THE SPLIT RECRUITERS:

When you’ve made as many split placements as Trey Cameron has made in Top Echelon Network (174 to be exact), chances are good that you’re going to be complimented on at least some of them.  Since 33 of those 174 split placements have occurred in 2013, it stands to reason that he would receive his fair share of compliments this year.

That’s one of the reasons we’re presenting this special edition of “‘Comments and Compliments.'”  Another reason is Network recruiter Gene McQueen, who’s also part of the Cameron Craig Group. McQueen has made a total of 15 split placements in the Top Echelon recruiters network, including four this year, and he’s also be complimented by his Trading Partners for his efforts.

So—any recruiting agency that’s responsible for 37 Network placements through the first eight months of the year is certainly deserving of the “spotlight” as one of the top recruiters in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

— — —

“I love working with Trey, and I’m so glad that we made this placement together!”

Submitted by Kerry Boehner of KOB Solutions, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—MEDICAL SCIENCE LIASON

Fee Percentage—Flat

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

— — —

“Sweet split with Gene!  Love working with both gents, Gene and Trey.”

Submitted by Terri Conroy, CPC of Executive Search Associates regarding her Network split placement with Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—OUTSIDE SALES INDUSTRIAL – PLASTICS

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

“Hey, Trey, thanks again for the great candidate!””

Submitted by John Peterson of Sun Recruiting, Inc. Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—CORPORATE PROCESS ENGINEERING MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the fifth Network split placement that Peterson and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

“Gene always does a great job of candidate searching and qualifying.  He’s an excellent split partner.”

Submitted by David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc. regarding his Network split placement with Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—TEST ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the third Network split placement that Kersey and McQueen have made together in Top Echelon.)

— — —

“Trey has been a long-time Trading Partner.  We go back to the days of our Friday afternoon combined conference call-happy hour.  It’s great making splits with him again.  Thanks, Trey, for all you do!”

Submitted by Joan R. Walters, CPC of JR Walters Resources regarding her Network split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING

Fee Percentage—25%

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth etwork split placement that Walters and Cameron have made together in Top Echelon.)

There’s nothing better than two Trading Partners making a split placement together and enjoying the experience so much that they want to compliment one another for their work in making it happen . . . which led to the creation of the “‘Comments’ and Compliments Extra” feature!

In this installment of the feature, we have a long-time Network Member, as well as a recruiter who’s relatively new to both the industry and Top Echelon.

Pat McCombs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC started recruiting in 1982.  She’s made 77 placements in Top Echelon Network since 1996.

Catherine Bateman, meanwhile, started recruiting in 2012 when she joined Network agency Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions.  Despite her overall lack of experience, Bateman has made eight split placements in Top Echelon Network in a little over a year.

Congratulations to these two outstanding Trading Partners!  Hopefully, this is the first of many split placements they’ll make together!

— — —

Pat McCombs, CPC

“Catherine is a GREAT Trading Partner.  She found me two bi-lingual candidates in a market where I had no contacts.  Thanks, Catherine!  I love working with you and hope we have many more splits this year!”

Submitted by Pat McCombs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC regarding her split placement with Catherine Bateman of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions

Position Title—MANAGER OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

Catherine Bateman

“Pat is a professional who exemplifies the partnership I believe we hope for in TE.  She was very clear and open about the candidate she needed, gave immediate feedback to help tailor the search, and kept me in the in loop as she moved the candidate through the process.  What a pleasure!'”

Submitted by Catherine Bateman of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions regarding her split placement with Pat McCombs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC

Position Title—MANAGER OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Fee Percentage—25%

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

SURVEY QUESTION:

Every once in a while, we hear from a recruiter who made a split placement in the Network they weren’t expecting.  It just kind of “came out of nowhere,” so to speak.

Well, it started happening with such frequency that we decided to find out how frequently it actually happens.  And the way we did so was with—you guessed it—a survey.  (Because we love surveys, and for the most part, they love us back.)

We recently conducted a survey of Top Echelon Network recruiters by posting a question in the Members’ Area.

That question was as follows:

How many times have you made a placement in the Network that you didn’t expect to make?

SURVEY RESULTS:

The choice of answers that were provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each answer:

• Never — 51.1%
• Two or three times — 38.3%
• Three or four times — 6.4%
• Five or six times — 2.1%
• More than six times — 2.1%

SURVEY ANALYSIS:

Okay, just over half of the survey participants have “never” made a Network placement that they weren’t expecting.  Of course, that could mean they’ve made a bunch of Network placements that they WERE expecting . . .  which isn’t bad, all things considered.

However, that also means nearly half of the survey participants have made Network placements that they weren’t expecting.  But wait, there’s more: those recruiters have made more than one such placement, anywhere from two to more than six.

