In August, 2009, we posted an article about several job search firms that prey on recently unemployed people, charging them thousands of dollars for empty promises of superior employment search services that in the long run amount to very little and definitely nothing worth the thousands of dollars they cost. Since then, we have received several additional complaints regarding this issue.
Complaints are mainly about the marketing tactics of SET Personal Marketing of Englewood, Colorado and the related entity, ERI Personal Marketing, which shares the same web content with SET. Both find resumes of newly unemployed job searchers who are looking for six-figure salaries. The theory is that these people not long out-of-work may have available funds to pay the high, $3,000 to $10,000 service fees that SET seeks. SET’s marketing materials and website clothe the services they offer in slick, high-powered sounding terms and brag about having developed a $35 million database to support people’s job search.
Reports have been that the initial contacts from SET or ERI take a soft approach with offers of free help with the customer’s resume, without ever mentioning the cost of the fee; they also confuse job searchers as to whether the services are of a headhunter who would earn a fee from the employer, not the employee. Indeed, we are told that an SET Senior Consultant lied in response to a direct inquiry from a consumer whether the larger group of services to be offered were being offered on a fee for service basis. Then, the hard sell began – when the customer balked at SET’s more than $3,000 fee, SET offered to lower the price and provide more of its services for free or at a reduced rate. When asked what website should be consulted for information about SET, the "Senior Consultant" suspiciously responded that the "one they are using now" is www.seniorexecutivecareerpartners.com. A review of that website reveals no reference anywhere to the actual cost of the services being offered.
Consumers who have paid for these scams have reported that the services provided are not at all as advertised and have little value. For instance, short-form resumes that were prepared merely took a person’s existing resume, scrambled the wording around, which resulted in something relatively incomprehensible and replete with uncorrected errors. In one case, a resume was revised by the job search firm and thereafter the person was contacted by another of the same company’s representative who offered to revise the resume that had just been revised by his colleague.
Additionally, the actual job searches performed are unhelpful and outdated, and seem to be appropriate for only limited areas of employment. Moreover, the job search materials for which a high price was paid are said to be publicly available for free through existing online job search engines.
The people who have contacted us thus far, were smart enough to ask questions and research SET and ERI before signing a contract and paying thousands. One West Coast based IT executive we spoke to was pressured by an SET Senior Consultant until he threatened to contact the Attorney General and the sponsors of this blog for advice. He has never heard back from SET. Another consumer told us she asked SET for 10 satisfied customers. SET told her that the people who had gotten jobs would not want to be contacted.
If you have signed a contract with SET or another similar job search firm and are dissatisfied and believe you have been a victim of misleading sales tactics and were made false promises, please contact us to discuss your legal options.