Christmas is in two days! New Year’s Day is in nine days! Could time be flying by any faster?

I’d like to say that the answer to that question is “No,” but then time would just fly by even faster to spite me. (Time and I have that kind of relationship.)

Anyway, first things first, and first things include this week’s placements in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

You may have read that Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing recently became the latest recruiter to reach the $1 million plateau within TE Network. Well, Amy is showing no signs of slowing down!

That’s because not only is Amy part of three split placements in this week’s newsletter, but she’s also part of the largest split fee of the week. Amy and Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting placed a Senior Director of Global Maintenance Process Systems to earn a split fee of $62,500 at 25%!

You have to admit that even when you split that fee, you can still buy a lot of presents with it.

So congratulations to Amy, Jeff, and everybody who made placements this week . . . and Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you.

Let’s finish the year strong and make it a great 2025!

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

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

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in TE Network for the period from December 9 through December 15, 2024.

Remember, if you don’t want information related to your split 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 TE Network!

This Week’s Split Placements

— — —

Amir Asgari

Jim Petitpren

Job recruiter: Jim Petitpren of PRA USA

Candidate recruiter: Amir Asgari of Saba Talent

Job title: SENIOR ELECTRONIC HARDWARE ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $25,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Trey Cameron

Lisa VanWyk

Job recruiter: Lisa VanWyk of Step Up Recruiting

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of Cameron Craig Group

Job title: MACHINE BUILDER

Overall placement fee: $8,320

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Jeff Katz

Amy Chapman

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Job title: SENIOR DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL MAINTENANCE PROCESS SYSTEMS

Overall placement fee: $62,500

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Sarah Katz

Amy Chapman

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

Job title: OPERATIONS DEMAND PLANNER

Overall placement fee: $19,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

John Ricciardi

Amylyn Kyler

Job recruiter: Amylyn Kyler of Kyler Professional Search

Candidate recruiter: John Ricciardi of Afton Consulting Group

Job title: NON-PROFIT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Overall placement fee: $18,000

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Gary Schultz

Tom Christensen

Job recruiter: Tom Christensen of C. H. Thomas Search, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Gary Schultz of Work 22, Inc.

Job title: QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $28,750

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Jim Strickland

Amy Chapman

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters

Job title: 2ND SHIFT QUALITY SUPERVISOR

Overall placement fee: $15,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Gary Thompson

Job recruiter: Shanna Groban of Tabata Search (inactive)

Candidate recruiter: Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Job title: PLANT MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $23,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

If you’re a newer TE 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 we announced several weeks ago, registration for TE Connect Spring 2025 is officially open!

And as 2024 quickly comes to a close, we’re kicking things off with an incredible opportunity: Super Early Bird Registration!

For a limited time, you can lock in the Super Early Bird Registration Rate of $525—but only if you register before December 31, 2024.

This exclusive rate provides significant savings, so don’t wait to secure your spot at the year’s most anticipated networking and training event!

Event Highlights

Keynote Speaker: Danny Cahill

Danny Cahill

We’re thrilled to announce that Danny Cahill is returning as the keynote speaker for TE Connect Spring 2025! After stepping back from last year’s event, Danny is making his much-anticipated comeback, bringing fresh insights and strategies to inspire and energize attendees.

Known for his dynamic and engaging presentations, Danny offers practical advice and industry-leading strategies that will leave you motivated and ready to thrive in a rapidly evolving job market and recruitment landscape.

Why Attend TE Connect Spring 2025?

TE Connect is more than just an event—it’s a chance to:

• Learn from Industry Experts – Participate in workshops and panel discussions to sharpen your skills.
• Expand Your Network – Meet and connect with professionals from across the country.
• Gain Actionable Insights – Leave with strategies you can implement immediately to enhance your success.

Set in the vibrant city of Nashville, this event offers not only valuable learning opportunities, but also a chance to enjoy the charm of the Music City. From top-tier speakers to a fun and dynamic atmosphere, it’s an experience you won’t want to miss!