In retrospect, it probably would have been a good idea to offer “one placement” as a choice for our survey, but we could “Monday morning survey quarterback” ourselves all day long.

FEEDBACK:

Have YOU every made a split placement in Top Echelon Network that you weren’t expecting, one that came out of the blue and hit you in the face with a placement check?

If so, we’d love to hear about it.  (Not only do we love surveys, but we also love stories that have a happy ending.)

THE RECRUITERS:

Making seven split placements in a single month is quite an accomplishment.  But seven split placements in two consecutive months?

Well, now you’re just showing off.

Seriously, though, Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group is in the midst of a stretch of unparalleled productivity in Top Echelon Network.  The fact that he’s made 14 placements in two months is just one indication of that.  (And yes, as you might have guessed, Cameron is once again the Recruiter of the Month.)

The only question at this point is whether or not he can make seven (or more) placements for a third straight month.  Stay tuned!

THE AWARDS:

At Top Echelon Network, we recognize recruiters for both monthly and quarterly performance in four categories—Recruiter of the Month, Recruiter of the Quarter, Largest Split Fee of the Month, and Largest Split Fee of the Quarter.

For more information about the recruitment awards listed below, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the Network recruiters who won them.

 — — —

RECRUITER OF THE MONTH:

Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Last month, the race was close.  This month, not so much.

Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc. made four split placements during the month of August, while Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search and Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc. made three split placements each.  The result: a runaway victory for Cameron, who’s on his way to winning the Recruiter of the Year Award for the third straight year.

 — — —

LARGEST SPLIT FEE OF THE MONTH:

Dan Simmons, CPC of Continental Search & Outplacement, Inc. and Rebecca Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

The position for this split placement was a Marketing Development Director.  Simmons was the job order recruiter, and Kohn was the candidate recruiter.  The action that stimulated this split placement was listed as, “Regular phone communication with another Top Echelon Network recruiter in my specialty area.”

 — — —

OUR CRITERIA FOR THESE RECRUITMENT AWARDS:

Top Echelon Network determines the monthly and quarterly award winners based upon two criteria, 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

This explains why, when multiple recruiters are tied with the same number of split placements during a given month or quarter, the recruiter with the largest “cash-in” total for their placements is deemed the winner.

People like photos.  People like to take photos, and people like to look at photos.  This is part of what makes social media so popular.

So this week, we’re combining this popular aspect of social media (specifically Facebook) with our upcoming Fall Conference in Chicago.

How are we doing that?  Easy—by posting photos from past Fall Conferences!

Just as we’ve done with the National Convention, we’ve created “photo albums” for our Fall Conference photos on Facebook, designating each album with a different year (2003, 2004, and so on).

Those of you who have attended a Fall Conference in the past might just see yourself in one of these photos, and some of you might see yourself in multiple photos.  Of course, feel free to “tag” other people you see, as well (that’s Facebook parlance for identifying them).

To view the albums, all you have to do is click on the link below:

View the Fall Conference Photo Albums!

We hope you enjoy the photo albums.  Most of all, though, we hope you attend the 2013 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 3, and Friday, October 4, at the Sheraton Suites O’Hare in Chicago.

Because people like making money, too!

THE SPLIT RECRUITERS:

Lloyd Shoemaker has made 33 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  His agency, TriVista Professional Placement Services, has been a Preferred Member since 1994.

David Manns has made 2 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  His agency, ACCESS Professional Search & Staffing, has been a Preferred Member since April of 2008.

Cindy Szajkovics has made 4 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, Bulldog Recruiters, Inc., has been a Preferred Member since 2011.

Juli Smith has made 35 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, The Smith Consulting Group, LLC, has been a Preferred Member since 2006.

Carolyn Barcus has made 6 placements as a Top Echelon Network recruiter.  Her agency, Barcus Associates, has been a Preferred Member of the recruiting network since 1996.

Mark London has made 65 placements as one of the Top Echelon Network’s top recruiters.  His agency, Command Consultants, Inc., has been a Preferred Member since 1990.

THE SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

The split placements highlighted in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle are representative of true partnerships in the recruiting process.  Not only did the recruiters involved help one another every step of the way, but they also went “above and beyond” to close the deal and make the split.

Some of these recruiters made their first split placement together, while others have made multiple splits together.  To top it all off, since placements in Top Echelon Network are up 25% over last year, more recruiters are praising their Trading Partners, which means we’re increasing the number of placements we highlight in this weekly feature . . . but that’s a good “problem” to have!  Happy placements for all!

