Okay, we have some huge anniversary milestones to celebrate in Top Echelon Network during the month of October!

That’s because we have a Charter Member of the Network celebrating their 26th anniversary as a Preferred Member recruiter, and we also have a 20-year, 15-year, and five-year anniversary to celebrate, as well.

The Charter Member is Lou Michaels of Lou Michaels Associates, who joined the Network in October of 1988, Top Echelon Network’s first year of existence.  Since that time, Michaels has made 168 Network placements and is a $1 Million Producer in Top Echelon.

In addition, Stickle & Associates is celebrating its 20th Network anniversary, and The Gabor Group is celebrating its 15th anniversary.  The recruiters in these agencies have also enjoyed quite a bit of success since joining the Network all those years ago.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Avalon Recruiting, which is celebrating its fifth Network anniversary.  Since joining Top Echelon, Randall Hardwick of Avalon Recruiting has made 11 Network placements.

So we want to thank Lou Michaels, Mark Stickle and Robert Stickle, Robert Gabor, and Randall Hardwick for their commitment as Preferred Members, and we also want to help them celebrate their respective Network anniversaries in Top Echelon.  Congratulations!

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26-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Lou Michaels Associates, Inc. in Battle Creek, Michigan
Staff Members: Lou Michaels and Carri Johnson
Agency Join Date: October 10, 1988

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Stickle & Associates in Asheboro, North Carolina
Staff Members: Mark Stickle and Robert Stickle
Agency Join Date: October 27, 2004

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15-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

The Gabor Group in Akron, Ohio
Staff Members: Bob Gabor
Agency Join Date: October 6, 1999

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FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Avalon Recruiting in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Staff Members: Randall Hardwick
Agency Join Date: October 8, 2009

Top Echelon Network recruiters aren’t just making more direct hire split placements . . . they’re also making more split contract placements!

And of course, we have proof of that.  (We don’t just shoot our mouths off without having proof, you know.)

As we’ve been saying for years now, contract placements are a great way to generate additional streams of revenue for your firm.  And we know exactly the people you need to talk with about contract placements . . . the good folks at Top Echelon Contracting!

TEC has been in the business of helping recruiters make contract placements for over 20 years.  TEC President Debbie Fledderjohann and her staff know everything there is to know about contract placements and about being a contract staffing back-office for recruiters.

So if you’re even thinking about taking contract job orders from your clients, you need to call them!

In the meantime, below are the positions filled with split contract placements made by Network recruiters:

• Medical Receptionist Secretary
• McKesson Paragon Clinical Consultant
• Software Tester
• Allscripts Data Extract Programmer
• Rhapsody Integration Consultant
• Data Extract

You can contact Top Echelon Contracting by calling 888.627.3678 or by clicking here to visit their website.

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT CONTRACT PLACEMENTS:

Jim Strickland

Joseph Papa, CPC/CTS

Job recruiter: Joseph Papa, CPC/CTS of American Medical Personnel Services, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Split job title: MEDICAL RECEPTIONIST SECRETARY

Recruiter $ Per Hour: Flat

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

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Pete Oettinger

Angela Marasco

Job recruiter: Angela Marasco of A. Marasco Recruiting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Peter Oettinger of Top Cover Search

Split job title: MCKESSON PARAGON CLINICAL CONSULTANT

Recruiter $ Per Hour: $4.70

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

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Sean Napoles, CPC

Wendy Johnson

Job recruiter: Wendy Johnson of Top Hire Recruitment

Candidate recruiter: Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

Split job title: SOFTWARE TESTER

Recruiter $ Per Hour: $9.40

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

— — —

Gary Silver

Job recruiter: Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel (non-member)

Candidate recruiter: Gary Silver of The Shay Group

Split job title: ALLSCRIPTS DATA EXTRACT PROGRAMMER

Recruiter $ Per Hour: $4.70

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

— — —

Gary Silver

Job recruiter: Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel (non-member)

Candidate recruiter: Gary Silver of The Shay Group

Split job title: RHAPSODY INTEGRATION CONSULTANT

Recruiter $ Per Hour: $4.70

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

— — —

Gary Silver

Job recruiter: Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel (non-member)

Candidate recruiter: Gary Silver of The Shay Group

Split job title: DATA EXTRACT

Fee percentage: Flat

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

It certainly seems as though Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group is everywhere, doesn’t it?  Even when we don’t highlight the fact he wins just about every Recruiter of the Month Award, it’s difficult to ignore him when he has:

• Six (6) placements in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog alone
• Cashed in nearly $500,000 in the Network during the past 12 months . . . which is more than the #2, #3, and #4 recruiter combined

However, I also want to mention that Network recruiters are placing a lot of Manufacturing Engineers lately.  In fact, three Manufacturing Engineers are represented in the split placements listed below.

