I visited Bernard Haldane Associates today (11/22/02) and little did I know what I was in for. I had never heard anything about it, and had no idea that it's a scam. Here's what happened:
My so-called career adviser ("career abuser" would be a better term) was Ron. As soon as he met me, he started to flatter me concerning my GPA. When I told him that many people at my school had similar strong GPAs, he replied, "Oh, you're just being modest." Right from the start, he made me feel uncomfortable. Overall, Ron seemed very manipulative and controlling. He first asked me my marital status. When I replied "single, " he asked whether I have a significant other. He then asked my age. Foolishly, I answered those questions.
Although I didn't realize this at the time, what he did next was very systematic. He tried to disillusion me about the progress of my job search. He asked me, "Is your rsum getting any responses?" I told him that I read it's not unusual not to get responses to one's rsum—that it may take sending out as many as 170 rsums just to get one interview. He told me that this information was not correct. (In other words, if I'm not getting a million responses to rsum, that's abnormal and I need serious help from them.) And then he asked me, rather accusatively, "Are you getting any interviews?" I told him that I'd had a couple, but he didn't say much about that.
He then showed me a newspaper clipping that supposedly indicates that searching online for jobs is very ineffective. When I asked when that article had appeared in the New York Times so that I could find a copy for myself, he kind of brushed me off.
Here's the real kicker. He then asked me what my current salary is. When I told him that I do not give that out, he then replied point-blank, "Then our meeting is over!" and promptly showed me the door!!! That was just a few hours ago.
Since then, I've talked with others over the Internet and found out what a scam this company is. Well, at least I didn't lose any money, but I was certainly mistreated and abused.
Oh, one more thing. I was talking with the receptionist beforehand, and I mentioned that I had found out about BHA because they'd seen my rsum on Monster.com and contacted me. She replied, "No, you contacted us"!!! This place is a scam through and through.
Alex
Atlanta, Georgia
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