Complaint Review: Career Transition Centers - Phoenix Arizona

Come on.  I suggest that CTC say  "up-front fee based", which is, you know, clear.   The present CTC approach isn't.  That's the VERY last subject covered in the qualification process interview, (oh, heh, no biggie but we need your credit card for thousands - and we'd like that now) and I am sure they review your financial information before you actually meet since they hand you that form to fill out.... first.         To engage their mysterious processes they require you to invest in their organization not knowing a thing specifically, so that the "free",  (I just love semantic abuse - you could be lawyers)  seminars, other overhead, and margins are sure to be covered at the get go.    Be straight from the beginning fellas.  By the way, I landed a nice executive level job with a comfy private office, salary and bonuses on my own just weeks after the CTC event with a stable, profitable engineering firm.     Yes, you creeped me out.  You met me in person, feigned a passing interest when I said uh uh,  and would have loved my money more I am sure.     "Money Transition Center"   

Come on.  I suggest that CTC say  "up-front fee based", which is, you know, clear.   The present CTC approach isn't.  That's the VERY last subject covered in the qualification process interview, (oh, heh, no biggie but we need your credit card for thousands - and we'd like that now) and I am sure they review your financial information before you actually meet since they hand you that form to fill out.... first.         To engage their mysterious processes they require you to invest in their organization not knowing a thing specifically, so that the "free",  (I just love semantic abuse - you could be lawyers)  seminars, other overhead, and margins are sure to be covered at the get go.    Be straight from the beginning fellas.  By the way, I landed a nice executive level job with a comfy private office, salary and bonuses on my own just weeks after the CTC event with a stable, profitable engineering firm.     Yes, you creeped me out.  You met me in person, feigned a passing interest when I said uh uh,  and would have loved my money more I am sure.     "Money Transition Center"   

For the record, all of the marketing tools, advertisements, brochures and materials regarding Career Transition Centers, Inc. identify our company as a fee based service.  The Job Order book referred to in Crustys anonymous posting, contains actual positions we have been asked by local companies to help screen qualified candidates worthy of consideration for specific positions.

The financial information questions that appear on the Personal Profile form are there to validate that the candidate has sufficient staying power to survive a prolonged career pursuit campaign without causing financial hardship.  Historically, over 70% of our clients obtain gainful employment within 14 weeks of becoming a client, but between 20% and 30% take longer than 14 weeks.

We never suggest that someone  become a client that could be financially comprised if their campaign takes longer than anticipated.

As a licensed Employment Agency in good standing with the Industrial Commission  of Arizona, since 1989, our fees are regulated.  It is not unusual for the hiring company to reimburse CTC clients for the fee since it is considerably less than most fees charged by other types of agencies.  A client, does not have to pay the entire fee up front to become a client.  They may make a Good Faith deposit and as much as 2/3rds of the fee can be deferred over time, often until after they are gainfully employed and have successfully made it through the probationary period.  

As for the eight Seminars we conduct for our clients and selected individuals considering taking advantage of our services, they are free, and there is no charge to anyone attending. As President/CEO of the company, I personally conduct six of the eight seminar sessions while Dr. Biekert does the TQM seminar, and Bill Voss does the Six Sigma presentation.  Dr. Biekert  has been on my staff for over 15 years and thoroughly enjoys sharing his knowledge of TQM with individuals that can benefit from getting an overview of TQM from someone that actually studied under the Father of Quality Ed Deming.  Bill Voss is a certified Six Sigma trainer, a skilled Human Resource and Labor Relations professional that volunteered to provide CTC clients the advantage of an in depth  perspective of Six Sigma as it relates to the importance of acceptable deviation in levels of quality.

As for using the whiteboard to illustrate the career pursuit process, I am guilty.  Having served as a coach and trainer most of my life, I still prefer doing the Xs and  Os on a large surface. Old habits die hard. If it gave Crusty the creeps, I apologize.

I find that a grownup wanting to call them self Crusty is a little creepy, but to each his own as the saying goes.       

Yes,

They ask for the personal finance information, and do not advertise that their fee is up front.   They gave me the spiel, the whiteboard, and showed me the "job order book"   Who knows what that is?
It appeared to me that they are really selling seminars.   They told that stuff was "free"   Yup these guys come in and give free seminars.

I thanked them and left.    Gave me the creeps.

Crusty

I agree 100%! The problems is, they can't be more clear and still draw people into their office to pitch their service. My intent wasn't to debate the owner of the company, but rather to warn others about their practices. I think they do offer a legitmate service. It's the method they used to get me into their office that got me angry. Be warned. If you get a call from CTC and you visit them, be prepared to get a sales pitch on how to prepare yourself for a job interview. If that's what you're looking for, you might be in luck. If you think they are calling you for a specific job, you're wasting your time.

