We held another FREE recruiting webinar this week, and it was another big success!  That webinar was by Greg Doersching of the Griffin Group, and it was titled “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something True.”

Doersching has presented quite a few webinars for Top Echelon before, and he’s also served as the keynote speaker at Top Echelon Network conference, conventions, and regional meetings.  (Like in Florida in 2006.)

In addition, Doersching is one of the most popular speakers and trainers in the recruitment industry today, owing in large part to this wealth of experience, keen insight, and down-to-earth approach to the profession.

Below is the official description of “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something True”:

Join Greg Doersching as he walks you through four key tactical points necessary for managing an effective and efficient recruiting desk:

Something Old—True headhunting: digging behind Linkedin to get to the people you want.

Something New—Turning interview debriefs into a more dedicated activity.

Something Borrowed—The best bit from a recent webinar Greg attended on LinkedIn techniques that can help you get those “hidden” names faster.

Something True—The world of recruiting will drastically change during the next five years, and Greg will show you what you need to do NOW to capitalize on it.

This is one session you don’t want to miss!

The liver webinar may be over, but we recorded it!  All you have to do is click the link below and follow the instructions.  You’ll be able to watch the webinar as it streams in your Internet browser.  Below is a link to the recorded version of “Something Old, Something New”:

Watch ‘Something Old, Something New’!

Top Echelon offers FREE training webinars for recruitment throughout the year, so be sure to subscribe to the Recruiter Training Blog (and read The Pinnacle) for more information!

At Top Echelon , we’re big fans of continuous training and development.  That’s one of the reasons we offer a free recruiter training webinar every month.

However, we also like to promote industry events in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, and that includes the 2013 Indiana Search and Staffing Association (ISSA) Conference, which is scheduled for Thursday, May 16, at The Pyramids in Indianapolis, Ind.

The keynote speaker for the event is Bob Marshall of TBMG International.  Marshall is presenting two sessions during the conference.

The first session, to be held in the morning, is called “Your Desk as a Manufacturing Plant.”  The second session, slated for the afternoon, is titled “Establishing Elegant Rapport Through Elegant Communication.”

(Marshall is also one of three speakers at the 2013 Top Echelon Network National Convention in April.  However, his session at the National Convention is different than the ones he’s presenting at the ISSA Conference.)

The full-day ISSA program is designed for all recruiters, staffing professionals, human resource professionals and sales professionals.  The main conference includes continental breakfast and lunch provided by Monster.

The cost of attending the ISSA Conference is $99 for members and $129 for non-members.  For registration information, contact Jennifer Fahlsing at (800) 658-0824 or via email at jfahlsing@aldisassociates.com.

You can also register online at the ISSA website, located at www.issaweb.org.

Below is a sneak peek of “Your Desk as a Manufacturing Plant.”

Okay, before I get into my regular spiel about this year’s National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) Conference, let me take a moment to make a personal appeal.  Well, maybe not a personal appeal, but you know what I mean.

The NAPS Conference is a great opportunity for you to increase the productivity on your recruiting desk and within your firm overall.  There is going to be SO much packed into these few days in the way of training and networking that it would be impossible to not come away with something of value.

Sure, there’s an investment of time, energy, and money involved, but there’s also an excellent chance that you’ll receive a return on that investment—and that it will exceed the investment that you made.

And besides, if you attend, you get to see ME there. (Enough said.)

Okay, now for the spiel . . .

This year’s NAPS Conference is scheduled for Wednesday, September 19, through Saturday, September 22.  The location will be the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

Four tracks anchor this year’s lineup of speakers: (1) Direct-Hire Back to Basics, (2) The Direct-Hire Master’s Program, (3) Temp Staffing, and (4) Best Practices and Technology.  Running concurrently with the event on Friday afternoon wil be the owner and manager’s retreat, as well as an executive leadership track.

Due to the success of the 2011 event, NAPS will hold a Wednesday evening “Kick-Off Event and Keynote” with Danny Cahill.  Jon Bartos, Joanie Ruge, and Jim Bleech will each host the morning keynotes.  Overall, there will be four days of education and networking from 25 speakers presenting over 45 sessions.

In addition, there will be two pre-conference credentialing/educational specials.  These include NAPS’ well-known certification programs (CPC and CTS), as well as its new CERS (Certified Employee Retention Specialist).

Not only that, but during the Thursday evening party, there will be a live band, a mechanical bull riding contest, and a live auction complete with a Texas auctioneer.  (Now, really . . . how can you beat THAT?)

NAPS has been the staffing industry educator since 1961 and enjoys its reputation as the oldest industry association.  It continues to maintain the position as the search and staffing industry educator through its certification program, continuing education initiatives, eLearning, and annual conference.