— — —

“I want to thank David Manns for being persistent regarding his candidate.  When we first submitted the candidate, his compensation requirements were too high for the company to consider him.  But, as time went by and we and they were not finding qualified candidates in their salary range, we finally convinced them to up the salary range.  When they did, David reminded me of his candidate, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Submitted by Lloyd Shoemaker of TriVista Professional Placement Services regarding his Network split placement with David Manns of Access Professional Search & Staffing

Position Title—PROJECT MANAGER

Fee Percentage—25%

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

— — —

“Working with Juli was great!  We exchanged candidates for like positions, and we made a split, 1-2-3, all within a week.  It’s nice to have it happen that quickly with the right candidate!  Thanks, Juli!”

Submitted by Cindy Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc. regarding her Network split placement with Juli Smith of The Smith Consulting Group, LLC

Position Title—SR. CIVIL ENGINEER

Fee Percentage—22%

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

— — —

“Mark put forth extraordinary effort into this search, and we managed to resurrect interest in this candidate after the client originally said, ‘No.’  In the meantime, the client made an offer to their first-choice candidate, who made unreasonable demands.  So then they agreed to meet with THIS candidate, resulting in a happy placement for all.”

Submitted by Carolyn Barcus of Barcus Associates regarding her Network split placement with Mark London of Command Consultants, Inc.

Position Title—PHARMA VERTICAL NEW BUSINESS SALES EXECUTIVE

Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: This is the sixth Network split placement that Barcus and London have made together in Top Echelon.)

SURVEY QUESTION:

Social media has changed the way recruiters conduct business.  Of course, the social media platform that’s most popular with executive recruiters is LinkedIn, which touts itself as “The world’s largest professional network.”

Although LinkedIn is popular with recruiters, how integral is it to the recruiting process?  In other words, how valuable is LinkedIn to the process that recruiters use to find and successfully recruit candidates for their clients’ job orders?

Well, it just so happens that we have answers to these questions.

We recently conducted a survey of Top Echelon Network recruiters, and that survey was based upon the following question:

How valuable is LinkedIn as a tool for your recruiting process?

SURVEY RESULTS:

The choice of answers that were provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each answer:

• Extremely valuable — 55.0%
• Somewhat valuable — 31.7%
• Not that valuable — 5.0%
• I’m undecided. — 3.3%
• I don’t use LinkedIn for my recruiting process. — 5.0%

SURVEY ANALYSIS:

As one might guess, the majority of recruiters believe that LinkedIn is valuable to their recruiting process to some degree.  Over half (55%) chose “extremely valuable” as their answer, while 31.7% selected “somewhat valuable.”

However, that still leaves 13.3% of survey participants who don’t find value in LinkedIn.  In fact, 5% of participants have not made LinkedIn part of their recruiting process.

So while LinkedIn has definitely become the social media platform of choice for executive recruiters, not ALL recruiters consider it to be a “sourcing nirvana.”  (But the majority?  Absolutely.)

FEEDBACK:

How important is LinkedIn to YOUR recruiting process?  Did you participate in the survey described above?  If not, what’s your answer?

SPLIT PLACEMENTS THIS WEEK:

The end of the third quarter of the year is rapidly approaching, and one thing is certain: split placements in Top Echelon Network are being made more frequently in 2013 than in 2012.

In fact, there have been 24.8% more split placements made to this point in the year than there were a year ago at this time.  In fact, there’s been a noticeable difference during the past few weeks, with placements hitting double digits on multiple occasions.

These numbers point to the fact that the economy (and by extension, hiring) is gaining traction. Companies are in need of talented employees, and they’re willing to pay a recruiting firm to locate those employees.  And when candidates are difficult to find and/or the company is especially picky?

Top Echelon Network recruiters are relying upon their Trading Partners to help them find the candidates they need.

SPLIT JOBS FILLED THIS WEEK:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiters.

• Director of Sales
• VP of Finance
  
• Java Developer
  
• Digital Forensics Analyst
  
• Quality Manager
• Project Manager
  
• Plant Controller
  
• Environmental Engineer
  
• Associate VP of Sales
  

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network, call Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS at 330.455.1433, x156.

THIS WEEK’S NETWORK SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Job recruiter: Jeff Gilbert of Kingfish Technology, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Janet Miller of Computer Management, Inc.

Split job title: DIRECTOR OF SALES

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC of the MMS Group

Candidate recruiter: Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: VP OF FINANCE

Fee percentage: 18%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook Website.

— — —

Job recruiter: Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Sara Rich of CPS and Professionals Incorporated

Split job title: JAVA DEVELOPER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Deb North of Deb North Consulting, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Victor Wheeler of Velocity Search Group

Split job title: DIGITAL FORENSICS ANALYST

Fee percentage: 18%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Chris Ramsay, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC

Split job title: QUALITY MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Lloyd E. Shoemaker of TriVista Professional Placement Services

Candidate recruiter: David Manns of Access Professional Search & Staffing

Split job title: PROJECT MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Twanda DeBorde of CMD and Associates Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Roy Cope of R. Cope & Associates, Inc.

