If you want to know how to make more split placements in Top Echelon Network, you need look no further than this blog post.

That’s because the relationship of the recruiters involved perfectly exemplifies the most important element for making split placements—Trust, one of The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network.

The recruiters in question are Preferred Members David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc. and Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC.  Hemminger works the Manufacturing industry, and Sgro works Information Technology.  Yet, they’re still making split placements.  How are they doing it?

A primer is in order.  We highlighted Hemminger and Sgro’s Trading Partner relationship a year ago in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog in a two-part series.  Links to those blog posts are below:

Taking Trading Partner Relationships to a Whole New Level, Part 1

Taking Trading Partner Relationships to a Whole New Level, Part 2
Why are we revisiting Hemminger and Sgro?  Because their unique relationship continues to work (i.e., they’re continuing to make split placements).

Here’s a brief overview of how that relationship developed:

After attending the 2009 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference, Hemminger decided that she no longer wanted to turn down IT job orders from her Manufacturing clients.  She and her business partner, Joanna Spaun, agreed that they needed to partner with another recruiter in the Network in order to fill those job orders.  Hemminger and Spaun chose Sgro, and they contacted him with their proposal.  He thought it was a good idea, and he agreed to work with them.

However, it’s the nature of that relationship that’s unique, and this is why:

1. When Hemminger takes an IT job order from a client, she calls Sgro immediately to describe the job order and discuss it with him.
2. BOTH of them then visit Hemminger’s client to discuss the job order, outlining the whole process with the hiring manager, including who will be responsible for what during that process.
3. Hemminger and Sgro then work together to fill the job order.

Basically, everybody involved in the process does what they do best.  Sgro conducts the technical pre-screen of candidates, Spaun conducts the behavioral pre-screen, and Hemminger is responsible for all client communication.

How well has this relationship and this process worked?  Hemminger and Sgro have made two split fee recruiting placements so far with two different clients, and others are currently in the works.

“My goal is to be able to fill all of my clients’ needs,” said Hemminger.  “Dave is easy to work with and knowledgeable in this field, and he’s very accommodating to what we want to accomplish.  I think what we’re doing together takes [Trading Partner] trust to a whole new level.”

“It’s a great relationship,” said Sgro.  “I feel honored that Maria would let me in the door with her clients.  Maria’s clients trust her, and they do pretty much what she thinks is right for them.  They appreciate the fact that she’s bringing in somebody she can partner with to get the job done.  So far, the feedback has been great.”

Hemminger and Sgro trust each other implicitly when it comes to their recruiting business.  There’s no holding back information or going halfway.  They have invested fully in their Trading Partner relationship, to the point where they’ve made each other part of their firms’ recruiting process.

That is why they’ve made split placements in the past, and they’ll continue to make them in the future.

Two recruiters + complete trust = split placements.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn.
Follow Matt on Twitter.

Whether you know it or not, if you’re a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network, you’re branding yourself to other recruiters every day—through the things you do and the things you don’t do.  This is important, because how you brand yourself helps to determine which recruiters want to work with you and how often they want to work with you.

In this episode of “Top Echelon TV,” Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti and Communications Coordinator Matt Deutsch discuss the three ways in which Preferred Members can brand themselves in a positive fashion and increase the chances that they’ll make split placements in the Network.

What are your thoughts?  What can recruiters do to brand themselves more effectively as Preferred Members of the Network?  What are things that recruiters do that brand them in a negative fashion, perhaps things they don’t even know they’re doing?

Seven placements in 2010.

Five so far in 2011.

Judy Kaplan of Prof’l Recruiting Consultants knows how to be successful as a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network.

Kaplan has a made a total of 66 placements in Top Echelon Network since 1999.  That’s an average of just over five placements per year—quite a healthy return on her investment.

So, how does she do it?  What’s her secret?  How is she making money, even during tough economic times like these?

In essence, Kaplan employs a simple, three-step method when it comes to making split placements with other recruiters in Top Echelon Network.  Those steps are as follows:

Step #1—Find other recruiters who work in the same industry, discipline, niche, etc., as you do.

Step #2—Of those recruiters, identify the way in which they like to work in a split placement situation, from beginning to end.