Both Hiring Hook recruitment website design and Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software, are pleased to be sponsors of this year’s event.

So . . . join me and hundreds of other recruiters at the NAPS Conference.  Don’t make me come find you.

At Top Echelon, we’re advocates of continuous education and training . . . which makes us big fans of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) and its annual conference!

This year’s NAPS Conference is scheduled for Wednesday, September 19, through Saturday, September 22.  The location will be the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

Four tracks anchor this year’s lineup of speakers: (1) Direct-Hire Back to Basics, (2) The Direct-Hire Master’s Program, (3) Temp Staffing, and (4) Best Practices and Technology.  Running concurrently with the event on Friday afternoon wil be the owner and manager’s retreat, as well as an executive leadership track.

Due to the success of the 2011 event, NAPS will hold a Wednesday evening “Kick-Off Event and Keynote” with Danny Cahill.  Jon Bartos, Joanie Ruge, and Jim Bleech will each host the morning keynotes.  Overall, there will be four days of education and networking from 25 speakers presenting over 45 sessions.

In addition, there will be two pre-conference credentialing/educational specials.  These include NAPS’ well-known certification programs (CPC and CTS), as well as its new CERS (Certified Employee Retention Specialist).

Not only that, but during the Thursday evening party, there will be a live band, a mechanical bull riding contest, and a live auction complete with a Texas auctioneer.  (Now, really . . . how can you beat THAT?)

NAPS has been the staffing industry educator since 1961 and enjoys its reputation as the oldest industry association.  It continues to maintain the position as the search and staffing industry educator through its certification program, continuing education initiatives, eLearning, and annual conference.

Both Hiring Hook recruitment website design and Big Biller, the leader in online recruiting software, are pleased to be sponsors of this year’s event.

We’ll be there for the 2012 NAPS Conference—and we hope you will be, too!

I would once again like to remind you about the great deal that we have with Next Level Exchange.  A number of Preferred Member recruiters have already taken advantage of this deal for NLE training, and I encourage you to do so, too.

Next Level Exchange offers high-quality training programs for every recruiter—from the rookie to the grizzled veteran—and you can try Next Level for FREE during their trial period.  You’re not required to buy anything “sight unseen.”  You’ll have a very good idea of what to expect before you purchase a subscription.

However, shifting gears slightly, I also want to address the issue of communication within Top Echelon Network, specifically how we communicate with you, the Preferred Member recruiters.

As you know, we use The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog as our chief form of communication.  There’s also the news section in the Members’ Area.  However, we’ve discovered that these two forms of communication don’t reach everybody in the Network.

We know full well how busy you are on your recruiting desk.  You often don’t have time to check out The Pinnacle or peruse the news section.  Of course, we want you to make more placements almost as much as you do, but we also want to make sure that we’re reaching as many of you as we can.

That’s why in the near future we’re going to start sending targeted emails to the Membership in an effort to raise awareness about important developments within Top Echelon Network.  An example would be the deal that we’ve struck with Next Level Exchange.  We want as many recruiters as possible to know about this great deal, so they can benefit from it.

There won’t be many emails sent to you, an average of only about one per month.  (In special situations, there might be two.)  We don’t want to bombard you; we just want to inform you.

Thanks very much for your commitment as a Preferred Member recruiter and for reading The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!

— — —

330.455.1433, Ext. 172
mdemaree@topechelon.com
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.
Follow Mark on Twitter.

In last week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we announced a deal we’ve struck with Next Level Exchange for a discount on their training programs.

Next Level Exchange (www.nextlevelexchange.com) offers a variety of high-quality, on-target training programs for recruiters.  The Exchange itself contains over 60 streaming training videos, a 20+ hour Foundation Training Program, and an ever-expanding NLE Library with scripts, recorded calls, video clips, articles, and more.

Under the terms of this agreement, the more Network firms that use Next Level Exchange, the more attractive the price will be for those firms.

For example, once there are 10 Network Member firms using Next Level, the monthly subscription rate will be reduced by 10%. Once there are 15 firms signed up, the discount will be 15%, and when there are 20 firms, the discount will increase to 20%, and so on in that fashion.  The maximum discount available under this agreement is 50% (if 50 Preferred Member firms sign up for Next Level’s monthly service).

Below are some other details of the agreement:

• There is no deadline; you can sign up at any time.
• For each additional five Member firms that sign up, your Next Level Exchange invoice will be automatically reduced by 5%.
• There’s nothing else you need to do to receive this discounted rate—besides encouraging other Members to take advantage of the program!
• You can start by using the service for FREE for two weeks!

Just send an email to orders@nextlevelexchange.com.  In the email, identify yourself as a Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter and indicate your desire to start your FREE two-week trial.

