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Ask the Headhunter discusses TheLadders.com
by Sharon Graham ~ January 27th, 2009. Filed under: $100k+ Job Seekers, Career Practitioners, Ethics and Integrity.There are many good job boards and resume writers across Canada and the US, but one bad seed can sometimes taint the entire career and resume writing industry. Before signing up with anyone, be a well-informed consumer and do your research.
For the last few years or so, the career industry has been buzzing about TheLadders.com and some of their practices. From its inception, the organization was touted as “the premium job site created exclusively for $100k+ talent looking for $100k+ jobs.” More recently, there have been many concerns expressed about TheLadders and their practices – some from cautious subscribers and others from more outspoken career activists.
Ask the Headhunter, Nick Corcodilos, recently did an investigation and wrote a newsletter article on TheLadders, which has renewed the controversy once again. One of his many concerns has been related to their approach to market and sell resume writing services. When a subscriber sends in their resume, the individual will receive a critique that totally trashes their resume even if it is very strong. Then, according to Nick, TheLadders will charge an exorbitant fee to rewrite the document, which promptly goes to a subcontractor. Quite often, the client does not even have access to speak with the person re-writing the resume. Nick shines his spotlight on other seemingly shady practices in his newsletter. His blog has sparked many reviews from past subscribers and industry experts alike.
Before considering these services, you should judge for yourself. Here are some other links regarding this topic:
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/newsletter/OE20090120.htm
http://corcodilos.com/blog/311/the-dope-on-theladders
http://corcodilos.com/blog/19/theladders-going-down
Other resources you can check out: The Ripoff Report ripoffreport.com, Better Business Bureau bbb.org, The Job Lounge joblounge.blogspot.com, CheezHead cheezhead.com, Innovation Creators innovationcreators.com, and Yahoo Answers answers.yahoo.com.
There are many good resume writing firms and job boards out there. They discourage unethical behaviour and genuinely provide services that are meant to help clients, not hurt them. And, many, many job seekers benefit from professional help.
Graham Management Group offers free resume critiques, but we never purposely try to trash a resume just for a sale. In fact, we have been known to call clients who have already used a professional resume firm to let them know their money was well spent. And, we’ve often turned away business because the client’s resume was strong enough.
My advice to job seekers thinking of hiring a resume writer is to ensure that they have the appropriate credentials (a minimum of CRS or CPRW), are well reputed, will interview you directly instead of working solely from worksheets, can readily provide many diverse samples of their work, and have no blemishes on their “internet footprint”.
[post amended by Sharon January 29]
There are always two sides to every story (and sometimes three.) Since originally posting this article, a good colleague of mine reminded me that Ask The Headunters version expresses some evidence, but not a solid argument for some of his points which seem to be taken to the extreme.
Sometimes bloggers and newsletter writers present a controversial point of view or express provocative ideas. They may do this to genuinely shine a light on an issue and/or to create a buzz and generate interest in their own business or service.
My level-headed colleague also indicated that “an argument or blog that is well supported by research and facts can help the consumers of the products that we offer as career practitioners and will only enhance our services, reputation, and image.” I believe this to be true.
As a proponent of ethics and integrity in the career industry, my job is to “shine the light” on the issue. If you are a $100k professional, a career practitioner, or another interested party, do your research. Read all points of view with an open mind. Try to discern the intent and meaning behind allegations and rebuttals. Then, make an informed decision that you can support.
[end of amendment]
Thank you for reading my blog! Please email me if you spot any errors in this post.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Everyone has their own opinion on what a “good” resume looks like to present to an employer. Every career service, including online career tools earns revenue from offering their services. What proof do you have that the ladders shoots down resumes that are good? What facts support an opinion? Obviously that is a rhetorical question because there are no facts to support an individual’s opinion! One headhunter may value a resume over another and it lies on a case by case basis. You don’t make any valid points in this article and you only throw out assumptions. State the facts versus assumptions please!
April 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I don’t disagree that everyone has their own opinion on what a “good” resume looks like. I also agree that one headhunter may value a resume over another. Our job as experts in the career industry is to produce a resume that will be strategic and effective depending on our client’s specific background and job target.
In this blog post, I have only reported information. I have made no assumptions at all. In fact, I suggest that you do your research before retaining any resume firm.
I’ll repeat my last paragraph again, just in case you missed it the first time: “As a proponent of ethics and integrity in the career industry, my job is to “shine the light” on the issue. If you are a $100k professional, a career practitioner, or another interested party, do your research. Read all points of view with an open mind. Try to discern the intent and meaning behind allegations and rebuttals. Then, make an informed decision that you can support.”