Event Details

Below are the event details for TE Connect Spring 2025:

• Dates: Wednesday, March 19 – Friday, March 21, 2025
• Location: Bankers Alley Hilton, Nashville, TN
• Room Rate: $259 per night for attendees
• Super Early Bird Registration: $525 (valid until December 31, 2024)

This year’s venue, the beautiful Bankers Alley Hilton, is located in the heart of Nashville.

With its convenient access to the city’s best dining, entertainment, and cultural attractions, you’ll enjoy both professional growth and the city’s famous Southern hospitality.

Don’t Miss Out—Register Today!

TE Connect Spring 2025 is designed to help you kick off the year with impactful learning, meaningful connections, and a memorable experience in one of the country’s most iconic cities.

Save the date, secure your spot before December 31, 2024, and prepare for an unforgettable experience.

Register for TE Connect Spring 2025!

Whether you’re an experienced search consultant or relatively new to the profession, TE Connect Spring 2025 offers something for everybody.

We look forward to seeing you in Nashville this coming March for what promises to be an unforgettable event! Stay tuned for more updates as the event approaches.

If you have any questions about registration (or about any other aspects of the convention), please contact me at 330.595.1742 or via email at drea@topechelon.com.

There’s a simple reason why you should read The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog every week:

Because we publish every important announcement and important piece of information that we want to communicate to Network members in The Pinnacle.

If it’s important, then it’s in The Pinnacle. If it affects your Network membership, then it’s in The Pinnacle. And as you probably noticed most recently, if it affects Top Echelon overall, it’s also in The Pinnacle. (I’m sure you’re probably seeing a pattern here.)

Of course, you do not have to read every article and blog post word-for-word, from beginning to end. I know that is not realistic. However, all it takes is a few minutes to scan the headlines and then skim the articles for nuggets of information. In fact, it can probably be done in less than three minutes.

You receive a Pinnacle email every week. All you have to do is click the main button in the body of the email, the one that entices you to “READ THE ENTIRE ISSUE!” Clicking that link will open up a new browser tab with all of the articles from that week’s issue.

You don’t have to click back and forth to go between the articles. However, if you scan the headlines in the email and you only see one article of interest, simply click on the link to that article. You can read that one article and forget about the rest, if you so choose.

We’ve tried to make the Pinnacle email (and The Pinnacle) as user-friendly as we can. In fact, you can even access individual Pinnacle articles in the Network Dashboard Area of the TE software. They’re located on the right-hand side of the main page.

All of that being said, we want The Pinnacle to continue doing what we always intended it to do. Basically, that’s helping members of Top Echelon Network make more split placements with one another.

Below are five ways that The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog can help you make more splits:

#1—Best practices

Top Echelon Network has been in existence for more than 34 years. During that time, set patterns have emerged.

These patterns have less to do with emerging and evolving technology and more to do with how human beings like to interact with one another. The validity of these patterns and practices has been proven time and time again, which is why we stress them so much. They work!

#2—Case studies

One of the best ways to show how well our best practices work is to show how they’ve worked on other recruiters’ desks. It’s one thing to say why you should do something, but it’s quite another to show how another person benefited from doing that very thing.

It’s the “real world application” component that lends credence and credibility to what some recruiters might consider our “theoretical” best practices. The proof, as they say, is always in the pudding. (Who else is hungry for pudding now?)

#3—Success stories

When a recruiter implements the best practices of the Network and enjoys success, they could become part of a case study. If they enjoy success over an extended period of time, then they officially become a “success story.”

Once a recruiter reaches a certain point and they understand what it takes to excel in the Network, they continue to excel, often to the point when they’re ready to retire.

#4—Statistics and trends

Top Echelon collects a wide variety of statistics throughout the year. We publish these statistics periodically to inform Network members of trends that may be developing.

As you might expect, these trends revolve mainly around how members can make more placements (both split and non-split) and how they can experience more long-term success.

#5—Product and software development news

We’re continually thinking of new ways to help Network recruiters make more placements. Those ways often result in new and/or improved product offerings.