We believe in the benefits of continuous training, and we also believe that Next Level Exchange is providing high-quality training within the recruiting industry.  We hope that you’ll take advantage of this special deal and that doing so will help take your firm’s production to the next level!

— — —

330.455.1433, Ext. 172
mdemaree@topechelon.com
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.
Follow Mark on Twitter.

There are many advantages to being a Preferred Member firm, and we at Top Echelon Network are continually seeking ways to add to those advantages.

We believe we’ve done so with our new agreement with one of the premier recruiter training organizations in the industry, Next Level Exchange (www.nextlevelexchange.com).  They offer a variety of high-quality, on-target training programs for recruiters.  The Exchange itself contains over 60 streaming training videos, a 20+ hour Foundation Training Program, and an ever-expanding NLE Library with scripts, recorded calls, video clips, articles, and more.

Under the terms of this agreement, the more Network firms that use Next Level Exchange, the deeper the discount will be for those firms.

For example, once there are 10 Network Member firms using Next Level, the monthly subscription rate will be reduced by 10%.  Once there are 15 firms signed up, the discount will be 15%, and when there are 20 firms, the discount will increase to 20%, and so on in that fashion. The maximum discount available under this agreement is 50% (if 50 Preferred Member firms sign up for Next Level’s monthly service).  Below are some other details of the agreement:

• There is no deadline; you can sign up at any time.
• For each additional five Member firms that sign up, your Next Level Exchange invoice will be automatically reduced by 5%.
• There’s nothing else you need to do to receive this discounted rate—besides encouraging other Members to take advantage of the program!

Below is a complete breakdown of this agreement:

Okay . . . so how do you get started?  In short, you get started with Next Level Exchange’s FREE two-week trial.  There are two ways to do this:

1. Send an email to orders@nextlevelexchange.com.  In the email, identify yourself as a Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiter and indicate your desire to start a free two-week trial.
2. Click here to sign up for your free trial right now. Keep in mind that you will have to enter a credit card number. After your trial starts, a Next Level representative will contact you.  At that time, you can identify yourself as a Preferred Member and ask questions about the training or this special deal.  If you decide you don’t want the service, then you must cancel it before the end of your trial period.

A testimonial from one of our own Preferred Member recruiters is below.  We’re pleased to be able to offer this deal to our Members, and we hope that it helps you increase the production of your firm, as well as the value that you provide to YOUR clients.

Sign up for a free two-week trial today to get started on this exclusive offer between Top Echelon Network and Next Level Exchange!

— — —

“I am a strong believer in continuous process improvement and the need to remain sharp in our skills (even as experienced recruiters) is essential in this competitive recruiting marketplace.  Perhaps I should say, especially as experienced recruiters since those of us in the business for 5 or more years tend to get set in our ways.  Getting into a rut or a slump becomes easier with each passing year in the business without continuous training.

The foundation training modules with accompanying materials are top-shelf; it is the best training I have seen and I have tried others.  I use the NLE two ways: first as continued training for myself and my experienced recruiters and second, as material for our morning sales meetings.  I intend on using it for new recruiter training later this summer when we hire our third recruiter.  It is a no-brainer and anyone who takes a look at the training will quickly see the value.  The only way you can’t get a return on your investment is if you don’t use it.”

Juli Smith, President
The Smith Consulting Group LLC

— — —

330.455.1433, Ext. 172
mdemaree@topechelon.com
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.
Follow Mark on Twitter.

Top Echelon has long been a proponent of continuous training and education.  That’s why we’re pleased to announce that Preferred Member recruiter Denise Milano Sprung of JA Pharma, Inc. recently earned her Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) designation!

The National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) awards the designation to recruiters who pass the CPC exam.  Below is information from the NAPS website that describes the various designations that are available to recruiters who wish to pursue them:

“Since 1961, NAPS has awarded more than 10,000 professional credentials to recruiting and staffing professionals.  Today, NAPS awards five different professional credentials.

Credentialing began with the Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) in 1961.  The Certified Temporary-Staffing Specialist (CTS) was added in 1989.  We now have over 300 professionals who are dually certified as CPC and CTS.

The NAPS commitment to credentialing continues with its two most recent credentialing programs, Certified Employee Retention Specialist (CERS) introduced in 2006, and our first credentialing program specifically designed for staffing and recruiting companies.

The NAPS Accredited Firm credential (NAF) was introduced in 2007.  NAPS also offers the first staffing specialty certification designation, the Physician Recruiting Consultant (PRC).”

For more information about NAPS and its certification program, visit the NAPS website.

Everybody at Top Echelon would like to congratulate Denise on earning her CPC designation and for continuing to pursue a high standard of excellence in the recruiting profession.

If you’ve earned a certification—either from NAPS or another organization—we want to know about it!  Send your information to marketing@topechelon.com, and we’ll publish it in a future issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog!