Complaint Review: Wellington Burke Ltd. - Santa Ana California

About a year ago I was first contacted by Job Finders International after I used a "resume blaster"-type service. The email told me to call Garry Concannon, a senior vice president with this firm to make an appointment to discuss this company's services. I tossed the email aside at the time. A year later when starting a new job search I contacted Mr. Concannon. Low and behold the company had changed hands to Wellington Burke Ltd., but he still worked there. Great, I thought, it must be a legitimate executive placement firm.

So I go in and he gives a great pitch about what Wellington Burke does and does not do. He makes it clear (and it says on their agreement/contract) that they do not guarantee a job placement. Fine. But throughout our one-hour conversation Mr. Concannon implies that he has inside contacts to jobs at L.A.-area companies that are not listed on the web -- listings only his firm has through the magic of his and his associates' contacts. It's all so impressive: Concannon's office with signed movie star and politician photos. And that big blue binder full of job listings -- but wait: why are there no companies named in the listings? Why can't Mr. Concannon tell me (or at least give me a sample) of the companies that are _currently_ calling on Wellington Burke for its clients?

And most of the thank you letters from past Job Finders/WB clients that found jobs he showed me were a few years old -- only one or two from 2002.

So basically, in my eyes, Wellington Burke is a glorified resume writing and career counseling service -- you don't need to pay $5600 for that! (that was the cheapest fee on their scale by the way -- it goes up to 20K if I remember correctly; I gave WB the authorization to charge $1800 for the initial retainer fee but cancelled the agreement the next day - CA state law allows you three-days to cancel such an agreement, as stated on WB's agreement form; Wellington Burke is sly enough to put in some BS 5% "credit card processing fee" -- so I'm expecting a $90 charge on my credit card account -- if they charge more, you can be sure I'll be back on this web site and they will hear from me again).

I am SO GLAD I found www.ripoffreport.com and read the previous reports about Mr. Concannon and his past in Orange County (go to the Orange County Register's website -- www.ocregister.com -- and search on his name and see what comes up) and Job Finders International/Wellington Burke.

My advice folks: steer clear and do your own homework about looking for a job. Read the trade magazines in the fields you want to work in and approach the companies yourself (it's not too hard to call a company's HR division and ask for an informational interview). And mine your contacts (network) -- you don't need Wellington Burke to tell you to do this or how to write a resume or how to interview -- this information is available for free on- and off-line and in a library.

As for their so-called job leads -- when I looked at their website (www.wellingtonburke.com), I regonized the "JobLink" database from other recruiter sites -- hardly unique. It must be somekind of nationally-licensed job bank. Wow, that's really exclusive.

SomeLADude

Los Angeles, California