What Color Is Your Parachute 2018 by Richard N. Bolles copy

counseling firm was reported by the Attorney General’s Office of
New York State to have placed only 38 out of 550 clients (a 93%
failure rate). On the other hand, if they make it clear that they
have had a good success rate, but if you fail to work hard at the
whole process, then there is no guarantee you are going to find a
job, give them three stars.
If any counselor shows you letters from ecstatically happy
former clients, but when you ask to talk to some of those clients,
you get stonewalled,
(Give them 200 bad points)
Here is a job-hunter’s letter about his experience with an
executive counseling firm he was considering:
I asked to speak to a former client or clients. You
would have thought I asked to speak to Elvis. The
counselor stammered and stuttered and gave me a
million excuses why I couldn’t talk to some of these
“satisfied” former clients. None of the excuses
sounded legitimate to me. We went back and forth for
about thirty minutes. Finally, he excused himself and
went to speak to his boss, the owner. The next thing I
knew I was called into the owner’s office for a more
“personal” sales pitch. We spoke for about forty-five
minutes as he tried to convince me to use his service.
When I told him I was not ready to sign up, he became
angry and asked my counselor why I had been put
before “the committee” if I wasn’t ready to commit?
The counselor claimed I had given a verbal
commitment at our last meeting. The owner then
turned to me and said I seemed to have a problem
making a decision and that he did not want to do
business with me. I was shocked. They had turned the
whole story around to make it look like it was my
fault. I felt humiliated. In retrospect, the whole
process felt like dealing with a used car salesman.
They used pressure tactics and intimidation to try to
get what they wanted. As you have probably gathered,
more than anything else this experience made me