XwqJust wanted to share a recent experience I had with a Bernard Haldane office in London Ontario Canada:
Having previously submitted an online evaluation form and subsequent email resume submission directly to the London office well over a month prior and receiving no response, I followed up with a phone call. The receptionist told me that due to the high volume of inquiries and the fact that they discard all resumes after 30 days, I should re-submit mine.
Being out of work for over a month at this time (and in the process of following up with all previous contacts), I promptly re-emailed my resume to the local London Bernard Haldane office.
Within 48 hours, I had an interview with their senior recruiting consultant and was rather excited about the timely response and prospect of meeting someone who could (ostensibly) help place me.
My interview was for 9:00am on July 30 2003 with Chuck Fraser. Arriving 10 minutes early (as advised) I was required to fill out a generic form outlining some of my career goals. Shortly thereafter, I was greeted by an older professional looking man in a suit.
The interview itself was interesting to say the least. My first clue that something was not quite right was triggered by the fact that my 'senior consultant' was doing a disproportionate amount of the talking for this to seem anything like a legitimate potential employee/contractor / employer relationship in the works.
Of particular interest to me (being someone who has dealt with psychiatrists and psychoanalysts in the past) was the upfront admission by the consultant I was being 'interviewed' by that he himself had a background in psychology and a thorough understanding of reading people. I was told upfront that in falsifying any of the answers to his questions, "I would only be lying to myself" - gee, thanks for the insightful advice Sherlock :).
This personally insulting assertion seriously lowered my level of genuine trust in my consultant - though I never outwardly made it obvious. My (albeit twisted) natural response to these types of people is to play out what I know they want to hear.
What was to follow consisted of a series of glorious proclamations that Haldane was the premiere empowerer of personally satisfying career advancement assistance and a guarantee of "ideal placement" which their team of "professionals" would work tirelessly with you to achieve.
In going over the details of my last three major professional deployments, I was led to believe (by suggestive interpretation) that I have made poor decisions that might discredit me from becoming a client that Haldane would want to work with.
Next comes my favorite (sarcastically speaking of course) part of the interview process. This is where I am given a series of forms to fill out while the consultant leaves the room - 'the moment of truth'. Just prior to this, I am informed that "within the next 10 minutes, I will be able to inform you whether or not you are Haldane client material".
Three sheets of paper appear on the edge of the desk I am sitting behind. The first is a 'this is how we do business and the kind of people we want to do business with' type deal. It also has a 6 point list on the back from which I am to choose the 2 most relevant responses that 'ring true to my personal being'. Second in line was an 'airy-fairy' written fill-out form that required a number of responses pertinent to your ideal position. Third on the table was a self-assessment check list where you had to fill out an 'A' 'B' or 'C' relative to your need of help in those areas (where 'A' means no help, 'B' some help, and 'C' lots of help).
Surely enough (and well within 10 minutes), my consultant returns to the picturesque office on the 21st floor of London's only 'serious business' (in the downtown Toronto sense) corporate-looking building known none other than 'One London Place'.
Condensing things considerably, what followed was a series of innocent and carefully crafted sympathetic statements and 'desired response type open-ended questions' with regards to my current situation and how Bernard Haldane could transform me into the "person I needed to be" by way of employing the necessary professionals to help me overcome my "serious deficiencies". It's also worth noting, that my specific transferrable skills were not challenged in the slightest, but instead understood to be fine while other character issues got the limelight.
I could easily go into much greater subjective detail about my experience, but shall hold back having not been subject to the full extent of their (what seemed to be by the vague answers I sought to quantify) heftily priced services.
My advice to prospective Haldane interviewees:
Not being someone who has paid their presumably exhorbitant fees (having declined a second interview) and faithfully aspiring to their 'hyped up' transformation experience guided by "professionals", I can say that after reading the numerous negative experiences on this website and on the newsgroups, my initial skeptical assertions are in fact, quite realistic.
From what I can deduce in reading between the lines of my sales pitch, you'd be better served utilizing governmentally subsidized services (at least in Canada that is) or other relatively low cost alternatives to figure out what needs to be done in terms of chasing after the career that would truly make you happy.
Jebediah
London, Ontario
Canada
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