Complaint Review: International Profit Associates - Buffalo Grove Illinois

In March of 2007, I was contacted via e-mail and by phone by Mr. Ron Sage, a corporate recruiter for IPA. He had gotten my name off the Monster site. This began a series of communications between the two of us regarding a "consulting" opportunity that existed at his company. I was sent a "test" to see if I had the skills that would be required for the job. Basically, I was required to create a handful of P&L reports that any first year accounting student could have done.

Around mid-June I decided to accept the position as a consultant. I received a packet of information describing compensation, benefits, etc. Everything seemed legitimate and acceptable. I was, however, a bit unhappy with the fact that I had to provide my own laptop computer, portable printer, and Excel software. But, that was not a deal breaker for me. Shame on me! I should have been so much more diligent in researching these people.

I had a very good job at the time, making good money, but I had gone to school and gotten my MBA and wanted to put it to use. I gave my current employer 8 weeks notice and scheduled to begin my 10-day training class on August 20th.

Within 10 minutes of the beginning of training I knew I had made a HUGE mistake. The trainer, Dawn Ralph, and her partner Richard, were rude, condescending, belittling, and obnoxious. Dawn defended her training style as the only way to bring about a change in attitude in the students. In addition, I was shocked to learn that I was not really going to be a "consultant" but, rather, a turn-around guy who would "force" the necessary changes upon the clients business. This was NEVER discussed during my many conversations with Ron Sage and Scott Mertz, my secondary contact at IPA. I notified Dawn and Richard that I wanted to leave at lunchtime on the second day.

They suggested that I speak with Bob O'Keefe, the Assistant Director of Recruiting and Training, before I left. He was a very nice old man who, after hearing what I thought the job was going to be, suggested that I should become an analyst instead. He indicated that the training for the Senior Business Analyst was conducted in an entirely different way. So, after thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided to try it. The training class began on the Tuesday after Labor Day.

The style of training was, in fact, completely different. Mr. O'Keefe himself was one of the instructors. Throughout the course of the training, as we listened to a number of guest speakers from within the organization, I started to get a very bad feeling about the company and its methods and the way the employees were treated. It really boiled down to the fact that we were high-pressure salespeople who were to make the client believe that his business was going to fail if he didn't buy consulting services. I stayed on to complete the training and was given my first assignment at a trucking company in Muskegon, MI.

Because this has become such a long report, I'm not going to go into the details but this client was not pre-qualified at all and had absolutely no interest in, nor could he afford, consulting services. I was then left to sit in the Wal-Mart parking lot for over 4 hours to recieve my next assignment, which only came after I lost my temper with the receptionist at the home office.

5 months have gone by and I still do not have a job. Michigan's economy has been in the toilet for several years now, and now the national economy seems to be headed in that direction. I am going to lose my house and my financial situation is a disaster. These people painted a very rosy picture and it was nothing but lies.

DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I MADE!! STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!

John

Macomb, Michigan

U.S.A.