At Top Echelon Network, we’re ALL about communication.  After all, it’s one of the Four Pillars of the Network.  However, there’s a right way to communicate with other Preferred Members of Top Echelon Network, and there’s a wrong way.

In this episode of “Top Echelon TV,” Communications Coordinator Matt Deutsch and Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti present an extreme example in order to illustrate the wrong way to ask another recruiter for information when attempting to switch niches.)

For a further explanation about how Top Echelon Network recruiters should approach this subject, read Drea’s post in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  And if there are other issues that you believe we should address in “Top Echelon TV” (with or without the “Top Echelon TV players,” let us know about them.  Send an email to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

Top Echelon has always been an advocate of continuous education for recruiters.  That’s why we support events such as industry conferences and conventions, just like the two events listed below:

2011 North Carolina Association of Staffing Professionals Annual Conference
The Fordyce Forum 2011

2011 NCASP Annual Conference

The NCASP Annual Conference is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, through Saturday, April 30, at the Holiday Inn Resort in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.  The slogan for this year’s conference is “Get Back in the Game!”  Below are some of the speakers who will present sessions at the event:

• Jon Bartos of Jonathan Scott International
• Donna Mallard of Mallard & Associates
• Karen Schmidt of Next Level Exchange
• Rob Mosley of Next Level Exchange
• Ken Christian of Maximum Potential

Whether you’re a member of the NCASP or not, this is a valuable networking and training event.  Click here to access the main conference page on the NCASP website.

The Fordyce Forum 2011

This year’s Fordyce Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, through Friday, June 3, at the M Resort in Las Vegas.  This is the fifth year of existence for the Forum, and the event continues to gain more momentum with each passing year.  Once again, the Forum boasts an impressive lineup of speakers, including those listed below:

• Barb Bruno, CPC/CTS of Good as Gold Training, Inc.
• Jeff Skrentny, CPC/CERS of The Jefferson Group, Inc.
• Mike Ramer, CPC of Ramer Search Consultants, Inc.

Click here for more information regarding the Fordyce Forum, including the agenda, the complete lineup of speakers, and how to register.

Top Echelon is proud to be a sponsor of both the 2011 NCASP Conference and The Fordyce Forum 2011.  We hope that you’ll consider attending these events and invest in the future of your recruiting firm.

Last month, we announced the winner of our “Craziest Recruiting Story of 2010” contest.  During the course of the contest, we received numerous submissions from recruiters, both inside and outside of the Network.  Some of these stories didn’t qualify for the contest because they didn’t occur in 2010, but we enjoyed them, nonetheless, and we plan to publish them in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog for the edification of our readership.  Because if it’s one thing that all recruiters have—and that they don’t mind sharing—it’s a crazy recruiting story.

This week’s story comes from a Top Echelon Network recruiter in Virginia Beach, Va.  If you’d like to submit your crazy recruiting story, email it to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

“Several years ago, I was in general recruiting here in [Mobile, Ala.]  I had a long-time client that I recruited sales people for.  I had set up an interview one afternoon for a candidate that I felt was a ‘shoo-in.’  I felt his background was excellent and also that he and the hiring manager, who I knew quite well, would hit it off.  They had the same interest, personality, etc.  Later, I found out just how much they had in common!  I was really feeling good about this one.
 
“The interview was at 3 p.m. and knowing the hiring manager as I did, I knew I would get a call after the interview.  I waited in my office for the call until almost five and since I had not heard from the hiring manager or the candidate I called the company to check on it.
 
“I was told that the hiring manager was out of the office and knowing him the way I did I could understand why he had not called me so I decided to speak with the office manager to see if I could get any information.  Since I had worked with the client for so long I also knew this person quite well and as we were talking I knew something odd was going on.  He finally spilled the beans . . .

“The hiring manager’s wife apparently was having a long term affair, and during the interview he some how discovered that the candidate that I sent was the person his wife was seeing!  He came over the desk and jumped him and the fight was on!  They both ended up in the emergency room – noting serious but apparently each of them got in some really good punches.
 
“My candidate was not hired—not a big surprise—but I managed to keep the client and that certainly WAS a surprise!  What I never understood was why the candidate took the interview.  He had to know who he was seeing.  I never spoke with him again . . .he did not return my call.
 
“And now you have ‘the rest of the story’ . . .”

We’ll be publishing more crazy recruiting solutions stories in the future, and one of them could be yours!  Remember, email your story to marketing@TopEchelon.com, and your might see it in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

Believe it or not, the first month of 2011 is already gone.  Where did it go?  Don’t ask us.  But you can ask us who the Network’s “Recruiter of the Month” is.  We have the answer to that one: Tim Hopkins, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.

Those aren’t the only answers that we have, at least as far as recognition awards for the month of January are concerned.  We recognize recruiters for both monthly and quarterly performance in three categories—Recruiter of the Month, Highest Split Fee of the Month, and Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month.

Below are the winners of the awards for January.  We’d like to congratulate those recruiters who earned them and thank them for their efforts.  Remember, for more information about the placements and cash-in totals associated with these awards, please login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.

Recruiter of the Month
Tim Hopkins, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.

Tim was one of three recruiters who made two Network placements during the month of January.  However, he edged out the other two based upon his cash-in total for those placements.  The other two recruiters were Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates and Tom Heeney of Corporate Resources, LLC.

Highest Split Fee of the Month
Tom Heeney of Corporate Resources, LLC and Don Fredrick of Executech, Inc.

This placement was for a Sales Manager.  The action causing this placement was listed as “Regular phone communication with a TE Network Member in my specialty area.”

Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month
Michael Foster of Mike Foster & Associates, LLC

The position for this placement was a Hospital Services Analyst.  Donna received quite a hefty sum for placing the candidate, and once again, you can see the exact amount of the fee by accessing her Recruiter Profile in the Members’ Area.

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Our criteria for these awards:

Top Echelon Network is a split placement network.  As such, we place an emphasis on split placements, and that emphasis constitutes a large part of our criteria for these awards.  We determine the monthly and quarterly award winners based upon two things, which are listed below in order of importance:

1.) The number of split placements made
2.) The amount of cash-in dollars earned as a result of those split placements

The beat goes on with one of our most popular features: “‘Comments’ and Compliments.”  And just like some of the recruiters in our Network are somewhat quirky (we prefer the term “fun loving”), sometimes this regular feature is quirky, as well.

Actually, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  After all, when you make a placement, you feel like singing, don’t you?  How could you not?  And if you make a split placement with one of your Trading Partners, might you feel compelled to sing a song about that recruiter?  Of course.  That was the case with a recent split placement featured in this installment of “‘Comments’ and Compliments.”

As a reminder, we’re still not disclosing the amount of the fee earned with these split placements.  For that information, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.  That’s a suggestion, not a demand . . . in case you were wondering.

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“‘You are my Sunshine, my Ronnie Sunshine.  You make me happy when skies are grey.  You’ll never know how much I love you.  Please don’t take my Sunshine away.’ Thanks again, Ron.  Let’s do another.”

Submitted by Bob Gabor of The Gabor Group regarding his split placement with Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

Position Title—Senior Supplier Quality Engineer
Fee Percentage—25%

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“Suzanne was great to work with, and I look forward to working with her more in the future.  For someone new to this business, her guidance, information, and direction was very valuable.”

Submitted by Martha Schmidt of the Infinity Consultant Group regarding her split placement with Suzanne Griffith, CPC of J S Griffith & Associates

Position Title—Program Manager
Fee Percentage—25%

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If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.