I also responded to posting on Careerbuilder concerning Telecom Management positions in Phoenix from CTC. It appeared that they already had specific opportunities that they were searching for qualified candidates. I responded by sending my resume I received a call from CTC asking me to come in for a "screening interview". I decided to do some research on the company and read the report on Ripoff Report and am glad I did. In CTC's posting there was no mention of any fees associated with their organization. As most professionals are well aware, legitimate Recruitment Companies charge the employer for their services and not the employee, especially prior to finding them employment! My suggestion to CTC is that you should certainly be more upfront about your business practices and what it is you do EXACTLY. By not providing this information to your potential clients you give the appearance of misrepresenting yourself and your organization and lose all credibility. That's just my opinion. Thomas

Once you have reviewed the this rebuttal, we are sure you will concur that the evidence is overwhelming that David does not have a valid complaint. "CTC pulled his resume off the internet & contacted him first" CTC never has, and never will, purchased or obtained resumes that were posted on the internet. 100% of all the people we contact either applied to our firm on our web site (www.ctcphx.com), through a very non-ambiguous ad on Monster.com, or were referred to us by someone who had seen us previously. WE HAVE NEVER CONTACTED ANYONE FIRST. The ad clearly says that we market mid- and senior- level professions in various fields. A copy of our Monster.com ad which David responded to was provided to the Editor of RipOffReport.com as documentation. "Receptionist asked him to fax his resume" Actually, David applied online to our ad through Monster.com at 4:25 PM on Sunday, July 9th, after he had faxed his resume 6 minutes earlier: at 4:19 PM. No one was in the office on that Sunday. No one sent him an email as he describes. Again, this is an absolute fabrication. Copies of both versions of his resume (the 10-page that he submitted through the ad on Monster.com and the 4-page version he faxed and showing the date & time stamp) were also provided to the Editor of RipOffReport.com as documentation. "Was told a company saw his resume & wanted to see him" The receptionist said (as she always does when she is asked to call someone who submitted a resume) that the staff reviewed his resume and would like him to come in for a screening interview. "Had to take a day off work for the screening interview" Actually, to accommodate his schedule, David's appointment was set for 9 AM; he was offered an 8 AM appointment but didn't want to drive in the rush hour traffic. As he was advised the screening interview would take less than an hour and as he works only a couple of miles from our office, we cannot imagine why he decided to take a whole day off work. "Met with Larry Rose" Larry Rose holds a Ph.D. in Business Management and has 30+ years business management experience. "He started asking me questions ... I was interested in learning more about the company" Again, David applied to our ad on monster.com that offered career marketing services to managers, professionals and executives and he was invited in to our office for a screening interview. When David brought up the question of the companies we represent, he was permitted a review of the job order book containing positions we were currently seeking to fill. "He started critiquing the format of my resume" Dr. Rose noted during the screening interview that David's resume that he submitted through the Monster.com ad was 10 pages long, was difficult to read, unattractive and probably needed to be re-formatted. "I've been in upper management pretty much my whole career" According to his resume, he has been no higher than mid-management throughout his career. From 2003 to the present, he has been a Customer Service Representative and prior to that a Quality Manager. "I didn't need anyone telling me how to format a resume or conduct myself in an interview" Actually, that is highly debatable. A college professor or research scientist would use a 10-page resume, however, for the vast majority of positions, a 10-page resume is counter-productive. Also, David abundantly demonstrated his need for training in (a) reading an ad to identify what the ad is asking for; (b) how to demonstrate a professional demeanor during an interview. quote high and bill low This statement is a absolute fabrication. First because it is wrong. Our fees are set according to a sliding scale and are regulated as part of our license to do business. The fees are determined as a result of a staff group assessment session conducted to review the data gathered during the screening interview. The assessment and a model career pursuit campaign are presented to the prospective client in a second, follow-up meeting to discuss the probability of CTC services being appropriate for that person. (Based on his initial meeting with David, Dr. Rose had already determined that he was not going to submit David's material to the full staff for the assessment phase and would not have invited David back for the second appointment to review the assessment ... and under no circumstances would we have forwarded David's resume on to any company which asked us to pre-screen qualified candidates.) Second, Dr. Rose is dignified and refined gentleman whose education and background as a financial industry executive / consultant would preclude him from using such coarse language. Let me state this more clearly: Larry has never spoken those words in his life. "Nutshell" David sent his resume to CTC twice responding to our ad offering career marketing services to mid and senior level managers, professionals and executives. He was not misled, there was no statement of some company seeing his resume and there was no sales pitch. If David took a day off work, it is because he wanted to; he could have had an 8 AM appointment and been at his workplace by 9 or 9:15, had he chosen to do so. As it was, he chose a 9 AM appointment, was out of the door by 9:30 and could have been at his place of business by 9:45. In conclusion CTC has been in business since 1989 and we are proud of the services we have offered for nearly two decades. We most sincerely take exception to being the subject of untruthful and disparaging remarks by someone who spent less than 30 minutes in our office meeting with one of our staff members.