One example is the Network Candidates sourcing tool, which allows members to tap into an additional six million resumes in the databases of other Network recruiters.

I want to thank you for reading The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog and for being a Network member. Just remember: The Pinnacle is the number-one way in which we communicate with you.

So read it! (Or scan it . . . or skim it . . . you get the idea.)

It’s that time of year again! Yes, that’s right—it’s the END of the year. (You can almost set your calendar by it.) And with the end of the year comes the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.

As you might have already guessed, that means it’s time for us to publish our upcoming holiday hours. That way, you’ll know when we’re in the office and when we’re not.

Making you guess might be more fun, but it might also make you angry. We wouldn’t like you when you’re angry, so . . .

Offices closed for one week (and a day)

The Top Echelon Software offices will be closed the week of Monday, December 25, plus Monday of the following week, in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.

Specifically, this means our offices will be closed Monday, December 25, through Friday, December 29, and also on Monday, January 1.

These hours apply to:

• Top Echelon’s recruiting network
• Top Echelon’s applicant tracking system

The Top Echelon offices will re-open for business as usual at 8 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Tuesday, January 2.

Like Thanksgiving, this is the time of year to be grateful for everything you have. We at Top Echelon are certainly grateful to have all of you as customers.

We’re thankful for your commitment as Network members, we’re glad to call many of you friends, and we’re hopeful that this holiday means as much to you as it does to us.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As you may have noticed, we’ve been releasing updates on a regular basis regarding Top Echelon’s recruiting software and also the Top Echelon Network software.

So you might be asking yourself, “Self, is there a place where I can see ALL of the Top Echelon product updates?”

If you asked yourself that question, then you’re in luck . . . because such a place does exist! That place is the Top Echelon Product Updates Page!

On that page, you can see the most recent updates and upgrades to our software. We break the updates into categories based upon the month that we released them. When you visit the page, you’ll notice that the updates go as far back as April of 2018. (Obviously, we’ve been updating the software for a lot longer than that, but that’s the current starting point for the page.)

Not only that, but we also supply an answer to the question, “What’s next?” According to the Top Echelon Product Updates Page, this is what’s next as of the publishing of this blog post:

•  Sequencing – String together a series of automatic actions with configured delays between each. This advanced feature will enable you to create automated campaigns as well as facilitate internal communications.
• Dark Mode – Dark Mode is coming soon to our new user interface, providing an additional way to personalize your theme and enhance your experience to match your preferences.
• Dubb Integration – An integration with Dubb’s video management platform to help customers create, record, send, and track videos for prospecting or general communication purposes
• CallMantra Integration – An integration with CallMantra’s calling and texting platform designed specifically for recruiters. This integration will streamline your workflow with automated call and text logging, ensure better candidate engagement through verified calling and phone number monitoring, and help you connect seamlessly from anywhere using their mobile app.
• HireGuard Integration – An integration with HireGuard’s backdoor detection platform for recruiters. This powerful tool tracks hires in real time, instantly alerting you to any backdoor placements and preventing lost recruitment fees. HireGuard ensures strong documentation for collections, and provides peace of mind knowing your profits are protected.
• Indeed Job Feed – Top Echelon is pursuing a new, improved Partnership with Indeed that will revolutionize the way you use both products! We will soon send Indeed a feed that includes all Jobs advertised on your Agency’s Job Board or Careers Page in Top Echelon. Your Agency may opt-out of this feed at anytime.

We also announce any beta testing of new features for those who want to help us make the software better. If you’re interested in Beta testing these new features, email us at beta@topechelon.com.

Of course, you may have also noticed that we send emails when we make updates and upgrades to our systems and software. However, not everybody opens the emails. Perhaps YOU are one of those people.

If that’s the case, then visiting the Top Echelon Product Updates Page on a regular basis could help keep you abreast of all the exciting new changes that we’re making to our software and systems for the expressed purpose of helping YOU make more placements.

If you have questions about these updates or about any other aspect of your Top Echelon Network and/or recruiting software account, you can:

→ Send an email to support@topechelon.com.

→ Visit our Help Center.