| Topic Name: |
R L Stevens job Placement |
| Message Name: |
What to do - due diligence! |
| Date Posted: |
04/17/2004 |
| In Reply To: |
You always provide lots of information. I'm wondering if you would give a list of some the BIG warning signs of SCAMS
that don't involve "pay up front".
Are you saying there is no such person in the entire United States who provides a complete job-changing service, and does so on an retainer (or full payment) at the time one becomes a client?
Or, are you saying that if there is such a person, they're definitely a SCAM?
Or, are you saying merely that YOU PERSONALLY don't know of any such person who provides a complete job-changing service?
Or, are you saying that YOU PERSONALLY don't know of any such person who provides a professional job-hunting service, and is honest? AND, whom clients pay whenever they become a client?
The reason I'm asking is: I DO PERSONALLY know of such a person, and they have an impeccable reputation for their professional capabilities, high integrity, and fidelity to clients...but it sounds to me like you're trying to convince the public that no such person exists. That's a pretty broad smear, that includes the person I know.
Accept my unsolicited advice that you'd better be able to prove it, if he ever finds out
that you (or anyone else) has made false (slander of business reputation) accusations about his buisness or him personally.
You need to start THINKING before you get yourself in hot water by falsely charging people with being SCAMS. |
| Message: |
Per WSJ article:
How to Protect Yourself From Unscrupulous Firms
Many dissatisfied clients contend they could have done better on their own than with career marketers. "You should never have to pay anybody to help you find a job," says Lisa Bermundo, a Long Beach, Calif., engineering project manager who found her own job after she ceased dealing with Icon Management, a now-defunct career-marketing company in California. "Do a lot of research and work with recruiters."
David B. Opton, founder and chief executive officer of ExecuNet, a Norwalk, Conn., executive-career group, cautions, "When anybody asks you for money up front for any service, bells should go off in your head. If you want career counseling, there are a gazillion people, well-educated, with long, successful track records, who are happy to let you pay by the hour."
If you contact a career marketer, Mr. Opton says, "Check them out six ways to Sunday." Visit your local small-claims court and review the court records to find out if there are any claims against them, Mr. Opton suggests. Use the Internet to check out the companies and individuals associated with the companies. Often, he says, "they keep going until enough complaints are filed, then they close that business and open up under a different name." Consumer-activist Web sites such as the Rip-Off Report post consumer complaints against career marketers.
Mr. Opton advises requesting names of references, "including the names of people who were not happy." Mark Peterson of Radnor, Pa., who signed with the now-defunct career marketer Merrill-Adams Associates of Parsippany, N.J., claims that he asked repeatedly for references and information on how many chief financial officers Merrill-Adams had placed, and received vague answers such as, "We're well-connected across a variety of industries."
"It's a big red flag if you can't get references," he now says. After receiving little service from the firm, he secured an agreement to be repaid half of his $10,800 investment.
Mark Renn, chief executive officer of career marketer Global Career Management, acknowledges that his firm's clients have complained about its services. He urges prospects to read their agreements carefully to avoid misunderstandings and advises them to ask for references. The firm supplies client names on request, he says. He also recommends that prospects talk with the career consultant with whom they'll work as well as with the salesperson.
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