our second placement together. I’m filling out this form at the Top Echelon Convention in Las Vegas, where we will get to finally meet in person and celebrate this big placement and our first one last year. I couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate. What an awesome trading partner you are!”

Submitted by Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group regarding his Network split placement with Cynthia Woods of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions

Position Title—NATIONAL CHAIN MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the second Network split placement that Stuck and Woods have made together in Top Echelon.)