I was scammed by the Barrett Group.
I was sucessful, with a good career, for over 30 years. But when the bottom fell out of the economy, I was unemployed for over 12 months. It's just causes you to make unwise decisions.
Here's what Barrett say's it offers: Superior coaching, executive wisdom, executive networking, etc. All sorts of vague 'fuzzy' 'feel good' isms.
What you get: They send you a bunch of word doc's and spread sheets. The main document is a "Full service recruiter guide" - where you check off the industry you want and some other criteria.
Here's what you're supposed to do: The Barrett Group will send you (gleaned from your selections in the Full service recruiter guide) a list of companies (from Hoovers? Reference USA?). What you are suppose to do is call these companies (CEO's etc). And ask them for an informational interview. As one of the Barrett doc's says: "One person got all the contacts he needed for his entire career", It made me sick to read it - I realized that I had been scammed.
The Barrett Group wants to turn you into a telemarketer. IMO nobody wants to deal with telemarketers!
Hat's what you get for $9k - $13k.
I'll tell you, most of the people on the list will never answer their phone. Additionally, since you don't have their direct number, you wind up going through a long voice mail system. I called and called, and in desperation left voice mail messages. I never got one decent hit.
And if you don't get a hit, Barrett Group will gladly send out more letters... A letter that states how great you are, and that you will be calling the employer to set up an appointment. After a couple of iterations you will giveup.
Diane Zarick is a high pressure sales closer. Larry Duboni first tried to help me - didn't listen to a thing I said. I then worked with Paula - whenever we were on the phone I could hear her typing and surfing the web, etc.
Don't give these people any money. They have no secrets. If you have/had a sucessful career you already have the skills. You don't need coaching, you don't need to pretend to be someone you're not.
0 comments