| Topic Name: |
R L Stevens job Placement |
| Message Name: |
Here you go |
| Date Posted: |
04/17/2004 |
| In Reply To: |
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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| Message: |
Do people really need lawyers, plumbers, doctors, dentists, car mechanics, carpenters, personal trainers, piano teachers, school teachers, golf pros, bakers, chefs, investment counselors, tax preparers, etc.?
They sound expensive! Why not just represent yourself in court? Pull your own teeth? Get a good DVD on how to learn how to play golf. Find an auto repair book at the libray.
There are certainly plenty of options to doctors and investment counselors etc.
In fact, why do you even need to pay a college to get an education? Can't you just read some books, and stuff?
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