Split job title: PLANT CONTROLLER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: David Wood, CPC of The David Wood Company

Candidate recruiter: Thomas Edwards of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Split job title: ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Stephanie Wise of Wise Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

Split job title: ASSOCIATE VP OF SALES

Fee percentage: 15%

Action causing split placement: The job seeker or client was found through my Hiring Hook Website.

— — —

Job recruiter: David Kersey of Kersey & Associates, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Gene McQueen of the Cameron Craig Group

Split job title: TEST ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

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SURVEY QUESTION:

At Top Echelon Network, we’re always looking for the next location for our National Convention.  We’ve been to some great places down through the years—a variety of cities located all throughout the United States.

As always, we take our cue from you, the Preferred Member recruiters of Top Echelon Network.  We want to go where you want to go . . . and that’s why we’re always asking where you want to go.  So it might not surprise you to know that we asked again!

We recently conducted a survey of Network recruiters, and that survey was based upon the following question:

Which of the following locations would be best for a Top Echelon Network National Convention?

SURVEY RESULTS:

The choice of answers that were provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each answer:

• Baltimore — 16.7%
• Atlanta — 10.3%
• Las Vegas — 34.6%
• New Orleans — 29.5%
• Denver — 9.0%

SURVEY ANALYSIS:

It was definitely a close race, but Las Vegas beat New Orleans by a margin of 34.6% to 29.5%.  Top Echelon Network has held a National Convention at both locations in the past, and both events were highly successful.  However, the current Membership currently craves a return trip to Las Vegas.

Baltimore was third at 16.7%, followed by Atlanta at 10.3% and Denver and 9.0%.  Top Echelon has never held a National Convention in any of those cities, although the Network has had a regional event in Baltimore before.

Clearly, the results of this Network survey show that Top Echelon recruiters wish to attend a National Convention at a venue with plenty of entertainment options.

FEEDBACK:

Where do YOU think we should go for a National Convention?  One of the destinations listed above . . . or some place that we didn’t even mention?

— — —

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SPLIT PLACEMENTS THIS WEEK:

Since Network recruiters are making multiple split placements per week, you knew that Sean Napoles couldn’t be far behind.  The perennial Top 10 producer has three placements in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

Not only that, but we have a pair of recruiters who made both a direct-hire placement and a contract placement together!  Placements in Top Echelon Network are up over 15% since a year ago, underscoring the fact that Network recruiters are enjoying more success, both inside and, more than likely, outside of the Network.

SPLIT JOBS FILLED THIS WEEK:

Below are the split jobs that were recently filled by Top Echelon Network recruiters.

• Software Engineer – Progress
• Manager IT PMO
  
• SAP Solutions Manager
  
• QA UR Registered Nurse
  
• Senior Civil Engineer
• Project/Design Engineer
• Embedded Software Engineer
• Supplier Quality Manager
• General Manager

For more information about how YOU can be more successful in Top Echelon Network, (330) 455-1433, Ext. 156.  Act now!  Call today!

THIS WEEK’S COMPLETED SPLIT PLACEMENTS:

Job recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

Job title: SOFTWARE ENGINEER – PROGRESS

Fee percentage: 15%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Debbi Reiger of Reiger Technical Search

Candidate recruiter: Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

Job title: MANAGER IT PMO

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Debbi Reiger of Reiger Technical Search

Candidate recruiter: Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.

Job title: SAP SOLUTIONS MANAGER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Joe Papa, CPC/CTS of American Medical Personnel Services, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Job title: QA UR REGISTERED NURSE

Fee percentage: 10%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Joe Papa, CPC/CTS of American Medical Personnel Services, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource International

Job title: QA UR REGISTERED NURSE

Recruiter $ Per Hour: N/A

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Cindy Szajkovics of Bulldog Recruiters, Inc
Candidate recruiter: Juli Smith of The Smith Consulting Group

Job title: SENIOR CIVIL ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 22%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Don Lewis of The Doepker Group

Candidate recruiter: David Wick, CPC of Career Center of Cincinnati, Inc.

Job title: PROJECT/DESIGN ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Jim Petitpren of The PRA Group, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jimmy Folger of ONESource Technical, Inc.

Job title: EMBEDDED SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Fee percentage: 22.5%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Rose Langhals of Bridgeway Professionals, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Joe Durbin of the Rockpointe Group

Job title: SUPPLIER QUALITY MANAGER

Fee percentage: 25%

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

— — —

Job recruiter: Douglas Pajak of Alternate Route

Candidate recruiter: Rich Harrold of Front Line Solutions, LLC

Job title: GENERAL MANAGER

Fee percentage: 20%

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

— — —

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