We’re pleased to announce that Hannah Laps has joined the Top Echelon team as our Training and Education Specialist.

Hannah’s responsibilities encompass all of Top Echelon’s products and services: the Top Echelon recruiter network, Big Biller recruiting system for applicant tracking, and Hiring Hook staffing agency and recruitment website design.

Much of those responsibilities will revolve around enhanced training, specifically Web-based training, and the basis for that training will include feedback from existing customers.

As a result, we invite you to also welcome Hannah to the Top Echelon team by sending an email to hlaps@topechelon.com.

Keep in mind that Hannah might be contacting YOU in the near future (either via email or over the phone) to ask questions about your Network Membership, Big Biller, and/or Hiring Hook and how we can help make your experience with Top Echelon even better!

(And Hannah will be in attendance at the upcoming Top Echelon Network Fall Conference, so if you plan to attend the conference, you can meet her in Chicago, as well.)

At Top Echelon, we like to feature recruiters who are doing things the right way in the Network.  This, of course, means that we highlight a heck of a lot of recruiters.

After all, split placements in Top Echelon Network are up nearly 25% over this time a year ago.

The Trading Partner relationship that we’re featuring this week is comprised of one of the Network recruiters who started in the industry in 1991 and one who started in 2006.  One recruiter has made 181 Network placements, and the other has made 19 Network placements.

Together, they’ve made 14 split placements in Top Echelon Network during the past four years.  Not only that, but the fee for their most recent split placement (highlighted below) totaled $47,500!

Once again, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the recruiting business, how long you’ve been in the Network, or what industry you work: you can make split placements with another recruiter, regardless of their tenure or their experience.  And not just a few splits, either—14 of them!

So congratulations to these two Top Echelon Network recruiters for splitting that large fee, for building and sustaining such an awesome Trading Partner relationship, and for doing things the right way.

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“This is the 14th split placement that Rebecca and I have made in the last four years.  Continued communication between partners in an industry pays off.”

Submitted by Dan Simmons, CPC of Continental Search & Outplacement, Inc. regarding his Network split placement with Rebecca Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Position Title—MARKETING DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the 14th Network split placement that Simmons and Kohn have made together in Top Echelon.)

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SPLIT PLACEMENTS THIS WEEK:

The end of the third quarter of the year is rapidly approaching, and one thing is certain: split placements in Top Echelon Network are being made more frequently in 2013 than in 2012.

In fact, there have been 24.8% more split placements made to this point in the year than there were a year ago at this time.  In fact, there’s been a noticeable difference during the past few weeks, with placements hitting double digits on multiple occasions.

These numbers point to the fact that the economy (and by extension, hiring) is gaining traction. Companies are in need of talented employees, and they’re willing to pay a recruiting firm to locate those employees.  And when candidates are difficult to find and/or the company is especially picky?

Top Echelon Network recruiters are relying upon their Trading Partners to help them find the candidates they need.

SPLIT JOBS FILLED THIS WEEK:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiters.

• Director of Sales
• VP of Finance
  
• Java Developer
  
• Digital Forensics Analyst
  
• Quality Manager
• Project Manager
  
• Plant Controller
  
• Environmental Engineer
  
• Associate VP of Sales
  

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network, call Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Job recruiter: Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Janet Miller of Computer Management, Inc.

Split job title: DIRECTOR OF SALES

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC of the MMS Group

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: VP OF FINANCE

Fee percentage: 18%

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

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Job recruiter: Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Sara Rich of CPS and Professionals Incorporated

Split job title: JAVA DEVELOPER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Victor Wheeler of Velocity Search Group

Split job title: DIGITAL FORENSICS ANALYST

Fee percentage: 18%

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

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Job recruiter: Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Chris Ramsay, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC

Split 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: Lloyd E. Shoemaker of TriVista Professional Placement Services

Candidate recruiter: David Manns of Access Professional Search & Staffing

Split job title: PROJECT MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Twanda DeBorde of CMD and Associates Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Roy Cope of R. Cope & Associates, Inc.

Split job title: PLANT CONTROLLER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Job recruiter: David Wood, CPC of The David Wood Company

Candidate recruiter: Thomas Edwards of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Split job title: ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Job recruiter: Stephanie Wise of Wise Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Split job title: ASSOCIATE VP OF SALES

Fee percentage: 15%

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

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Job recruiter: David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: TEST ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Every once in a while, there’s a “bump in the road” as far as the Virtual Core Group schedule is concerned.  Just such a bump will happen during the second week in September.

It’s not really a bump, though.  It’s the 2013 National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) Conference.

As many of you know, Top Echelon officials (including myself) will be in attendance at the NAPS Conference.  Since I can’t—as of yet—be in two places at the same time, there will be NO Virtual Core Group teleconference call meetings during the second week of the month.

