When you are need help the most that is when you are most vulnerable. Allen and Associates' claims sound legitimate and you want to believe them. The price seems high but when your job search has been floundering you'll believe that with the help of these experts you will be surpassing your previous income in no time.
It is true that the contract explains exactly what you will get. The problem is that their explanation of what they do makes these minimal services sound far more valuable than they are. For $1500 you get a "researched list" of likely employers, resume rewrite, cover letter, and introduction letter sent to 150 possible employers.
Their whole operation is geared to upsell you. You can enlarge the list and send to more people for more money. They will set up an 800 phone line for you for more money. There are other services for more money. The pressure is really on to purchase expanded services up front.
This is probably because once you see the work they do you will have no interest in further services. I could have produced the same list of companies and their chief executives for $49.95 from hoovers.com. Their 20-something resume writer had no concept of my industry and the resume she put together was so bad we went back and forth on rewrites for a week until eventually I wrote the entire thing into their boilerplate. Ditto the cover letter.
They were 2 weeks late in delivering the letters and lists after all drafts were approved. The only advice I got from my local advisor was to call all the CEOs on the list and make sure I didn't mention a salary to anyone. Every executive I contacted from their list referred me to HR who told me to submit an online application and if they have a match for me the'll contact me.
This advisor indicated he could only take on 2 people per week. I think that is his quota. He hasn't bothered to check on me in 2 months. If I had to place a value on the services they provided it would be around $200.
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