Job Seekers Complain to State AGs About Some Search Companies

Several state attorneys general have fielded complaints about job search companies that charge up-front fees for their services to vulnerable unemployed job hunters.

Many companies do little more than revise resumés and cover letters, give advice on networking and help job hunters wade through public job listings, the New York Times reports. Often they contact job seekers who have posted online resumés or they post ads that appear to be for job openings.

The Times profiled one unhappy customer, Kerry Fischman of Naperville, a suburb of Chicago. Just two weeks after he was laid off, Fischman paid $8,250 to a company called the ITS Corp. in hopes he would get access to a list of unpublished jobs. He found a new job—on his own and with his old resume, the story says. The company is run by the son of a man who ran several career counseling companies sued by the New Jersey attorney general in the mid-1980s. A judge in the 1980s case found the companies violated state consumer fraud laws by misleading customers.

ITS told the Times it did not misrepresent its capabilities and it has tens of thousands of satisfied customers.

Hat tip to the Workplace Prof Blog.