Bernard Haldane and Associates corrupt fraudulent ..the big lie.

1. Commited to broadcasting my "profile" and "marketing brochure" to a vast network of "thousands of recruiters" from Sterling Hightower, Korn Ferry International, and others. AFTER I signed the contract, my career "counselor" expressed no knowledge of this network, admitting that BHA "did not actually do anything [I] couldn't do for myself."

2. Promised that, although they "could not guarantee a job (presumably, by the salesperson's inference, because they can't control what I do in the interview)," they would get me in touch with "key decision-makers" who can "create a position for [me]." When I asked about where this network came from, he referred evasively to something called "Proactive 5." When I mentioned this network to my career search agent AFTER signing the contract, she disavowed knowledge of such a network, and said that she'd teach me, essentially, how to ask my family and friends for a job.

3. Referred to a "marketing team" that would generate a series of "career marketing materials" that would generate substantially greater interest than my existing resume, which the salesman referred to as an "obituary resume." There was, of course, no "marketing team," and I re-wrote my own resume (it looks almost exactly like my "obituary resume" had before). Their "guideline" documents were generic documents full of typographical and grammatical errors that were no more compelling than the one the salesperson had condescended. NOBODY at BHA wrote or even edited a single document I produced.

4. Although this "opportunity" was described as a "career marketing service," I have yet to see BHA make ANY effort to "market" my knowledge, skills, and abilities, to perspective employers. In fact, they have not yet to date even posted my resume and/or profile on their own candidate website, even though I requested this several weeks ago. Their
4-hour "marketing seminar" was the most helpful thing they've offered which, while interesting and informative, was certainly not worth $5,000.

5. Although my career "counselor" admitted AFTER I signed the contract that there was no "vast network" or extra effort on the part of BHA to help me find a job, she referred to their CS2K portal that was supposed to feature a series of value-added tools and resources. All the portal consists of is deprecated links to job sites (I can't even search Monster.com from their engine without timing out), some other links, and access to an outdated Dun and Bradstreet database. Just out of curiosity, I typed in the name of a previous employer into the engine and the information it retrieved was more than 3 years old.

6. Contrary to the promises of the salesperson, Bernard Haldane & Associates has done nothing to help me overcome the primary barrier I had indicated was hindering my job search. I had advanced quite rapidly since graduating from college, and the resulting knowledge, skills, and abilities I had obtained were far greater than could be quantified on paper in chronological experience(for example, I was the only non-MBA in my department at my previous employer, even though I had the same job title and responsibilities). They told me that, their "marketing services" would easily overcome that barrier. My career "counselor" was thoroughly unable to contribute to my situation.

7. Part of the sales pitch entails comparing the services of Bernard Haldane and Associates to legal representation. "You wouldn't represent yourself in court, so why would you represent yourself in your career search?" As such, I entered into an agreement that I believed would be an AGENT relationship similar to an attorney's or real estate agent's role. Bernard Haldane and Associates, however, does nothing to act as their client's agent. In the four meetings I had with my "counselor," the only thing she did to act as my "agent" was to send an email to a friend of hers telling him that I would be calling. The friend works in IT for a University. My background is in Marketing for technology companies. The friend was completely blindsided when I contacted him, as he apparently thought my background was in IT, as well.

EDITORS NOTE: Could all these people on the Rip-off Report be lying? Click here to read all the many other Rip-off Reports on Bernard Haldane