Step #3—Work with those recruiters who work the same way that you do or a way with which you feel comfortable.

Step #4—Make split placements.

Step #5—Repeat as necessary.

“The key is finding the right people, those people who work the same way that you do,” said Kaplan, who started recruiting in 1998.  “Everybody has a different way of working.  I’ve been able to find people like that, and it’s paid dividends for me.”

However, it does NOT stop there.  That’s because not only does Kaplan make direct-hire split placements, but she also makes split contract placements, as well.  Of the 12 placements that’s she made in the past 14 months, over half of them have been contract placements.  The others?  Direct-hire placements with hefty fees associated with them.

Kaplan specializes in exporting candidates in the Information Technology, Pharmaceutical/Biotech, Medical Device, Manufacturing, Environmental Health & Safety, and Accounting industries nationwide.  When it comes to dispensing advice to other Network Members, Kaplan’s is simple.

“Recruiters should share their information in the Network,” she said.  “When I see jobs on the Network that I think I can help fill, I contact those recruiters.  If you don’t share your information, you can’t get help.”

Kaplan’s strategy for success sounds simple, and in actuality, it is.  But the steps she advocates requires a commitment and an investment of time.  Those Preferred Members who are willing to take the time and make the commitment dramatically increase the chances that they’ll enjoy more success and make more split placements in the Network.

— — —

MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn.
Follow Matt on Twitter.

There are many split placement situations that arise between two recruiters in Top Echelon Network.   All of them are included in either The Policies or The Golden Rules of Networking.  In this episode of “Top Echelon TV,” Top Echelon Network President Mark Demaree addresses the issue of how to contact another recruiter’s candidate in a split placement situation (with a little help from Drea Codispoti and John Pagley).  As always, this is one “dramatization” that you don’t want to miss.

If you have any question about this Golden Rule, or about any of Top Echelon Network’s Golden Rules or Policies designed to help Preferred Member recruiters make more split placements, please contact Drea at (330) 455-1433, Ext.156 or via email at Drea@TopEchelon.com.

Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiters shouldn’t be living in the past . . . and that’s especially the case with their Recruiter Profile.

In this episode of “Top Echelon TV,” Top Echelon Network President Mark Demaree—as well as Communications Coordinator Matt Deutsch and Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti—illustrate how neglecting the Recruiter Profile can sabotage recruiters’ attempts to network and make split placements.  As much as we’d like it to be, this just isn’t the 1980s anymore.

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.

Want to know how to enjoy more success as a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network?

This episode of “Top Echelon TV” starts a series of episodes dealing with the “Best Practices” of the Network. It begins with The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network: Quality, Communication, Trust, and Active Participation, as well as the importance of filling out your Recruiter Profile.

In addition, as far as holiday hours are concerned, the Top Echelon offices will be closed on Friday, December 24, and Friday, December 31, due to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. And don’t forget that “Super Early Bird” Registration for the 2011 National Convention (May 12 through May 14 at The Westin Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is now underway.

At Top Echelon recruiting network, we’re always looking for new ways in which to help you enjoy success as Preferred Members.  That’s one of many reasons that we’re currently in the process of developing and implementing a more comprehensive on-boarding and training program.

This program won’t be just for newer Members of the Network; it will be for ANY Member who wants to put the Network’s tools to better use for the purpose of making more split placements.

These onboarding and training materials will include video blog posts, written blog posts, and other forms of media (like PDF documents).  Some of the topics that will be covered include the following.

• The Policies
• The Placement Forms
• The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog
• Your Recruiter Profile
• Tool/Agency Profile
• Finding Trading Partners
• Best practices for split candidates
• Best practices for split job orders
• Best practices for importers
• Best practices for exporters

Some of the information listed above will be published in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog as individual posts.  We want to make this information as accessible as we can to as many Preferred Members as possible.  That being said, we also want your feedback.  What other topics do you want us to cover?  How would you like us to present the information?  What would help you be more successful as a Preferred Member of the Network?

Be sure to check The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog in the future for additional posts regarding our on-boarding and training program and the materials we produce that are associated with that program.

Drea@TopEchelon.com
(330) 455-1433, Ext. 156

Connect with Drea on LinkedIn.
Follow Drea on Twitter.
Join Top Echelon Network on Facebook.