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

angry.
If you are dealing with a career counseling firm, and you ask
what is the cost of their services, and they reply that it is a lump
sum that must all be paid “up front” before you start or shortly
after you start, all at once or in rapid installments,
(Give them 300 bad points)
We’re talking about firms here, not the average individual
counselor or coach. The basic problem with firms is that both
“the good guys” and “the crooks” do this. The good guys
operate on the theory that if you give them a large sum up front,
you will then be really committed to the program. The crooks
operate on the theory that if you give them a large sum up front,
they don’t have to give you anything back, except endless
excuses and subterfuge, after a certain date (quickly reached).
And the trouble is that there is absolutely no way for you to
distinguish crook from good guy, at first impression; they only
reveal their true nature after they’ve got all your money. And by
that time, you have no legal way to get it back, no matter what
they verbally promised. 1
Let me repeat: with firms that make you sign a contract and
pay basically up front, there is no way to distinguish the good
guys from the crooks. The only safe counseling is one with no
contract, and you just pay for each hour, as you use it.
I have tried for years to think of some way around this
dilemma, to be fair to the good guys, but there just is none. So if
you decide to pay up front, be sure it is money you can afford to
lose.
If Money Is a Problem for You:
Hourly Coaching
Most career coaches or counselors charge by the hour. You pay
only for each hour as you use it, according to their set rate. Each
time you keep an appointment, you pay them at the end of that
hour for their help, according to that rate. Period. Finis. You
never owe them any money (unless you made an appointment,