A great way to get our attention here at Top Echelon Network is to make a bunch of split placements.  You know, 100, 200 . . . maybe 300.

But if you can’t reach those numbers quickly enough, then two or more placements a week will definitely do the trick, and that’s the case this week.  The Preferred Member recruiter who made multiple placements is Debra L. Stitt, CPC of Quality Source Inc. of Ohio.

Stitt made a pair of split placements (as you can see below) this week, and she’s been a consistent producer during her time in the Network.  She became a Preferred Member of the recruiter split fee network a little over 10 years ago, and she’s made 35 placements since then, which represents a hefty return on her Network investment.

But of coruse . . . Stitt wasn’t the only recruiter to make a split placement this week.  There were plenty of others, as well, and they’re also listed below.

Who will be the subject of our next “Split Placement Focus”?  Only time will tell . . . actually, only time AND split placements will tell . . .

THIS WEEK’S COMPLETED SPLIT PLACEMENTS!

Job order recruiter: Rita McConnell of Emerald Resource Group

Candidate recruiter: Larry Barlow of Tax Advantage Personnel, Inc.

Job title: LATIN AMERICA TAX MANAGER

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

Candidate recruiter: Tom Mitlo of Orion Delta Group

Job title: DIRECTOR OF REIMBURSEMENT INNOVATION

Fee Percentage—25%

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

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

Candidate recruiter: James McMahon of Chicago Search Group, Inc.

Job title: AUDIT & COMPLIANCE ADVISORY SERVICES CONSULTANT

Fee Percentage—25%

Action causing split placement: The job order or candidate was sent to me via the automated email alerts.

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Job order recruiter: Robert Gabor of The Gabor Group

Candidate recruiter: Suzanne Griffith, CPC of J S Griffith & Associates

Job title: CATEGORY MANAGER

Fee Percentage—20%

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

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Job order recruiter: David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Bob Small of Carroll Technology Services, Inc.

Job title: .NET DEVELOPER

Fee Percentage—22.5%

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

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Job order recruiter: Jessica May of Management Analysis & Utilization, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Catherine Bateman of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions

Job title: PROJECT ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—15%

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

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330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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Okay, before I get into my regular spiel about this year’s National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) Conference, let me take a moment to make a personal appeal.  Well, maybe not a personal appeal, but you know what I mean.

The NAPS Conference is a great opportunity for you to increase the productivity on your recruiting desk and within your firm overall.  There is going to be SO much packed into these few days in the way of training and networking that it would be impossible to not come away with something of value.

Sure, there’s an investment of time, energy, and money involved, but there’s also an excellent chance that you’ll receive a return on that investment—and that it will exceed the investment that you made.

And besides, if you attend, you get to see ME there. (Enough said.)

Okay, now for the spiel . . .

This year’s NAPS Conference is scheduled for Wednesday, September 19, through Saturday, September 22.  The location will be the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

Four tracks anchor this year’s lineup of speakers: (1) Direct-Hire Back to Basics, (2) The Direct-Hire Master’s Program, (3) Temp Staffing, and (4) Best Practices and Technology.  Running concurrently with the event on Friday afternoon wil be the owner and manager’s retreat, as well as an executive leadership track.

Due to the success of the 2011 event, NAPS will hold a Wednesday evening “Kick-Off Event and Keynote” with Danny Cahill.  Jon Bartos, Joanie Ruge, and Jim Bleech will each host the morning keynotes.  Overall, there will be four days of education and networking from 25 speakers presenting over 45 sessions.

In addition, there will be two pre-conference credentialing/educational specials.  These include NAPS’ well-known certification programs (CPC and CTS), as well as its new CERS (Certified Employee Retention Specialist).

Not only that, but during the Thursday evening party, there will be a live band, a mechanical bull riding contest, and a live auction complete with a Texas auctioneer.  (Now, really . . . how can you beat THAT?)

NAPS has been the staffing industry educator since 1961 and enjoys its reputation as the oldest industry association.  It continues to maintain the position as the search and staffing industry educator through its certification program, continuing education initiatives, eLearning, and annual conference.

Both Hiring Hook recruitment website design and Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software, are pleased to be sponsors of this year’s event.

So . . . join me and hundreds of other recruiters at the NAPS Conference.  Don’t make me come find you.

We recently announced that Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter Marc Tappis was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his firm, Opportunity Search, opening its doors.  It just so happens that during two stints as a Preferred Members, Tappis has been very successful in the Network, as well.

So . . . considering the success—not to mention longevity—that Tappis has enjoyed, both inside and outside of the Network, we thought it would be a good idea to ask him some questions.  (Yes, you could call it an “interview,” if you want to get all technical about it.)

Any, this is if the first blog post in a two-post series that reveal the answers that Tappis provided.  The second part of the series will be published in next week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  We want to read that issue, too.

How did you break into the recruiting business?

I started out in Corporate HR, first as a recruiter then as a staffing manager.  I was using a very well-known and established recruiting firm to fill openings and they offered me a position with their firm, which I accepted.
How has the world of recruiting changed during the past 25 years?

Technology is the biggest change.

When I started my company in 1987, everything was paper.  Computers were very expense and had little or no memory capacity to hold large amounts of data.  I spent a lot of time making copies, addressing envelopes, making file folders for candidates and companies etc.  The process from start to finish was slow.

You would talk to a candidate, they would mail a resume to you and that would take two days, and you would mail it to the company and that was another two days.  Answering machines weren’t very reliable, so spending time out of the office was risky.

