Complaint Review: Harrison Scott Associates - James McGregor

Thanks to this website and the prior reports on this company/individual, I was able to avoid handing over any money. I just wanted to confirm the prior reports and describe my experience.

Jim McGregor got my resume off of one of the internet job sites where I posted my resume. He called me and asked me to meet him. My guess is that he operates locally in the metro St Louis area so that he can try to make the sale face to face.

Jim is very charismatic and a very good talker. The office is very nice and impressive. He asked me a few questions about my background and then the conversation turned to broader questions about my personal qualities and career ambitions. Throughout the conversation, Jim dropped names about his own achievements, industry contacts, ownership of multiple companies, etc. He also slipped in some off the claims noted in other write-ups (e.g. about having placed almost 13,000 people) and various other statistics (e.g. less than 2% of jobs are filled by recruiters). He mentioned that his fee runs from $4,000 to $6,000, but he also quickly mentioned that it may be possible to have your future employer pay for it. He told me that the fee had several guarantees or you would get a full refund (see the other complaints to see how likely you are to get a refund). I have my doubts whether any of Jim's claims are accurate, but all his comments serve the sales pitch of why you should fork over big money to Jim for his services. Jim moves on to how quick the process is (emphasizing how you'll soon be interviewing and having to evaluate many different offers). Jim also contradicted himself at times (e.g. despite telling me how recruiters don't fill many positions, he then bragged how his company is dialed into a network of 10,000 recruiters). I just love it when the sales pitch stumbles over itself.

The entire conversation took just over one hour. The next sucker showed up just as I was leaving. The next step for me was to do a personality test. I'm sure the results would have showed how wonderful and employable I am and how perfectly suited I am to the service Jim is offering.

I never went to the second meeting, thanks to information on this website. Don't fall for this BS. All the valid services (improving resume, identifying the right job for you, personal inventory of skills & aptitudes) can be done for next to nothing with a bit of effort. The rest of it just sounds like hot air.