Are TE Recruiters “Old School” . . . or “New School”?

The average tenure of a Top Echelon Network recruiter in the profession is approximately 15 years. However, does that mean a recruiter with 15 years of experience is considered “old school”? Furthermore, what does that recruiter think about such a label?

We whipped up another poll question for the Members’ Area, baked it for 25 minutes, let it cool, and then applied a generous layer of icing. The question that we posed is as follows:

Do you consider yourself an “old school” recruiter or a “new school” recruiter?

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of Network recruiters that selected each one:

• “Old school”— 27.4%
• “New school” — 17.9%
• I’m both. — 48.4%
• I’m neither, quit trying to label me. — 6.3%

School is in session

The beauty of this poll question is that there is no real, definitive answer. That’s because it’s a purely subjective question. After all, who determines what is “old school” and what is “new school”?

• Does it have to do with technology?
• Or perhaps the way in which a recruiter chooses to recruit?
• Does it have anything to do with how long the recruiter has been in the profession?
• Or does it pertain to which tools and/or services the recruiter uses?

All great questions, the answers to which will differ depending upon the person you ask. That being said, the results of this particular poll are rather interesting. For example, what stands out is the number of recruiters who chose “I’m both” as their answer: 48.4%. That’s nearly half!

Almost half of the recruiters participating in this poll considers themselves both an “old school” recruiter and a “new school” recruiter. But how is that even possible? Does that mean they employ both strategies and methodologies related to both schools of thought? And if they do, wouldn’t they be prone to using one more than the other?

Fun to contemplate, difficult to quantify

For example, if a recruiter considers themselves 60% “old school” and 40% “new school,” would they not fall into the former category overall? After all, it would be practically impossible for a recruiter to be 50-50. Once again, though, this is a subjective topic, making it fun to contemplate but ultimately difficult to quantify.

Once we get past the most popular answer, “old school” finished second with 27.4% of the vote. “New school” was third at 17.9%. In addition, there was a small contingent (6.3%) that resisted the notion of being labeled at all.

The bottom line: Quite a few Top Echelon Network recruiters fancy themselves as being members of both camps. Beyond that, when you crunch all the numbers—the only semi-objective data we possess—“old school” appears to be a more popular label among TE recruiters.

Regardless of how you view yourself, if you want to make more split placements, then contact Top Echelon Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS. You can do so by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.