What’s better than making a split placement with a Top Echelon Network trading partner?

Making two split placements with a trading partner, that’s what! And we’re seeing double in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

That’s because Network members Smith Richardson of Mr. Smith Richardson and Nancy Gordon of Harlan Recruiting Group recently finalized not one, but two split placements with one another. In each case, Smith was the job order recruiter and Nancy was the candidate recruiter.

But doubling the recommended daily allowance of fun does not stop there. As you can see below, two other Top Echelon recruiters were part of two split placements apiece. Those two members were Frank Caligiuri of Basilone Executive Search and Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group.

So while making a split placement in Top Echelon Network is certainly satisfying, making two—either with the same trading partner or different trading partners—is twice as nice!

As a friendly neighborhood reminder, here is the information that we publish with our weekly placements:

• Names of the split recruiting partners involved (with their profile photos, when available)
• Job title
• Overall placement fee (before TE’s 6% brokerage fee, of course)
• Fee percentage

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in Top Echelon Network for the period from November 20, through December 3, 2023.

Remember, if you don’t want information related to your Network placements published in The Pinnacle, please send an email to marketing@topechelon.com to that effect.

Congratulations to everybody below for the split placements they made in Top Echelon Network!

This Week’s Top Echelon Split Placements

— — —

Job recruiter: Smith Richardson of GPS/Gallman Consulting

Candidate recruiter: Nancy Gordon of Harlan Recruiting Group

Job title: MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

Overall placement fee: $13,014

Fee percentage: 22.5%

— — —

Job recruiter: Smith Richardson of GPS/Gallman Consulting

Candidate recruiter: Nancy Gordon of Harlan Recruiting Group

Job title: MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

Overall placement fee: $12,870

Fee percentage: 22.5%

— — —

Job recruiter: Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Bob Millman of AutoPro Technical Recruiting

Job title: MATERIALS MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $30,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Holly Weber of Global Talent Resources Corp.

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum

Job title: TECHNICAL PRODUCT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Overall placement fee: $15,500

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Frank Caligiuri of Basilone Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc.

Job title: SR. MANUFACTURING MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $24,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Frank Caligiuri of Basilone Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Overall placement fee: $15,600

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Nathan Gruen of Gruen Search Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: GRAPHIC ARTIST – CHILDREN’S LICENSED APPAREL

Overall placement fee: $14,400

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Adam Krueger of Sun Recruiting, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Larry Gallin of Gallin Associates

Job title: PRINCIPAL ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $35,000

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Job recruiter: Alex Bakker of USA Staffing Network

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of Cameron Craig Group

Job title: SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST

Overall placement fee: $11,544

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

If you’re a newer Network member and you’d like to enjoy more success in our recruiter network, then I encourage you to contact Top Echelon Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

As you might have noticed, The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network have cropped up quite often in my series of blog posts regarding networking tips.

That’s going to be the case again this week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. The two Pillars in question? Communication and Active Participation. And they both relate to rapport.

When you think about it, these two might need to be reversed. A member first has to make the decision that they’re going to actively participate in our recruiter network.

Only then can they effectively communicate with one another for the purpose of sharing information and making split placements.

This week’s networking tip seems rather simple and straightforward—and it is. However, it does take some effort and a commitment on the part of every member to make it happen.

That being said, “Networking Tip #6” is as follows:

Search out those members in your “area of specialty” and develop rapport with them through verbal communication.

Our logic regarding rapport:

You’ve built your business by talking with your clients and your candidates. You’ve learned how to determine what your clients need and what your candidates have to offer.

You use resumes and computers to gather information, but for the most part, your success depends upon the verbal communication that you have with both parties. After all, your clients hire people, not resumes.

Verbal communication is your most powerful tool for getting the job done. Verbal communication not only means talking, but it also means listening. It’s a two-way process that builds trust and strengthens client and candidate relationships.

We’re suggesting that you use your most powerful tool, verbal communication, with Top Echelon Network members to identify who can help you and how they can potentially help you.

Immediate steps you can take:

1.) Call members who are working areas similar to your specialty area.

Tell them about the candidates and job orders you’re working and ask about the candidates and job orders they’re working. They may have six or 10 candidates or job orders you need right now! A short phone call can tell you everything you need to know.

2.) Watch the “Welcome New Members” section in the Network Dashboard to see who’s joined the Network and in which disciplines and industries they specialize. (This information is also published in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

After reading their areas of specialization, call and introduce yourself if there’s even the slightest potential for overlap. They won’t forget you!

3.) If you see a candidate whose resume is close, but not exact, pick up the phone and discover if there is more there than meets the eye.

A five-minute phone call might be worth $5,000 to $15,000 for you and that Network member.

4.) If you see another Top Echelon Network member working a similar job order, call them and tell them what you’re looking for.

After all, the two of you will be covering the same ground. Help each other!

5.) When you run a search in the Network Candidates sourcing tool and one or two members have candidates that are close, but not a fit for your search, call them to see if they have any more candidates. It’s worth a shot!

Trust with your trading partners

Your Network trading partners can become a tremendous asset for you, if you learn how to use that asset.

First, you must find out who and where they are and develop a trusting relationship with these individuals. Second, you must communicate with them regularly to see if they can help you and see if you can help them.

Get on the phone and make it happen!

Now that we’ve discussed why you should develop rapport through verbal communication, we’ll move on to Networking Tip #7 in the next blog post in our series.

If you have any questions, please contact me by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

As we draw closer to the end of the year, I am here to deliver a bit of good news . . . a New Year is nearly here!

Despite everything that happened (and continues to happen) in 2023, Top Echelon Network recruiters are still making placements.

Not only that, but more agencies continue to join TE as Network members. AND we look forward to more growth in the year 2024.

What does all of this this mean?

For one thing, it means that Network recruiters are serious about making split placements. Splits are an integral part of their business model, and they strive to make as many of them as they can.

You might think this is premature, but the New Year will be here before you know it. That is why NOW is the time to put your trust in your split recruiting partners and other Network members.

Those recruiters who were not serious about making splits have left the Network. Believe me, the screening process for Network membership is NOT any easier.

When you’re working with another Network recruiter, you might discover that they don’t work exactly the same way that you do. That’s bound to happen with as many recruiters as there are in Top Echelon.

Just because they don’t work exactly the same way that you do, it doesn’t mean you should automatically distrust them. You just work differently.

However, I must point out that if you do have a concern about another Network member, then you should contact me.

If you think that another member may not be operating in an ethical manner, go through the proper channels by contacting me. (My contact information is listed below.)

We take meticulous notes on Network members and the activity that occurs between Top Echelon recruiters. When you contact me about a situation as it arises, you ensure that we will take the proper steps in reaching a resolution (if a conflict does arise).

Trust is one of the The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network, and it’s arguably the most important one. The more you trust other Network members, especially your trading partners, the more success you can experience.

So remember . . . NOW is the time to reach out to other Network recruiters.

NOW is the time to be as split-minded as you’ve ever been.

And NOW is the time to decide whether or not to make TE a bigger part of your business model.

Let’s make 2024 a great year!

And if you have any questions or concerns, NOW is the time to contact me at 330.595.1742 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

I have made it a point in my Top Echelon Network articles, trainings, webinars, phone conversations, and emails over the years to encourage members to pick up the phone and talk to one another.

That’s because “magic” can happen in a conversation. It allows people who are fighting the same battles every day to connect and find a way to work together towards success.

Yet, from time to time, when a Network member says, “We are not receiving a good response from the recruiter in regards to the candidates we sent over for their job,” my reflex and response is to ask “Did you call the recruiter before you started working the job?”

Sometimes there is a moment of silence. Sometimes there is a “Yes” and then I find out, which I usually do, that the “call” was actually an email conversation.

So in order to help everybody, I want to define the types of conversations that can occur in Top Echelon’s split fee recruiting network.

Speaking = A phone conversation. This is where you can establish rules regarding how you will communicate in the future while working on this job order and those to come.

Talking = A phone conversation and possibly an email dialogue.

Example: A candidate interview, sent via email

“Hey Sally, I scheduled Fred for a face-to-face on Friday @ 3:00 p.m. Regards, Drea.”

“Thank you, Drea. Let me know how it goes and if you need me to do anything. Regards, Sally.”

Ergo, Sally and I “talked” about an event.

Another example: I connect with my friends about playing music together. The operative word here is “together.” This denotes that we’re going to meet face-to-face and be in the same room.

“Joe, are you going to jam-nite at TJ’s on Thursday? If so, do you want me to pick you up?”

I could send that question via text, but it does not fit the definition of “talking.” It is simply a form of communication.

However, that form of communication is going to lead to “connecting,” which is the ultimate form of communicating within Top Echelon’s recruiter network. (As you might have already guessed, “talking” and “speaking,” as defined above, also fall into the category of communication.)

The bottom line is that communication between Network members needs to be of the highest quality possible. After all, Quality is one of The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network.

It doesn’t matter if you speak on the telephone, use email, use texting, or use all three. The quality of the communication must be high.

Don’t just “talk” or “speak” with other Network members. But connect with them in a meaningful way that will help your recruiting business and your agency to grow!

I’m pleased to announce the Virtual Core Group (VCG) meeting schedule for the month of December!

For those of you who don’t know, Top Echelon Network recruiters share the following information during Virtual Core Group teleconference call meetings:

• Hot job orders and candidates
• Information about the activity they’re seeing in the marketplace and/or in their niche
• Ideas for increased production on their desks and within their agencies

These are the activities that lead most directly to making more split placements in Top Echelon Network.

So that is why I’m inviting—or in other words, strongly encouraging—you to attend one of this month’s Virtual Core Group meetings. Below is the complete VCG schedule for December, including the industries involved and the time that each meeting will be held. (Note: all times are Eastern.)

Tuesday, December 12:

• 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. — Healthcare
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Sales & Marketing

Wednesday, December 13:

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. — Manufacturing/Engineering
• 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. — Information Technology
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Biotechnology/Pharmacology

Thursday, December 14:

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. — Architectural/Engineering/Construction
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. — Accounting & Finance

You can join the meeting to which you belong by accessing the information listed below.

Google Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/qba-qdic-kou

Below is the agenda for each Virtual Core Group meeting:

1. Welcome
2. Roll call of the members
3. I will share the newest software updates for both Top Echelon Network and the Top Echelon recruiting software.
4. Members will share their hot jobs with corresponding group discussion.
5. I will direct a software and Network protocol Q&A session to close the call.

It is my goal that this agenda will help you take away more from the meeting than just hot jobs and/or candidates. Hopefully, it will help make you more knowledgeable in terms of the Top Echelon community.

If you’d like to join one of the groups listed above or if you’d like to start a new group, please contact me.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.