I sent the following email to the group leader in a job club I belong to. Thanks to the information on this site I avoided the heartach that some here went through. I was amazed at how accurate my experience was with others that were not as lucky as I.
I thought I would take a moment to tell you of an experience I had over the past week. I went to a job fair a couple of weeks ago and gave my resume to a representative of BERNARD HALDANE ASSOCIATES. He represented his company as having rather exclusive access directly into companys that would be interested in my talents that would bypass the first line decision makers. He touted their ability to "get past the gatekeepers" and move set me up directly with the "person that makes the decision".
He called a couple of days later and we set up an appointment for me to go see him. I went in for the appt. And was impressed by their office to say the least. Expensive desks, furniture, and carpet. Everybody in a suit and tie or other appropriate upscale business attire. We talked for awhile and he finally said that he thought he could help me. He asked me a couple of questions that bothered me tho. First was he asked me how much I felt I was worth, when I told him he said I was undervaluing my skills. Then he asked me how long I could go without finding a job, Thinking this a rather odd question I gave him a vague answer. He gave me some paperwork to fill out which consisted of a couple of the basic meyers/briggs type personality questionaires (VERY limited number of questions) and after setting up a return visit he asked me if I had any questions.
I asked him about their fees, and he told me that BHA does charge a fee but that THEY tried very hard to get the company I was hired by to pay it. Failing that it would be up to me to pay it. I asked him how much their fees generally ran and I was given the brush off.
Feeling VERY uneasy about the whole think I came home and ran an internet search to find out more about their company. At first I felt my fears were groundless because every internet search I performed the first three pages led to links that were all very positive about the company. Then I noticed that they were all websites associated with BHA.
I continued to dig past the first few pages of search material and eventually came across usacomplaints.com, there are literally hundreds of stories about BHA and their shady, quasi legal dealings with people who are out of work and desparate to find a job. They are being investigated by several States Attorney Generals, there is at least one class action lawsuit being formed and story upon story of bad business dealings.
I am very grateful that I took the time to do a web search and find this site. Wanted to share the story to maybe help others avoid the pitfall.
Dave
Round Rock, Texas
U.S.A.
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