I applied for a position on careerbuilder.com last week, and about 30 minutes later I received a phone call from Lauren at TOP explaining that one of the VP's had received my resume and wanted to meet with me. I mistakenly assumed that TOP must be representing the company/position that I applied for online. Either it was really big coincidence, or TOP is paying careerbuilder.com for leads. I called back and made arrangements with the receptionist for an appointment the following day. I did think it was odd that she asked me to bring a hard copy of my resume with me; her original message said they had received my resume! I met with Larry Spradling who spoke as if he was the head honcho, but his card said VP. He had a really nice office on the 12 th floor, and he was really a slick salesman. Even though he had a framed picture of George "W" on his credenza, I still thought he was very personable. But from the start he never mentioned a word about the position I thought I was applying for, and then it finally hit me that he was selling fee based "career management" services, and not interviewing me for a job. He gave me a packet of information sheets that he wanted me to fill out and return at our next scheduled meeting, and he nearly insisted that I bring my wife also. I guess he thought 2 fish in a barrel is better than 1 when it comes to suckers. As in the previous posts, he said I was under employed and he could easily increase my salary by 50k, and that not one single client had waited longer than 60 days for a job offer. Lots of psychological selling techniques going on here; making you feel somewhat depressed that you are underpaid, but lifting you up the next minute with the promise of making 50k more in less than 60 days. At one point he was blabbering about something and I was daydreaming about how an additional 50k a year would be quite fabulous. Once I got back to the office, I searched the internet for any straight dope I could find on TOP, but surprisingly very little, good or bad showed up, until I scrolled through several pages and found this blog. TOP offers you services that are either free and readily available. Please don't be fooled by their sales pitch.
Same story, very similar to the one reported by ChalkiePete. Don Lantz showed me an impressive U.S.A. map pinpointed with scores of TOP offices. I found strange that such an impressive company did not have internet relevance. I left with the impression it was a scam, and this forum confirms the impression. For the record, they asked me 5750 USD.
Instead of a phone call, I received an email saying "... we viewed your resume and would like to learn more ... While we do not have a specific position for you to consider, a member of our executive staff would like to discuss your present career search with you as well as explore potential future opportunities ... " ... I thought it was weird be/c if they have my resume, then they have my phone number - why write and tell me to call when they could just call me in the first place? Anyhoo, when I didn't find a clear URL for this TOP company right away, I knew it didn't smell right. Then I found a very mid-90s-looking site filled with vague writing and an offer for a "free" career assessment - BAM! that told me they would charge a fee for any headhunting services.
I'm so glad I found this message board! Now I'll just trade e-mails with them purely for my own sick entertainment.