So not only is Trey seemingly everywhere, but Manufacturing Engineers are seemingly everywhere, too.  At the very least, they’re in high demand.  And that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime in the near future.

Below are the split jobs that were filled recently:

• Oracle Business Analyst
• Manufacturing Engineer
• Manager of Corporate Communications
• Manufacturing Engineer
• Editorial & Media Assistant
• Technical Support Engineer
• Process Control Engineer
• Director of Clinical Content
• Manufacturing Engineer

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon’s Recruiting Network and make more split placements, please give me a call at 330.455.1433, x156. Don’t forget to give our recruiting software a shot to see what kind of efficiency you’ve been missing out on!

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Amy Dunn

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Amy Dunn of Technology Recruiting Solutions

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: ORACLE BUSINESS ANALYST

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Ron Sunshine

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee percentage: Flat

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Cindy Andrew Cordell, CPC

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Cindy Andrew Cordell, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: MANAGER OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Fee percentage: 25%

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Doug Boyce

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Doug Boyce of J.D. Cotter Search, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Michael Stuck

Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Michael Stuck of the Gables Search Group

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: EDITORIAL & MEDIA ASSISTANT

Fee percentage: 25%

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Trey Cameron

Job recruiter: Mark Lingunis of Primus Staffing Solutions, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: TECHNICAL SUPPORT ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: Another Top Echelon Network recruiter’s Hiring Hook website

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Alan Daum

Lisa Wilczynski

Job recruiter: Lisa Wilczynski of Engineering & Technical Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Alan Daum of Alan N. Daum & Associates, Inc.

Split job title: PROCESS CONTROL ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

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Stephanie McGinty

Diane Rothong

Job recruiter: Diane Rothong of Worksource 2000, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Stephanie McGinty of Ives & Associates, Inc.

Split job title: DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL CONTENT

Fee percentage: 20%

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

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Justin Bidwell

Steve Schanz

Job recruiter: Steve Schanz, CPC of CPS and Professionals Incorporated

Candidate recruiter: Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

Split job title: MANUFACTURING ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

Top Echelon welcomed four new recruiting agencies to the Network during the month of September!

These agencies work in different industries, but there’s a heavy concentration in Manufacturing, Financial Services, and Engineering.

The names of these new recruiting agencies are listed below, along with their location; the specific disciplines, industries, and specialty areas in which they work; and the date the agencies officially joined the Network.

We encourage you to reach out to the recruiters in these agencies and welcome them to the Network, especially if they operate within your specialty area.  That’s because, as I’ve stated before, these agencies joined Top Echelon Network to make split placements and generate more revenue . . . and they need quality Trading Partners like YOU to make that happen!

The Harrison Group in Milltown, New Jersey
—Specialties: Chemists, Engineering, Operations/Production, and Regulatory Affairs/Regulatory Compliance
—Join date: September 2

The Nantais Group in Macomb, Michigan
—Specialties: Consumer Goods & Services, Life Sciences, Financial Services, and Industrial, Technology
—Join date: September 3

Leighton & Associates in Peoria, Arizona
—Specialties: General
—Join date: September 15

Your Talent Source, LLC in Valrico, Florida
—Specialties: Manufacturing/Packaging
—Join date: September 16

Remember, if you know somebody who you think would be a good fit for Network Membership, you can receive a $100 credit toward your Top Echelon invoice for referring a firm that eventually becomes a Preferred Member.

You can send your referrals to info@topechelon.com.

RECRUITER POLL QUESTION:

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

That question was as follows:

If you don’t call your Trading Partners back, why don’t you?

POLL RESULTS:

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

• I don’t have the time. — 2.0%
• I haven’t made it a habit yet. — 1.0%
• Following up is one of my weaknesses. — 2.0%
• I’m not afraid of Drea. — 5.0%
• Some other reason. — 6.0%
• I always call my Trading Partners back. — 84.0%

ANALYSIS:

From time to time, Network recruiters voice their concern about their Trading Partners calling them back. So . . . we decided to make that the focus of our weekly poll.

