It’s here!  Early Bird Registration for the 2015 Top Echelon Network National Convention is here and we have even better news than that!

The Early Bird Registration price is the lowest one we’ve offered for a National Convention . . . EVER!

As is traditionally the case, we’ve released Early Bird Registration in December so Network recruiters can sign up for the convention before the end of the year.  That way, they can apply the cost of the event toward the current year’s business expenses.

(Not only is this the lowest Early Bird price we’ve ever offered, but this is also the earliest that we’ve released registration for the convention.  We usually do so in mid- or late December.)

As we’ve mentioned before, the site for the 2015 National Convention will be the Embassy Suites Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia.  The dates of the convention are Tuesday, April 14, and Wednesday, April 15.

The breakdown for each of the registration periods is as follows:

• Early Bird Registration: from now until Friday, March 27—$295 per person
• Regular Registration: from Saturday, March 28, until Monday, April 13—$365 per person
• Late Registration: after April 13—$395 per person

You can register for the convention in the Members’ Area of the Top Echelon Network website.  The registration area is located on the left-hand side of the page, in the far left column, under the header “2015 Top Echelon Network National Convention.”

The links that are available there are also located below:

View the preliminary agenda!

See who’s already signed up!

Register now at the Early Bird price!

In addition, we’ve secured industry trainer Shally Steckerl of The Sourcing Institute as our main speaker for the convention.  Shally has presented for us before at the Fall Conference in Chicago, and his sourcing tips and tricks are extremely popular with recruiters who are constantly searching for better, more qualified candidates.

Register for the 2015 National Convention!

So . . . you have almost an entire month to register for the convention and apply its cost to the current year’s business expenses.  What are you waiting for?  Click the link!  Register!  Register!

This week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti announced the Virtual Core Group conference call schedule for the month of December.

That announcement is NOT just your “run-of-the-mill, FYI” type of announcement.  We really want you to join a Virtual Core Group . . . AND a Regional Core Group.  Why?  Because they can help you make placements!

The proof invariably emerges here, in our weekly blog post detailing the placements made by Preferred Member recruiters in Top Echelon Network.  And yes, this week we have a placement made “Through a Virtual or Regional Core Group.”

These groups offer value, your Network Membership offers value, and we want to help you experience that value . . . and make placements!

Below are the split jobs that were filled recently by Network recruiters:

• Solutions Architect
• Physician Liaison
• Applications Developer (.NET)
• Inside Sales Representative
• Inside Sales Representative (another one!)
• Field Service Engineer
• A/R & A/P
• Sr. Project Manager
• Instructional Designer

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network and make more placements, call Drea at 330.455.1433, x156.

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Job recruiter: Pete Chunka of Top Hire Recruitment

Candidate recruiter: Rich Harrold of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Split job title: SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT

Fee percentage: 20%

Action causing split placement: Through a Virtual or Regional Core Group

— — —

Job recruiter: Denice Kerr of Moonriver Resources

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: PHYSICIAN LIAISON

Fee percentage: 15%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Jeff Peters of Peters Search Group, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Joy Rinaldi of CPS and Professionals Incorporated

Split job title: QUALITY/SALES TECHNICIAN

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC

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

Split job title: APPLICATIONS DEVELOPER (.NET)

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Jeri Bartunek of the Bartunek Group, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Miranda Cash of CMW & Associates

Split job title: INSIDE SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Jeri Bartunek of the Bartunek Group, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: INSIDE SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Bob Santora of Kubena & Associates

Candidate recruiter: Rudy Garcia of Joseph Michaels International

Split job title: FIELD SERVICE ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Jean Imbler-Jansen of Strategic HR Solutions

Candidate recruiter: Kevin Rogers of Spectra Staffing Services/Spectra International

Split job title: A/R & A/P

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Joan R. Walters of JR Walters Resources

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: SR. PROJECT MANAGER

Fee percentage: 27%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Pat Calvert of Career Search Associates

Candidate recruiter: Donna Schuback, CPC of Schuback Search Associates, LLC

Split job title: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

Attention, K-Mart shoppers!

No, not really.  Attention, Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiters!

Okay, that’s better.  I’m asking for your attention because there’s a change to the Virtual Core Group (VCG) teleconference call schedule in the Network for the month of December.  In fact, that change will occur next week.

Specifically, the conference calls next week will be held on Wednesday and NOT on Thursday.  The following week, the calls will resume their normal Thursday schedule.

This change affects two (2) Virtual Core Groups: Information Technology and Software Sales.  If you’re a member of either of these groups, please adjust your schedules accordingly.

Top Echelon Network recruiters share the following during Virtual Core Group meetings (among other things):

• Hot job orders and candidates
• Information about the activity they’re seeing
• Ideas for increased production on their desks and within their firms

These are the activities that lead most directly to making more placements in the Network, and placements HAVE been made as a direct result of these teleconference call meetings.

If you’re a new Preferred Member recruiter in Top Echelon, I strongly encourage you to join one of these existing Virtual Core Groups.  Not only that, but you could also start a new one.

Below is the full Virtual Core Group teleconference call schedule for the month of December (all times listed are Eastern Time):

Date	Core Group/Time	Core Group/Time	Core Group/Time
Thursday, December 4	Manufacturing, Engineering noon to 1 p.m.	Accounting, Finance 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.	Biotech, Pharma, Medical Device 3 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, December 10	Information Technology noon to 1 p.m.	Software Sales 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.	Open for New Group
Thursday, December 18	Open for New Group	Insurance 2 to 3 p.m.	Open for New Group
Thursday, December 25	Christmas Day!	Christmas Day!	Christmas Day!

To join an existing Virtual Core Group or to start a new one, give me a call at 330.455.1433, x156 or send an email to drea@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:

Will this be your best year as a Preferred Member in Top Echelon Network?

POLL RESULTS:

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

• Yes, by a lot! — 10.8%
• Yes, by a little! — 10.8%
• Yes, but it’s my first year. — 8.8%
• It’s too close to call. — 2.9%
• No, but I’ll come close. — 16.7%
• No, and it’s not even close. — 50.0%

SUMMARY:

There’s no doubt that 2014 has been a good year for Top Echelon Network.  But was it the BEST year for the majority (over 50%) of Preferred Member recruiters?

The short answer: no, but it was closer than you might think.

Right off the bat, 50% of poll respondents indicated that 2014 was not their best year as a Preferred Member, “and it’s not even close.”  However, another 16.7% chose “No, but I’ll come close” as their answer and 2.9% chose “It’s too close to call.”

Both “Yes, by a lot!” and “Yes, by a little!” garnered the same number of votes: 10.8% of them apiece, to be specific.

ANALYSIS and CONCLUSION:

Of course, it would be nearly impossible for ALL recruiters in the Network to enjoy their best year ever during any 12-month stretch, but the results of this poll indicate that a healthy amount of recruiters have enjoyed a very productive 2014.

Taking all of this into consideration, the results of this poll underscore and support the following five points:

1. This was a good year for the recruiting industry overall.
2. This was a good year for Top Echelon Network recruiters overall.
3. Companies have a need to hire, and they’re acting on that need.
4. Companies will absolutely enlist the services of an executive recruiter to find the candidates they need.
5. At this point, 2015 is shaping up as another good year for the recruiting industry.

Has this been your experience in 2014?  How has the activity been in your niche?  What are your thoughts about next year and the state of the recruiting industry?

To find out more about how YOU can make more placements in Top Echelon Network (and perhaps enjoy your best year ever in 2015), contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.