However, outside of that “bump,” there aren’t any other changes to the Virtual Core Group schedule for the month of September.

In fact, below is the VCG teleconference call schedule for September (all times listed are Eastern Standard Time):

So, since there won’t be any Virtual Core Group meetings during the second week in September, I certainly expect to see you at the NAPS Conference.  Then I certainly expect to see you at the upcoming Top Echelon Network Fall Conference in Chicago.

Then I expect you to attend a Virtual Core Group teleconference call meeting!  (Needy, aren’t I?)

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.

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As the biotechnology industry grows, interest in contract staffing among both companies and workers in this area is also increasing, creating a hot new niche for contract staffing recruiters.

Biotechnology professionals are those who are involved in the use of living organisms to create certain products, such as engineered crops and pharmaceutical drugs.  These include a wide range of analysts, scientists, engineers, technicians, and specific titles such as biomedical engineer, medical scientist, biochemist, and more.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in this area is expected to increase by 31% between 2010 and 2020.

Due to the nature of the work and the unique characteristics of the industry, some recruiters are noticing that a lot of that hiring is happening in contract staffing, so they’ve started to offer contractors to biotech companies.  One of these recruiters is Jim Davidson of Human Capital Resource, LLC.  Davidson’s firm has provided biotech and pharmaceutical companies with direct hire candidates since 2005, but just recently started to provide contract staffing to meet his clients’ need for cost savings and flexibility.

“Many companies in this niche are older companies with very rich benefits packages,” he said.  “It costs them a tremendous amount of money to hire on a full-time basis.  Not only that, but they could be working on a $7 billion drug that could end up being a bust or approval could be delayed, in which case they would have to scale back.”

When these companies do have to hire on a full-time or direct hire basis, they tend to be very selective.  As a result, Davidson is also noticing a growing demand for contract-to-direct services, which his firm can now provide.  Contract-to-direct arrangements, often referred to as temp-to-hire, allow clients to try a candidate before they make a direct-hire commitment.

Recruiter Raymond Gooch has noticed a similar trend.  Gooch and his firm, Spectrum Career, LLC, recently provided job search skills training to college students who received grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for workforce development in bioscience.

“Even though the individuals participating in the bioscience training often had transferable skills, they usually had no experience in the industry,” Gooch said.  “Hiring temps/contractors gives the employer an opportunity to evaluate the worker prior to making a long-term commitment.”

It is also an attractive option for many biotechnology professionals.  According to the recent Randstad Pharma Engagement Study, the most important factor that drives the engagement of pharmaceutical/biotech professionals is flexibility.  Contract staffing provides the ultimate in flexibility, often allowing workers to take on project-based assignments with flexible schedules.  They also have the opportunity to take time off between assignments. This is particularly popular with older workers, Davidson said.

“Those in the later stages of their careers enjoy it,” he said. “There is a lot of flexibility. They don’t have the same financial pressures as younger workers, so contracting becomes more attractive later in their careers.”

Davidson feels the sweet spot for recruiters wanting to place contractors in the biotech niche is smaller companies.

“A lot of the larger companies are very well organized when it comes to contract staffing and have vendor managers involved in the process,” he said. “It becomes very difficult.”

As the products produced by biotech companies become more and more important, we’ll be keeping an eye on this hot contract staffing niche!

SURVEY QUESTION:

At Top Echelon Network, we’re always looking for the next location for our National Convention.  We’ve been to some great places down through the years—a variety of cities located all throughout the United States.

As always, we take our cue from you, the Preferred Member recruiters of Top Echelon Network.  We want to go where you want to go . . . and that’s why we’re always asking where you want to go.  So it might not surprise you to know that we asked again!

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

Which of the following locations would be best for a Top Echelon Network National Convention?

SURVEY RESULTS:

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

• Baltimore — 16.7%
• Atlanta — 10.3%
• Las Vegas — 34.6%
• New Orleans — 29.5%
• Denver — 9.0%

SURVEY ANALYSIS:

It was definitely a close race, but Las Vegas beat New Orleans by a margin of 34.6% to 29.5%.  Top Echelon Network has held a National Convention at both locations in the past, and both events were highly successful.  However, the current Membership currently craves a return trip to Las Vegas.

Baltimore was third at 16.7%, followed by Atlanta at 10.3% and Denver and 9.0%.  Top Echelon has never held a National Convention in any of those cities, although the Network has had a regional event in Baltimore before.

Clearly, the results of this Network survey show that Top Echelon recruiters wish to attend a National Convention at a venue with plenty of entertainment options.

FEEDBACK:

Where do YOU think we should go for a National Convention?  One of the destinations listed above . . . or some place that we didn’t even mention?

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