That being said, is it any surprise that 84% of those recruiters who participated in the poll chose “I always call my Trading Partners” back as their answer?  The question becomes this one: would the Trading Partners of those recruiters be in complete agreement with that assessment?  Or would there be a certain amount of . . . disparity?

You could say that those recruiters who chose other answers were 100% honest, since those answers ranged from “I don’t have the time” to “Following up is one of my weaknesses” to “I’m not afraid of Drea.”

Although that last answer is not only 100% honest, but also 100% dangerous.

CONCLUSION:

How often do Top Echelon Network recruiters call their Trading Partners back?  While that might be difficult to determine with 100% accuracy, this much is certain:

Those Top Echelon recruiters who DO call their Trading Partners back are the ones most likely to enjoy long-term success as Preferred Members of the Network.

There’s no guesswork involved with that statement.  Call your Trading Partners back, communicate, and make split placements.

Repeat as necessary.

To find out how YOU can enjoy more success in Top Echelon, contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

The best recruiters know that recruiting is built around relationships.  Contract staffing is no exception.  Getting contract job orders depends on nurturing existing client relationships and creating new ones.

Preferred Member Linda Blakemore, CPC of the Atlantic Pacific Group is an expert at building client relationships.  That is a major reason why she is so successful on both the contract staffing and direct hire sides of her desk.  She recently shared with Top Echelon Contracting some of her best tips for getting contract job orders.

Become a ‘Talent Acquisition Partner’

LISTENING to clients is perhaps the most important skill.  You are trying to determine their biggest staffing pain points and recommend the best solutions.  The best solution will not always be direct hire.  It could be a contractor or a contract-to-direct hire situation.  Focusing on their specific staffing needs helps you become what Blakemore calls a “Talent Acquisition Partner” rather than just a vendor.

Select the Right Niche

The first niche to consider is the one you are already in because you already have a strong client base and stable of candidates there.  In Blakemore’s case, that niche was Human Resources, Accounting, and Finance.  Having a pool of candidates proved to be especially helpful because it has allowed her to present contract candidates quickly.  If you have trouble generating contract staffing leads in your current niche, there are many other hot contract staffing industries to explore, such as Information Technology, Healthcare, and Manufacturing/Engineering.

Go to the Right Source

Conventional wisdom once held that hiring managers or department heads were the best source for contract placement opportunities.  This may have been the case in the past because HR traditionally did not get involved in the contract placement process.  The hiring manager or department head with the need was the main contact.  Now, as contractors solidify their place in the new blended workforce model, HR is becoming the front line for ALL talent acquisition in medium to large-size companies.  Therefore, they will have the most knowledge about where the open positions are throughout an entire organization.  They will also likely be in charge of selecting approved vendors, so you will need to go through them to get on that list.  You still may find yourself working heavily with a hiring manager, but Blakemore urges recruiters to always keep HR in the loop.  “If you try to go around HR, you are not going to win any brownie points,” she said.

Talk About Contracting

You should start discussing contract staffing during your first conversation with a potential client.  “I typically introduce myself to clients from a search perspective, but during the first meeting, I also let them know that I provide contractors in that specific niche,” Blakemore said.  Don’t forget to tell your existing direct hire clients.  Statistics show that 80% of a recruiter’s contract business comes from their direct hire clients.  “Keep reminding them.  They will forget you had that conversation three or six months later,” she added.

Follow Up

As an extension of that, you may want to follow conversations up with a marketing document that lists the alternative staffing options you can provide (contract staffing, payrolling, and contract-to-direct hire).  It can also explain the weekly process for contracting, along with some key information on insurance coverage.  This provides a visual, written reminder that potential clients can refer back to.

Take Care of Your Candidates

It’s not just about building relationships with your clients, but your candidates, as well.  Quality candidates want to be treated well.  They want competitive pay and quality benefits.  “I’ve learned that professional contract candidates want a great benefits package,” Blakemore said.  “My back-office offers them medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, plus a 401(k).  The benefits not only attract quality candidates, but they also help you to retain them and place them on one contract assignment right after another.”

If you do all of this successfully, you can get referrals from both candidates and clients, Blakemore said.  In fact, you may have to do very little marketing to sustain your contract staffing services.

“Your clients and candidates can be one of your best lead generators,” Blakemore said.