I recently found your Web site and was shocked to see all the complaints against Bernard Haldane Associates. Since I was ripped off by this unscrupulous organization in 1999, I thought I would add my voice to the outcry.
I went to this so-called "career-counseling firm" because I had been unemployed for two months and felt I needed help finding a new position. During my first meeting at Haldane with Mr. Mark Weil on August 5,1999, I told him of a disappointing, strictly personal situation that led to the end of my last position, which I had held for more than 23 years. I also told him that I felt that situation, along with my age and my lack of a college degree, would be serious drawbacks in finding a new position in my field of editing, proofreading, and print management and production. Mr. Weil, and later Mr. Henry Lesher (my "career counselor"), assured me that these factors were definitely not problems and that I would have no trouble securing a new position earning far more than I had previously earned. Mr. Weil told me that day that he and the Haldane staff would review my situation and decide if I was a candidate to become a Haldane client. He told me approximately 70 new people are seen in the Princeton office each week and only about 10 are chosen to become Haldane clients. I sincerely wish that I had not been one of the "lucky 10." Or could it be that all 70 new people become part of the 10? At any rate, at my second session, and $3,960.00 later, I became a Haldane client. The fee was supposed to be $4,400, but I was given a discount for paying everything up front!
In both of my conversations with Mr. Weil, he repeated over and over that Haldane guaranteed in writing they would find me a position for. It was literally as I was putting my signature on the contract that he pointed out the fact that although the contract stated Haldane was not an employment agency (something that was not stated in their newspaper ads at that time but which is now included in their ads) and that they did not guarantee a position, that information was only for the state. He said, "We know what we've promised."
At my third session, my first with Mr. Lesher, he strongly recommended that I get a hand-held tape recorder to record our sessions. I spent $40.00 for a recorder and tapes, which I used only at the fourth session. After that, the word from Mr. Lesher was usually something like, "We won't be needing the recorder today."
During that first meeting with Mr. Lesher, I was given a "homework assignment" a long, involved sort of history of my life and work experience. It took me several days to complete, since I was told to be thorough. When I gave it to Mr. Lesher, he just put it aside.
During my nine sessions with Mr. Lesher, I received pep talks and heard stories stories about cruising on the QE II, various vacations he had taken, his children, his wife the doctor, his in-laws, his fall over a fence one Christmas Eve in which he broke seven bones in his foot, childhood trips with his father as he sold real estate, the fact that he was adopted etc., etc. Many of these stories I heard numerous times.
I was given a notebook with many pages and sections. I was not told how or when to read it. I was under the impression that we would discuss this material in our sessions; however, very little of that occurred. Mr. Lesher often asked me to sign statements saying that we had done certain things; however, on several occasions he said something like, "We haven't gone over that yet, but we'll get to it." We usually never did. For instance, Mr. Weil told me I would be given sample letters to accompany resumes. When I asked Mr. Lesher about them, he told me they were in the notebook. I didn't know that. We had never discussed it.
Once or twice we talked about interviewing techniques, but I was never told how Haldane would secure these interviews for me. You see, I had believed the paragraph in their list of "Professional Services" that states: "HELP YOU OBTAIN INTERVIEWS. Based on your job objective and personality, we help you establish appropriate level contacts to assure sufficient interviews for your job change and career advancement." To the uninitiated, as I was, in the Haldane program, that said to me that they would secure the interviews. Imagine my surprise when, at our second or third meeting, Mr. Lesher recommended that I scan the employment section of the newspapers. I had told Mr. Weil that I had been down that road, and his reply was something like, "That didn't do much good, did it?"
Also, Mr. Lesher suggested that I look in newspapers from the New York City and Washington, D.C. Areas, when I had specifically said in my application that I wanted to work within thirty miles of my home in South Jersey, which Mr. Weil said was not a problem. Mr. Lesher, and later Mr. Robert Mallon, indicated that I was now placing strict geographic restrictions on them.
Regarding the resume that Haldane developed for me, I showed it to several people, some of whom work in human resources for a very large, well-known, international company. They thought it was a "joke" and stated they had no idea what kind of job I wanted based on that resume.
Regarding Haldane's much-touted "CS 2000" disk, I was never given proper instructions for using it. Also, I found more local job opportunities on Internet job sites than on their disk. The only jobs I ever saw were in other parts of the country. Also, I was given "resource material" based on my choice of professions. All of the jobs in which I may have been interested were in far North Jersey or New York City.
