Back in October, I announced the location of the 2017 Top Echelon National Convention. I announced the dates for the convention. I also said that Early Bird Registration for the convention would be live at the beginning of December.

Well, I’m back to fulfill my promise!

Details about going live

Actually, Early Bird Registration isn’t live quite yet . . . but you can see it from here. That’s because Early Bird Registration for the National Convention will be live on Monday, December 12. That’s  one week from now!

This is the first time we’ve held a full-blown National Convention in Vegas since 2004, and we’re looking forward to a great training and networking event. Below are some of the details regarding the convention:

• The dates are Tuesday, April 25, and Wednesday, April 26.
• The main speaker will be Jordan Rayboy.
• The site will be the DoubleTree Hilton in Orlando, Florida.
• The room rate for the convention is $139 per night.

For the 2016 National Convention, we did something we never did before. We invited both Network members and Big Biller software customers to the convention. True, many Network members are also Big Biller users. However, we’re also inviting Big Biller customers who are NOT also members of the Network.

This will present more opportunities for you to network with other recruiters and also share information about Big Biller best practices.

Instructions once we go live

Once Early Bird Registration is live:

1. To sign up with a credit card, login to the Members’ Area and locate the convention registration links in the left-hand side of the page.
2. Click on the appropriate links and follow the instructions to submit the correct information.

By registering before the end of the 2016 calendar year, you can include the cost of the convention on this year’s business expenses. Not only that, but you’ll reserve your spot for what will be another great training and networking event.

We are here to help you make more placements, and the National Convention is one of the ways we do that. Help us help you, won’t you?

If you have any questions, please contact me at 330.455.1433, x156 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

We’re ending 2016 with a bang in Top Echelon Network! That’s because we continue to welcome more and more new recruiting agencies into the fold.

In this blog post, I’m presenting another group of agencies that recently joined the Network. There are seven in all, and they’re listed below.

With these new additions, there are nearly 500 recruiting agencies that call themselves Top Echelon Network member firms. We’re looking forward to adding even more agencies before the end of the year, so that we can accomplish two objectives:

1. Reach the 500-firm plateau
2. Provide more opportunities for existing members to make split placements

More recruiting agencies = more $ for YOU

We’ve said it time and time again: we only make money when you make money. If you don’t make money, then we don’t make money. It’s a rather simple equation.

So once again, we encourage you to look through the list below. If appropriate, reach out to some of these firms. Introduce yourself, welcome them to the Network, and ask about their biggest need.

Let’s make more splits, people!

— — —

SHEA ASSOCIATES
Date joined: November 15
Location: North Wales
Industries:  General
Agency members: Bryan Shea and Brigid Shea

— — —

GO SOLUTIONS
Date joined: November 17
Location: Carlsbad, California
Industries: sales & marketing, IT, healthcare, Engineering & Manufacturing, Aerospace, Supply Chain & Logistics, Finance & Accounting, Government
Agency members: AJ Bless, Kurt Rink, and Luke Brandt

— — —

LINCK SEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC.
Date joined: November 23
Location: Cleveland, Georgia
Industries:  Senior Level Technical Sales, Sales Engineering and Management
Agency members: Darren Linck

— — —

EXCLUSIVE SEARCH CONSULTANTS
Date joined: November 28
Location: Mayfield Village, Ohio
Industries: Information Technology, Engineering, Industrial, Financial and Health Care
Agency members: Doug McKinney

— — —

HILVERSUM CONSULTING
Date joined: November 28
Location: Smith’s Grove, Kentucky
Industries:  General
Agency members: Robert Frank

— — —

MDLINK
Date joined: November 28
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Industries: Clinical Research & Development, Medical Affairs, Drug Safety/Pharmacovigilance
Agency members: Dean Moriki

— — —

RETAIL OPTIONS
Date joined: November 28
Location: Beaufort, South Carolina
Industries: Fashion Apparel – Junior Fast Fashion – Luxury Retailers – Department Stores – High end Food markets – Home Furnishing – Big Box
Agency members: Gary Thompson

— — —

If you’re among the new agencies that recently joined our exclusive recruiter network and want help, then please contact me. If you’re an established member and want help, please do the same.

You can contact me by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

As a recruiter, there are a LOT of things you can do to make more placements and bill more. One of those things is marketing. In this “golden age of technology,” email definitely fits into that category.

Those recruiters who make emailing a priority are generally more successful than those who do not. Hold on, allow me to clarify that statement. Those who recruiters who make emailing correctly a priority are generally more successful.

This is a subject that we’re going to tackle in our next Big Biller Training Tuesday webinar session. (If you don’t yet use Big Biller, then click here for your FREE 30-day trial.)

Never fail with email!

While you enjoy your trial, below is all of the critical information associated with this upcoming webinar:

Webinar Title: “Mastering Email Within Big Biller”

Live Webinar Date: December 6, 2016

Webinar description:

Email is part of any recruiter’s life. That’s why those recruiters who can master it and leverage its tremendous potential and power are able to bill more.

