I wanted to post a report after reading the several reports on Carnegie Career. While it is very similar to what I've read here, it was nowhere near as unpleasant as the other reports I've read here for one simple reason -- I turned them down. The moral of the story is really caveat emptor -- buyer beware because if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
I was called yesterday, ironically while on the way to a job interview, by "Executive Business Search" which I couldn't find anywhere but made the appointment and met with them in the Pacific Centre here in Vancouver.
On the plaque, I couldn't find either Executive Business Search or Carnegie Career and only got the name from Brian Hodgins' business card and stationary.
Once I interviewed, however, I found Mr. Hodgins to be quite professional, well prepared, eloquent, and intelligent. He was also very upfront about not being a headhunter and to some extent about the fees. I asked him point blank who pays for the service and he didn't hesitate to say the client does. I asked him the amount and he gave me a ballpark figure of $1000-5000.
Like a good salesman, he gave me the pitch but I was quite clear I didn't have the money to invest and would have to decline. We shook hands and I left.
I do feel very bad about the people across the US and Canada that have been taken in by this company. If like myself you're unemployed and scared and most likely in debt to boot, then everything they say must sound like pure gold. A morsel is a meal to a starving man, right?
Now it turns out I have a law background, so let me speak as a lawyer: despite what anyone here might think, they aren't doing anything illegal. Don't think these people will ever be charged or put out of business. I believe 100% that they don't deliver on what they offer but they did nothing illegal to me or, believe it or not, to anyone they took in. They know this.
They offered a service in exchange for cash. The fact that the "service" nowhere near lives up to what we ASSUME it to be (they've chosen their sales pitch carefully as you can tell) is disappointing, obviously, but not illegal. At no point was I ever offered anything resembling a money-back guarantee and these guys aren't likely to offer one.
These guys are slick, but they're not infallible. I think to some degree these people might even wholeheartedly believe they're helping job seekers and providing a valuable service or at the very least justified it that way in their own minds.
The simple truth is, though, nobody can make you sign up with them. The best advice I can give people is simply not to do any kind of business with them.
I know that's very little comfort to those that have already been burned by them but at the very least you can now inform others of what's going on. Believe me, in the days before this magical thing called the Internet, I'm sure they've gotten away with much worse for much longer.
Tran
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
0 comments