The following men's college basketball teams have received 10 NCAA post-season tournament bids over the course of their participation in the sport:
~ Baylor
~ Seton Hall
~ Iona
All three appeared in last year's tournament, commonly referred to as March Madness. Even though none of these college's have ever won the tournament, 10 lifetime appearances represents a high standard of performance on the basketball court. Hundreds of colleges have not achieved this standard of being invited 10 times to the men's NCAA tournament.
In the recruiting industry 10 continues to be the standard for consistent performance. Technical recruiters need 10 to make The List. They need 10 LinkedIn recommendations to make The List of Boston's most-recommended recruiters -- Boston's Rockstar Recruiters.
Boston's Top 100 Technology Recruiters
In the fall of 2012 Beantown Web asked the question, "Who are Boston's Rockstar Recruiters?" Welcome to the 18th installment of The List.
To begin the quest, Beantown Web identified nearly 500 technology recruiters via LinkedIn. Most are located in the Boston area. Some are located in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and conduct a significant amount of business in the Boston area.
Beantown Web then turned to LinkedIn to identify customer satisfaction scores. In particular, how many people were willing to provide a public recommendation for each recruiter?
Football players and coaches have championship trophies to gauge excellence on the gridiron. For those of us who perform on different playing fields, we have LinkedIn recommendations to recognize our performance. Less than 100 out of nearly 500 technology recruiters in the Boston metro area has earned Boston Rockstar Recruiter status with at least 10 LinkedIn recommendations received.
Top 10 on Offense
Boston's Top 10 Rockstar Recruiters perform to a higher standard. The best in the recruiting business have received at least 61 LinkedIn recommendations each. These recruiters have demonstrated an ability to score points.
Here are the Top 10 Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the first quarter of 2017 [number of LinkedIn recommendations received + given]:
- Chris Fountas [115 + 9] -- Hollister Staffing
- Scott Dunlop [98 + 6] -- The Bivium Group
- Brendan Andersen [86 + 21] -- CyberCoders
- Doug Schade [85 + 11] -- WinterWyman
- Jamie LeBlanc [81 + 2] -- The Bivium Group
- Ashlee Chan [75 + 2] -- Strategic Employment Partners (SEP. Inc.)
- John VanderSande [65 + 2] -- WinterWyman
- Phil Hurd [62 + 18] -- Oculus Search Partners, LLC
- Roy Evans [61 + 20] -- CyberCoders
- Danielle Lief [61 + 8] -- InnoTECH Staffing
Top 10 in Assists
Assists in basketball are accumulated when one player passes the ball to another resulting in a score. In recruiting this less glamorous statistic reveals how many times a recruiter is willing to recognize the effort of others. It answers the following question:
"Of the recruiters listed in the Top 100, who are the most generous in offering recommendations to others?"The Top 10 most generous Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the fourth quarter [number of LinkedIn recommendations [given + received] are as follows:
- David Perlman [60 + 19] -- Grenadier Search Group
- Ed Nathanson [49 + 32] -- Red Pill Talent, LLC
- Scott Ragusa [40 + 26] -- WinterWyman
- Tim Halloran [35 + 10] -- JVT Advisors
- Jordan Goldberg [31 + 11] -- The Bowdoin Group
- Andrea Williams [29 + 32] -- Career Minded Recruiting, LLC
- Carol Taylor [29 + 18] -- Private Clients
- Brendan Andersen [21 + 86] -- CyberCoders
- Sean Dowling [21 + 25] -- WinterWyman
- Roy Evans [20 + 61] -- CyberCoders
Team Scores
Now, for the team scores. The following teams placed the most recruiters in the Top 100 [number of recruiters in the Top 100]:
Gold Category:
- WinterWyman [9]
Silver Category:
No other recruiting firm placed more than two recruiters in the Top 100.
Suggested Strategy
There are no live sportscasts on network television that document technical recruiting excellence. In fact, there is no single measure we can all agree on to decide which recruiter or recruiting firm might work best for you as a candidate or as a hiring manager.
However, there is one place to start your search. It is the same place many of us start when buying a car, or looking for a plumber or finding a dentist. That place is personal recommendations. LinkedIn provides personal recommendations. Banks use credit score as a proxy for trustworthiness. We can use LinkedIn recommendations as a starting point to determine networking currency.
If you have technical skills and believe you offer above average value in the marketplace, then consider working with recruiters who have consistently demonstrated above average customer service in the form of personal recommendations -- both receiving them and giving them.
The complete list of Boston's Rockstar Recruiters is made available exclusively to the 400+ Web Design and Web Development alumni of CDIA, some of the most talented designers and developers I have had the pleasure to teach, mentor and collaborate with. You will hear more about the CDIA Alumni in the very near future.
The list of the 50 most recommended technical recruiters (out of nearly 500) in the Boston metro area is being counted down throughout the quarter on Twitter @webapprentices.
[ NOTE: You can also follow Beantown Web on Facebook.]
The list of 
or 
from early December ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:
The list of