Regarding how to explain my reason for leaving my last position, Mr. Lesher informed me to tell prospective employers that I was "perceived as a threat." I wonder what employer in his or her right mind would hire someone who was perceived as a threat at her last position.
Regarding Haldane's "networking" strategy, which seems to be the basis of their program, I told Mr. Lesher I had no such network. He then informed me that 70 percent of the available jobs were unavailable to me. My question to him was, "If only 30 percent of jobs are available to me, why do I need Haldane?" I did try to create a network. The HR people I previously mentioned, to whom I showed the resume, could not help because their companies did not need anyone in my field. I asked a few people in my church (it is not an affluent congregation) if they could help, and now they avoid me when I see them. I asked my doctor if he knew of anyone who could use my services, to which he replied, "This is a doctor's office, not an employment agency."
My last meeting with Mr. Lesher was on November 4,1999. He had invited Mr. Mallon to join us that day. I told Mr. Lesher that I felt we were through, that I did not think there was anything Haldane could do for me, and that I felt I had been misled and taken advantage of by Haldane through himself and Mr. Mark Weil. After a few remarks and some debate (including asking him if he had ever read my "homework assignment, " which he said he had "scanned" when it had taken me days to complete), he stormed out of the office, telling me I needed to go back to school to learn how to understand English. He screamed at me to write to Mr. Barry Layne, the company president (even spelling his last name for me), and slammed the door so hard that I thought the glass wall next to it was going to break. I'm sure everyone in the office heard his departure. He also told me that I could have cancelled my contract with Haldane within three days of signing it, which, he said, Mr. Weil told me.in point of fact, Mr. Weil never told me anything like that.
My final two meetings at Haldane were with Mr. Mallon, who didn't seem to know how to help me any more than Mr. Lesher. He did tell me he had recently met a man who had been in the United States only a few weeks and had a manuscript he wanted to have published. He asked if I'd be interested in editing the manuscript, which was written in poor, broken English. He said the man had no money to pay for my services at that time. That was the only contact I received from Haldane.
At my last meeting with Mr. Mallon on December 8,1999, he helped me on with my coat, thus ending the meeting before I thought it was over. He ushered me out of the office, shushing me as I continued to ask questions, obviously not wanting people in the waiting area to sense my dissatisfaction.
In my two meetings with Mr. Weil and my first few sessions with Mr. Lesher, I was given the impression that I could reach for the stars; however, Bernard Haldane Associates could not even get me to the launch pad an interview. I was very vulnerable, and they took advantage of that. I paid Haldane $3,960.00, spent $40.00 for a tape recorder and tapes, and put 1,400 miles on my car (14 round trips at 100 miles each, one of which was completely for naught since Mr. Lesher never showed up). For all of that I received nothing but pep talks (which Mr. Mallon seemed to indicate were a major part of Haldane's program), and was no closer to employment than I was on August 5.in my opinion, Haldane is all talk pep talks and fast talk but no action.
I did subsequently write to Mr. Layne and received an extremely nasty reply stating that Haldane had fulfilled all their obligations and that I was the slacker. I also contacted the Better Business Bureau in my area, who reported the matter to the New Jersey State Division of Labor, who said they had received other complaints about Haldane but could do nothing for the disgruntled clients. Their advice was to take them to small-claims court, which I could not afford at the time.
Fortunately, my story has a happy ending, no thanks to Bernard Haldane Associates. I continued to scan the newspapers, and after 13 months of unemployment I finally secured a wonderful position in my field. I am an editor for a health care publisher. Whereas Haldane told me there was nothing in my field in my geographic area, I am working only 15 miles from my home. I did not use the resume they developed for me, and if I had I would not have gotten the job because the interviewers would not have seen what they needed to know about my qualifications. The only thing Haldane got right was that I could earn a lot more than I had in the past. My present salary and prospects for advancement are excellent.
If a class-action suit is ever brought against Haldane, I would be more than happy to be included. Also, if anyone is successful in getting 60 Minutes, 20/20, Dateline or another TV news magazine program to do an expos on Haldane, I would be delighted to cooperate.
Thanks for your helpful Web site. It has given me an avenue to vent my frustration about this unscrupulous, unprincipled organization. I wish I had seen it before I became trapped in Haldane's web, and I hope it saves others from becoming involved with them.
Click here to all the others who have been victimized by Bernard Haldane Associates
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