Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone heard of AA Careers before? I didn't, but I spent an entire day talking to a guy that was a Director of Marketing that is kinda selling me this being an option for job hunting. I've never heard of it before, but amazingly he was able to show proof that they've been in the business for a long time. Apparently, for a small fee, they coach and drill you and have a contact book for senior to vp leveled colleagues from various fields of industries with very well known common companies like Wells Fargo, IBM, Intel, etc. About two or three names from each company a piece that you could think of. I'm not sure about what the turn around time is, but the guy spent an hour showing me the success stories of how he got copies of the offers that came from the company in which the offers were staggeringly higher than anything I've ever seen. Although a lot of them were for highers for Senior Managers and Directors, there were some smaller experienced ones that I would imagine would take a MIT grad to earn that kind of salary. It seemed tempting since I've been on the job market for so long and apparently what I've been doing doesn't work, yet, with what they supposedly have with the "inside" on getting straight to the managers, they have copies of offers from 2003 up to recently closed with one at March 2009. The thing is though is that I don't know anyone who's ever gone through these things before. All I see are the reviews from after the conversation going home and they don't look good.
HOWEVER, again, even with these poor reviews, these people never tried going through the program. Anyone have something like this in their city or state that can provide an opinion? Are these scams? The guy asked me to put a down payment of 1500, and if they found something for me, they'd bill a one time total of 5000, but that guarantees up to 5 years of service. ...With the numbers coming from the offers he showed me, 5000, although sounding like a big deal, wasn't due to the results in the numbers that came in from those numbers.
This may be a legitimate company but I find it a little unusual. Most employment/staffing agencies charge the employer for the service, not the job seeker. Looks like you're doing your homework on this. I'd go to several employment agencies that don't charge and see if they can do the same thing for free. Most of them are very good resources and they do a lot of the leg work for you when looking for the right employer fit.
Anyone heard of AA Careers before? I didn't, but I spent an entire day talking to a guy that was a Director of Marketing that is kinda selling me this being an option for job hunting. I've never heard of it before, but amazingly he was able to show proof that they've been in the business for a long time. Apparently, for a small fee, they coach and drill you and have a contact book for senior to vp leveled colleagues from various fields of industries with very well known common companies like Wells Fargo, IBM, Intel, etc. About two or three names from each company a piece that you could think of. I'm not sure about what the turn around time is, but the guy spent an hour showing me the success stories of how he got copies of the offers that came from the company in which the offers were staggeringly higher than anything I've ever seen. Although a lot of them were for highers for Senior Managers and Directors, there were some smaller experienced ones that I would imagine would take a MIT grad to earn that kind of salary. It seemed tempting since I've been on the job market for so long and apparently what I've been doing doesn't work, yet, with what they supposedly have with the "inside" on getting straight to the managers, they have copies of offers from 2003 up to recently closed with one at March 2009. The thing is though is that I don't know anyone who's ever gone through these things before. All I see are the reviews from after the conversation going home and they don't look good.
HOWEVER, again, even with these poor reviews, these people never tried going through the program. Anyone have something like this in their city or state that can provide an opinion? Are these scams? The guy asked me to put a down payment of 1500, and if they found something for me, they'd bill a one time total of 5000, but that guarantees up to 5 years of service. ...With the numbers coming from the offers he showed me, 5000, although sounding like a big deal, wasn't due to the results in the numbers that came in from those numbers.
Again...all too good to be true?
Well, for 5000 I would want a mazariti! ;-)
But seriously, my brother is a head hunter and reasonably successful for mid-range people in the pharmaceutical field and he charges the employer.
It is funny that very skilled people who are paid for their brains and ability to research are unwilling to do just that to get themselves a job. People who are unemployed should be pros. Read books, listen to tapes, talk to people, read the bureau of statistics websites, etc... The same tools these job placement people have, you can acquire yourself. If you want to do mock interviews, well start a class at your local Ymca...I am sure there would be plenty of professionals that would show up. You could have one for professionals and skilled trades or unskilled trades.
I really don't see the sense of paying someone to find me a job! There was an attorney who posted on one of the craigslist legal blog, complaining that he had spent 5000 dollars on a job placement agency in New Jersey and that guy got him no job!
It is amazing that people can be very adept in one area of their life, but prefer to pay someone to teach them something they could teach themselves. Also, 5000 dollars is not going to buy you a job, if there are no jobs!
If I heard the news correctly today, another 450 thousand people were laid off last month.
Well, that's good to know. Yeah I know that usually employers pay these guys. I guess in this case, they eat both ways. This guy calls himself a golpher and was pitching me all this stuff. 5000 is a lot, but the downpayment of 1500 is doable. The reason why I was attracted to it was two things:
1) The guy has a phone book of several dozens of companies full of senior leads and vp's of departments. I suppose you can't access that until you show your worth and "do the homework" after a few weeks in
2) The example offers the 20+ that he showed me for the ones he closed off recently at mid to senior level were all above the national statistics by A LOT...so much that the 5k total for their services is peanuts. Maybe they have some backdoor discussion with those contacts to make it happen. I know if I were to apply and go through HR, they would never allow anything like it. It would be a failed uphill climb to try to get that..
I don't know, sounds like these places are rare in the states. I don't know anyone else that knows about them and from here, not too many people have come across them themselves too.
There are legitimate career transition services companies, like Right Management and a few other notables. There are also legitimate individual Career Coaches. Each of these charge a fee of $1000-2000 per month. The services they provide include resume creation, interviewing techniques, negotiation strategies and many other useful job search tools. My severance package included several months of career transition services and they can be very useful.
I have had a number of companies, like the one that you note, contact me. My rule of thumb is to walk away from them immediately. They're charging as much or more than the known, reputable companies and if they're trolling for customers they're not worth it. But I wouldn't go so far as to call it a scam.
If you believe that the types of service that they provide would be useful to you and the fee is not an issue, then contact a company that is known for this service. Most Fortune 500 companies contract with them to service their laid off employees under a severance plan.
As for job placement, they have built a good network of people that have been through their program and have found employment. These people then let the them know when their company is hiring.
I don't like anything that wants money up front. The worst employment agency I would actually consider that Ive heard of here (southwest) took 50% -60% of your first months income. But if you can't get another job, it would be ok, assuming you didn't get fired after the first month. Agencies should find you work and take part of your pay (not necessarity 50% , but in the long run, it only depends what your wage needs to be). Id be wary of this company , OP.
If you believe that the types of service that they provide would be useful to you and the fee is not an issue, then contact a company that is known for this service. Most Fortune 500 companies contract with them to service their laid off employees under a severance plan.
As for job placement, they have built a good network of people that have been through their program and have found employment. These people then let the them know when their company is hiring.
Yeah, these are the reasons why I would consider this agency. Maybe if I can get connected with one of the Senior Clients through this agency, it would be all worth the 5K that I would end up having to pay them. It's tough one. No one I know or ones that I've read have gone through these programs and mentioned anything. Everyone's just rejecting the fact that you have to pay first is wrong. I suppose that they can't sit around in their office helping and coaching you for free. I should've asked how much they get from the employer. I forgot to.
oh ic. well, i spent nearly a year now trying to get a job on my own. I've gotten a few offers, but none that I find is fair that I would be proud in taking, so I continue my journey. All the results from all the examples the director showed me looks promising and well above the averages. I know it could be too good to be true or it's one of those rare cases, since the guy's job is marketing, of course he's going to try to sell me on the best of the best. I just wonder what's the worst of the worst. ??
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