A few years after I was in business, fax machines became popular and that made the process move a little faster, but the quality of the fax on thermal paper rolls was very poor.  Years later, computers became affordable but there was no email and no internet.  Even Top Echelon Network (called Nationwide Interchange at the time) had a system where they mailed you a disk with new candidates and job orders and you had to mail it back to them weekly.

Technology has made the job much easier.  A resume is now received in seconds versus days, cellphones allow you to talk to candidates on their way to and from work or during the day if they step outside, email allows you to reach a candidate or client at any time, and computer databases allow you search thousands of candidates in seconds and manage work flow.  Even something as simple as retreiving a message remotely didn’t exist reliably 25 years ago.

If you had a “philosophy of recruiting,” what would you say that is?

Be honest and treat people like you want to be treated. Be a good listener and listen to your clients’ and candidates’ needs.

This is a people business, so get to know your good clients and “A” candidates.  I have numerous clients that I ‘ve worked with for 10+ years and have placed countless candidates with them.  I’m the first one they call over and over again.  I take almost everyone I place to lunch and meet face-to-face with my best clients over lunch regularly.  I get to know them personally.  I think that is really important and has been a major factor in my success.

What do you think you’ve learned about recruiting, business, and people during the past 25 years?

This business really is all about relationships.  To be successful, you need to have good long-term relationships with candidates, clients, and fellow recruiters.  If you do, clients will give you more more business, candidates will refer their friends and colleagues, and recruiters will share their openings and best candidates with you.

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mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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In this week’s installment of “‘Comments’ and Compliments,” we’re highlighting Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiters who have made their first split placement with one another.

After all, there’s a first time for everything, and unlike some things, you actually WANT split fee recruiting placements to happen again.

And that’s the theme of this blog post.  Sure, it might have been the first time that these recruiters make a split together, but they certainly don’t want it to be the last time.  They want to make another and another and another . . . well, you get the general idea.

So while we congratulate these recruiters for their accomplishment, we also encourage them.  We encourage them to make more split placements—because we like split placements.  They give us a warm, fuzzy feeling all over.

If you’d like to thank another recruiter for their efforts in a split placement situation, send your information to marketing@topechelon.com.  Your comments might be included in an upcoming issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

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“[This was the] first time that Rob and Ann worked together on ANY opening; hopefully, it won’t be the last!”

Submitted by Robert Inabnet of Management Search International regarding his split placement with Ann Boland of The Boland Group

Position Title—HOSPITAL LAB DIRECTOR/MED TECH
Fee Percentage—23%

(Editor’s note: this is the first split placement that Inabnet and Boland have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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“Thanks, Cindy!  Sydney is an excellent candidate!”

Submitted by Paul Johnson of Paul Johnson & Associates regarding his split placement with Cindy Ridley of HRTechies.com

Position Title—LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT LEARNING MANAGER
Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: this is the first split placement that Johnson and Ridley have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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330.455.1433, x125
mdeutsch@topechelon.com
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(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

In response to the growing need for skilled labor in the engineering and manufacturing sector, Top Echelon Contracting has worked with our insurance underwriters to allow the placement of more CNC machinists in a wider variety of work environments.

TEC already places a wide range of professionals in engineering and manufacturing positions.  In fact, engineering and manufacturing accounted for 18% of TEC placements last year.  As more manufacturing jobs are coming back to the United States, we wanted to expand our ability to place CNC machinists to address the growing need.

Alan Carty, President and CEO of Automationtechies and Automation.com, recently spoke to us about the role of CNC machinists in today’s industries.

“The CNC machinist job is dramatically different from the machinist role of 20-plus years ago,” Carty said.  “Today it is a hybrid position that not only requires the traditional machinist’s skills, but more technically advanced skills, such as CNC programming.”

Carty added that the need for skilled workers is tied closely to the increasing factory automation.

“Companies have been holding back because of the economy, but now the time has come to expand and start hiring,” Carty said.  “There is currently a strong demand for factory automation professionals.  In our niche, we are seeing more and more openings for process control engineers and automation/controls engineers, along with a multitude of other automation related opportunities.”

However, many of those openings are going unfilled as manufacturers struggle to find workers with the needed skills.  Manufacturing jobs, which were previously dominated by lower-skilled positions that only required a high school diploma, have changed dramatically since the recession.  Today’s jobs require some form of higher education or training.  But CFO.com reported that fewer than 10% of American teenagers are planning to pursue skilled-trade careers.

According to a recent survey by Deloitte Consulting and the Manufacturing Institute, there are approximately 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs.  Of the more than 1,100 manufacturing executives surveyed, two-thirds reported that they are facing a moderate to severe shortage of skilled labor.

Carty, who has been recruiting since 2000 and has a strong background in both direct hire and contract staffing, said there is currently a stronger demand for direct hire in his niche.  But he believes that as the number of automation projects continues to increase, contract staffing will also grow in this sector.

Contract staffing can help manufacturers with their automation projects and expansions in a number of ways.  First, contracting allows them to quickly bring in experienced skilled workers who can immediately have a positive impact on production.  Contractors also allow manufacturers to adjust their workforce based on the current demand for their products. They can utilize contractors when business is strong, and when there is a dip in business, they can end contract assignments without the negative press of a layoff.  In addition, contract staffing allows manufacturers to retain or bring back retirees who are already trained in their specific skill set.

CNC machinist opportunities span a wide range of industries and risk factors.  To find out if TEC can accept your CNC machinist contract placements, call us at (888) 627-3678.

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888.627.3678
dfledderjohann@topecheloncontracting.com
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