You may have already noticed, but Top Echelon has released a new corporate website as part of our re-branding initiative. The new website went live on Tuesday, September 1 (today!) and as you can see, it includes a great new design.

However, there’s another change with this new corporate website: Top Echelon Contracting is now part of the same website as Top Echelon Network and Big Biller. Previously, Top Echelon Contracting had its own site, and the Network, Big Biller, and Hiring Hook were all under the TopEchelon.com domain.

Which brings me to the next two changes: Hiring Hook will now be referred to as Top Echelon Web Design and Job Javelin will be referred to as Top Echelon Job Posting. Once again, this is in line with our re-branding initiative.

Now . . . what about logging into the software?

The customer login page will look different, regardless of which service or services to which you subscribe. However, keep in mind that the login page URL will NOT change. This means that if you’ve bookmarked that login page on your web browser, that bookmark will still work.

However, if you do not use a bookmarked page to login to the software, and you click on the “Login” link on the Top Echelon website, you’ll be presented with three choices:

1. Recruiters
2. Contracting Recruiters
3. Contractors

You’ll want to click on the “Recruiters” option, which is for Top Echelon Network members, Big Biller customers, and Top Echelon Job Posting users. That will take you to the main login page.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the core functionality and design of the Top Echelon software, including the Network and Big Biller, has remained the same. There have been NO changes or alterations to that.

With that being said, we have made some cosmetic changes inside the software in conjunction with our new corporate website and re-branding initiative. They include the wording and icon changes below:

• Hiring Hook is now referred to as the Job Board (with a bullseye icon)
• Job Javelin is now referred to as Top Echelon Job Posting (with a globe icon)
• Network Hiring Hook is now referred to as the Network Jobs Feed (with a pyramid icon)

As always, our #1 goal and mission statement is to help recruiters make more placements. Our re-branding initiative, our new corporate website, bringing Top Echelon Contracting under the same domain, and these naming revisions are all part of that mission.

If you have any questions, contact us at 330.455.1433 or via email at support@topechelon.com.

Once again, the “Networking on the FARM!” event was a huge success!

For those of you who don’t know, this event is hosted on an annual basis by Top Echelon Network recruiters Maria Hemminger and Joanna Spaun of MJ Recruiters, LLC in Tiffin, Ohio. There were a TON of recruiters at the event, some of whom traveled from as far away as North Carolina (Trey Cameron) and Georgia (Pam Copeland).

Debbie Fledderjohann and Todd Bossler of Top Echelon were also in attendance at the event to tell attendees about what plans TE has for helping recruiters make more placements. (Because . . . well, that’s what we do.)

There is NO doubt in my mind that split placements will result from this networking event. Just like the National Convention and the Fall Conference, split placements always result from events just like this one. You bring recruiters together, you give them some food, you give them some (adult) beverages, and before you know it, they’re talking business and swapping candidate and job order information.

This is why we love events like “Networking on the FARM!” and why we love to promote it, especially when we have photos from the event. In fact, you can see photos from this year’s get-together right now.

Check Out the “Networking on the FARM!” Photos!

We’re always looking for recruiters to form new Regional Core Groups or to get together on a consistent basis like the recruiters who attended “Networking on the FARM!” If you’d like to start a new Regional Core Group, please contact me for more information.

Give me a call at 330.455.1433, x156 or send an email to drea@topchelon.com.

Welcome to the next installment in our series of blog posts about how YOU can experience more success as a member of Top Echelon Network, specifically how you can make more split placements.

This week’s piece of advice comes from Cindy Andrew Cordell, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC. According to Cordell, recruiters who want to experience more split placement success should establish a solid reputation for themselves within the Network.

Specifically, she recommends joining a Core Group, either a Virtual Core Group or a Regional Core Group.

“Try to participate in the Core Groups,” said Cordell.  “I think it’s important, and I know that it’s made a difference for me.”

In addition to being a frequent attendee at Top Echelon conferences and conventions, Cordell also attends Virtual Core Group meetings. These meetings are held in specific industries every month, and Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS conducts these meetings.

“I attend the Accounting and IT [Virtual Core Group] meetings,” said Cordell. “We all share job orders during the meeting, and if I see a job that I might be able to help with, I call that recruiter and talk with them about it afterward. If I’m not able to attend a particular meeting, Drea sends out a list of the jobs that were shared.”

Active Participation is one of the Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network, and according to Cordell, it goes a long way toward helping recruiters establish a reputation within the Network.

“If you get your face out there and you’re able to establish a reputation, other recruiters will call you when they need help,” said Cordell. “By being known in TE, you’ll get more phone calls. When other recruiters have a hot job, they call me to see if I can help them.

“Get to know other people in Top Echelon. That’s a great way to start having more success.”

How about you? Has participating in Core Groups in Top Echelon Network led to more split placement success? Do you participate in a Virtual Core Group, a Regional Core Group, or both?

(Cindy Cordell, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC started recruiting in 1978 and joined Top Echelon Network in 1992. She’s has made a total of 43 placements during her tenure in Top Echelon.)

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

That question was as follows:

Which grade would you give your current satisfaction level with LinkedIn?

Results:

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

• A — 7.3%
• B — 40.9%
• C — 30.7%
• D — 19.0%
• F — 1.5%
• Is there a grade lower than F? — 0.7%

Analysis:

How Top Echelon Network recruiters graded LinkedIn is not TOO surprising, although the grades overall might be lower than one would expect. There were a few recruiters who gave the social media site an “A” (7.3%), but “B” was far and away the most popular answer at 40.9%.

Another 30.7% of respondents chose “C” as their answer, while nearly 20% assigned a letter grade of “D” to LinkedIn. As if that wasn’t bad enough, 1.5% chose “F”, and another 0.7% wanted to know “Is there a grade lower than F?”

Keep in mind that these grades assessed recruiters’ overall satisfaction level with LinkedIn, not necessarily the social media site’s effectiveness in helping them source candidates and/or run their desks. Satisfaction encompasses a wide range of criteria, and effectiveness is ultimately just one of those criteria.

Conclusion:

There is NO doubt that LinkedIn has proven to be a great tool for recruiters—both corporate recruiters and agency recruiters—down through the years. And yes, it still is a great tool for recruiters.

However, as the results of this poll show, recruiters may not be as “in love” with LinkedIn as they once were. It’s not just about effectiveness in sourcing candidates. It’s also about the following:

• The site’s ease of use
• The specific product and service level offers that are available
• The different pricing structures of those offerings
• Customer support and technical support

At this point, the important question is this one: will recruiters’ overall satisfaction level with LinkedIn continue to decline over time? And if that happens . . . what happens next?