This fact is not lost on us. That’s why email is the central focus of our next Big Biller Training Tuesday webinar session!

During this webinar, Training & Education Specialist Krista Ridgeway will discuss the following topics:

• The template generator
• The signature generator
• Sending mass emails
• Emailing best practices through Big Biller
• The unsubscribe option

Don’t be at the mercy of email. Take control of your inbox and your life. Join Krista on December 6 for “Mastering Email Within Big Biller”!

Webinar Length: Approximately 20-25 minutes

Register for this Big Biller Training Tuesday webinar!

If you have any questions about this Training Tuesday webinar or the Big Biller recruiting software, send an email to support@topechelon.com. Remember, Top Echelon provides free training on the first, third, and fourth Tuesdays of every month.

Plus, we have Recruiter Coaching Series webinars on the second Tuesday of each month. And of course, if you missed one of these webinars, we recorded them for you.

Here are the recorded versions!

You’ve doubtless heard the phrase “going global” before. But has your recruiting desk “gone global”? Sure, you’ve placed candidates in the United States . . . but what about globally?

In other words, have you placed candidates outside of the United States? Don’t answer that quite yet. That’s because we recently asked all Top Echelon Network recruiters that question in the form of a Members’ Area poll:

In your career, how many candidates have you placed outside of the United States?

Results:

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

• None — 52.4%
• One or two — 28.1%
• Three or four — 8.3%
• Five or six — 1.0%
• Seven or eight — 2.1%
• More than eight — 6.2%

Where have YOU placed candidates?

Well, right off the bat, over half of poll participants (52.4%) indicated that they’ve never placed a candidate outside of the United States. That right there should tell you that the Network is heavily U.S.-based.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you, then this might: 28.1% of recruiters in the poll have placed “one or two” candidates outside the U.S. Then the results drop dramatically, with barely any recruiters choosing “five or six” or “seven or eight” as their answers.

What’s interesting, though, is that there’s an uptick at the very end of the answers. That’s because 6.2% of participants have placed “more than eight” candidates outside of the United States.

It seems as though Network recruiters either place no candidates outside the U.S. (or very few of them) . . . or they place a lot. There doesn’t appear to be that much in between.

Of course, there are all sorts of other questions that could be asked on the heels of this question, such as:

• Have you placed foreign candidates within the United States for foreign clients?
• Have you placed foreign candidates within the United States for U.S. clients?
• How about U.S. candidates within the United States for foreign clients?
• Do you even have any foreign clients?

But enough with the questions. Time for some definitive statements, like this one: Top Echelon Network is a network of recruiters that largely places candidates within the United States. The results are overwhelming.

Hey, it’s Thanksgiving! As you probably already know, we’re not in the office today because it’s a holiday. (Speaking of which, you’re not reading this TODAY, are you?) But even though we’re not here, we give thanks for all of you—our loyal customers.

And it turns out that our loyal customers also give thanks for each other.

We’ve chronicled this before on many occasions, mainly because Top Echelon Network recruiters are always praising one another. Why do they like to give each other compliments? Because of placements, of course! Split placements, specifically.

In this edition of “Comments and Compliments,” though, you’ll see that the recruiters below are thanking one another for those placements. They definitely have an “attitude of gratitude” when it comes to their trading partners.

What about you? Do you have trading partners for which you are thankful? If not, then it’s time to take your Top Echelon Network membership to the next level.

And when I say that, I mean speaking with Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS. Drea can tell you:

• Who you should be contacting about your open job orders and candidates
• The recruiters with which you’ll most likely enjoy split placement success
• Anything else you should be doing to make more splits in TE

Don’t delay! Drea is standing by now! You can contact him by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com. (Oh, and we give thanks for Drea, too, by the way.)

— — —

Cindy Sommer

Steve Kohn

“Thank you for a great candidate, Steve! I appreciate all you do in marketing my jobs!”

Submitted by Cindy Sommer of SearchStars, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc.

Position Title—CLINICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

Bruce Mendenhall

Chris Ramsay, CPC

“Chris is fantastic to work with! Two down and more to come.”

Submitted by Bruce Mendenhall of Acloche Executive Search regarding his Network split placement with Chris Ramsay, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC

Position Title—PROJECT ENGINEER – MACHINING

Fee Percentage—20%

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

— — —

Russ Hovendick

“Another excellent candidate, Steve. Great job! Thank you!

Submitted by Russ Hovendick of Client Staffing Solutions, Inc. regarding his Network split placement with Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc.

Position Title—STAFF ACCOUNTANT

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

Brenda Wylie-Biggs, CPC

Rose Langhals

“Thanks, Brenda, for sharing such a great candidate!

Submitted by Rose Langhals of Bridgeway Professionals, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Brenda Wylie-Biggs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC

Position Title—OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE MANAGER

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the first Network split placement that Langhals and Wylie-Biggs have made together in Top Echelon.)