Avoid Allen and Associates

[wolf]

What a rip off. I just had to write and make it known so that others are not misled or taken advantage of by a so called company in Florida. It is Allen and Associates. They start off with a phone call telling you that they will find you a job. From their schpeel, they came represented themselves as a recruiter or headhunter not a marketing company. They offered coaching and a research area for you to search out companies. They offer to redo your resume and cover letter, which is not done in a current format that gets noticed. They will send you a list of companies to choose from and will mail around 200 resumes for you. Then they have you do the follow up with the list of companies that they mail to you. I paid $3175.00 for what they told me was to get me in front of hiring managers and that the hiring bonus would pay for the fees they charge. Well, I got about a dozen responses of not interested from the mailing of nearly 200. Not a single phone call or interview. They refuse to offer me a refund and I come to find out, they do not have a good record with the BBB in Florida either. Guess I should have looked there first.

Wolf

[Randy]

I went through the same thing with a local "career counseling" outfit here in SW VA. They help in preparing a resume--complete with all those cute little "bullets" anal HR-managers seem to get all giddy about. Then they actually have a database of major employers here in the valley! Wow, can you imagine that? Hell, a phone book does the same thing (if it was still the '50s, which it's not, which means all THAT information is a "click" away). And then they let you in on the big "secret:" Don't wait for a job opening to be listed somewhere. Send a letter of introduction to any and all companies for which you think you might like to work, tell them your life will have no meaning and purpose unless and until you're part of their wonderful "team," include a few "letters of recommendation." and wait for the offers to come in pouring in.

Still waiting after seven years....

What a crock....

Too bad these types of experiences can't be transferred toward college degrees because it's for damend sure people like us paid for an education most others will never, ever get in a formal classroom setting....

If you haven't, make sure you contact the BBB and Chamber of Commerce and rip these jerks a new one. Enough complaints and maybe you'll be part of the reason the place has to close its doors. Then those cretins will learn first-hand how uselss their "methods" really are.....

[Allen and Associates]

For over 45 years Allen And Associates has been working with individuals to market themselves to potential employers. We are not a Recruiting or Headhunting Firm. We offer a comprehensive campaign tailored to each individual client based upon interactions with their Executive Career Consultant and Campaign Support Manager, who work with each individual client to craft a unique campaign geared towards their needs and successes in this job market.

It is our goal to work with our clients until they are successful and we do so by providing services to our clients for up to five years as specified in our User Agreement. We also provide unlimited revisions to the client's professionally crafted Resume and/or Broadcast Letter until comfortable with the documents that they have received.

Our experience has taught us that our success is derived from our client's success and that is why we have employed the "best of the best" in Resume Writing / Career Coaching and Research. One of the many things that we stress to our clients is the importance of "Follow Up" and how it significantly increases the level of response from the initial mailing.

Over the years, Allen And Associates has helped thousands of professionals across many industries. It is our goal to help our client achieve success in the job market and we stand by that with our 5 year service guarantee. We are committed to work with our clients until they have gained employment.
Please contact the Allen And Associates "

Director of Client Care at 866-953-8800 ext 790 to discus any issues that you may have.

www.AllenAndAssociates.com

[Pauloz]

Members

We can't offer a legal opinion in the case here, and Trial By Forum isn't quite yet an exact science, either. This claim and rebuttal are extremely complex. We can, however, tell you something about the general issues when paying for career counseling services, because they're very relevant to the process of using any career counseling service.

When you hire someone to perform a service, and pay them, the issue whether you're getting what you paid for is naturally the big one. If you look for complaints about career counselors, there's no shortage of them.

However- The problem here is that the service is provided according to the terms of service in the agreement with the counseling service. That service may or may not meet your expectations, but is exactly the service they offer in the agreement. If you pay someone to do something, and they do it, and it doesn't work out the way you want, are they in the wrong?

If the service is based on writing sending out resumes for clients, the question is, really, does it work? In wolf's case, it obviously didn't. However, the counseling service did in fact do what they were paid to do, and according to wolf's post, sent out 200 resumes. So is the complaint based on unrealistic expectations of the method, or not understanding the basis of the agreement for service and the nature of the job market?

It's horribly common for people to lodge hundreds of job applications with no success. Fully qualified people who meet all job criteria don't get interviews on a regular basis. That's the job market at work, in all its inglorious inefficiency. It doesn't necessarily follow logically that a barrage of resumes will naturally get interviews and jobs. You can see why this is a pretty complex situation, and why courts are generally believed to be a bit more reliable at sorting out legal issues than forums.

The moral of the story in terms of general principles is to pay close attention to what career counselors are offering, and to understand the terms of the service they provide. Is that what you want? Do you understand what service they're offering, or not offering? Remember, you're doing business with them. Career counselors aren't charities. The terms of the agreements are also your commitment. When you hire any recruiter, employment adviser, career counselor, or headhunter, make sure you know exactly what you're getting.

Allen and Associates

Your company also provides a 5 year guarantee on some services, according to your post. Would wolf be able to get more service from you, since his/her complaint dates from 2007?

[ss9]

I paid $3175.00

Barnum was right...