No funnies. Sorry
In December 2004 I was made redundant - nothing too unusual, but for me it was the third time I'd been made redundant since losing a job I'd spent nearly 12 years doing in 2002. So my CV started to look like I was struggling to find any career direction after being kicked out of a large organisation - that I was damaged goods. I really struggled to get interviews for the IT Project jobs I wanted, even though this was still (supposedly) the boom years. More unskilled jobs didn't want to look at me either, because they said I was overqualified and would walk as soon as something better came up (and they were damned right, given that their wages wouldn't have come close to paying my mortgage).

After about 6 months of increasing desperation, I came across a firm called Temple Reid Ltd, who promised to put me in touch with the "unadvertised jobs market". All the jobs that get filled by someone internal before they get advertised outside, that kind of thing. They wanted to charge me about £3,500 up front for their services, but that bought me a year's support. I'd been living frugally, and (in a quirk) had got a decent payoff from my last employer so could just about afford it. Plus, I'd won £7,000 on You Say, We Pay on Richard and Judy (you heard). So I was getting by, just, though debts were mounting.

They showed me lots of testimonials from people who'd got excellent new jobs using their system. I was encouraged to contact them, and the first couple of people I spoke to sang Temple Reid's praises to the skies, so I didn't bother phoning any others. Of course, they didn't break down their client base to say what proportion of people did that well; I suspect, with hindsight, that it was small enough to mean their system worked no better than dumb luck, but at the time it was impressive. And I was desperate.

I convinced myself it'd be a good investment, since I'd get a new job within about a month of completing their initial six week consultancy, so I signed over the cash. To be fair, they did help me structure my thinking on what I wanted to do, and helped me to put together a pretty good CV - much better than the one I'd had before.

But the whole "unadvertised jobs market" thing? Their advice on that?
"Target firms you want to work for, and do research on them. Find out who the decision makers are."
Ok - so far, so sensible. Then what? What do I get for my £3,500?
"Then find a way to talk to them, and sell yourself to them in a presentation".
Oh. That sounds like a plausible idea, if only to expand my network of contacts, but really? That's it?? You don't do any of that work????

For £3,500, they do less work than a free-for-candidates high street job agency, which is little enough. All they basically do is tell you to pick up the phone, which I already knew how to do. Career advice books you can get in Waterstone's for a tenner will tell you as much; my £3,500 bought me the illusion of hope, a few meetings in some swanky offices just north of Bristol, a decent CV (though nothing any decent recruitment business wouldn't have been able to get me to for free) and an even higher credit card bill.

And, despite following their advice and badgering people to see me so I could outline how indispensible to their business I'd be, following every single piece of advice, despite my doubts, I got precisely nowhere. The next job I got (which I'm still doing four and a half years later) was for less money than my old one, but was the only offer available. And it was advertised through a bog standard recruitment agent.

I mention them by name now because they were dissolved in 2007. Some of the people involved may have gone on to form similar companies - so beware. Unless you have money to burn, don't use any "career consultancy" that promises great things for money you have to pay them up front. The chances are you'll be buying some slick sales techniques and common sense ideas that you could've got from the library, and you'll do all the hard work yourself anyway.

I've got an interview next week for another job, through old fashioned advertising and response, and if I get it, it'll be in spite of Temple Reid Ltd, not because of them.

Of course, one of the first things they told me was not to take any notice of any negative comments about tham that I might find on the internet - their system "only ever failed when people don't put the work in". Perfect. When you succeed with their system, it's because of their system. When it fails, it's not the system's fault, it's yours. Great for the already fragile self-esteem of many of their clients. I met quite a few at a seminar. All intelligent professionals between 30 and 50, who were considering a new career (either because of some mid-life rethink, or through enforced unemployment, but only about half of the 20 or so there were currently working). I wish I'd kept in touch with them - I suspect most would have similar stories to me.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 14:16, 2 replies)

Jesus, is that scam still going?
I think it was Watchdog who turned over one of these firms years (decades?) ago. The stories were very similar to yours: well qualified professionals who spent thousands and were thoroughly conned.

I suppose if you take the logical view that you can't prove a negative, you'd spot these people a mile off. But in your case, and many others, desperation drove you to give a bunch of shysters money for nothing.

BTW, if you google Temple Reid the first link takes you to a Motley Fool board where they get a thorough kicking.

Have a click.
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 14:40, closed)

The clever thing was that...
...to be able to sell the bullshit, they mixed it in with some good advice. As well as the CV help, they gave me some interview tips that I've used since, and which always get me compliments afterwards (though they don't get me the job on their own). Again, it's all fairly standard interview prep stuff, but stuff most candidates don't know about. Because that works, you find yourself believing that the "unadvertised jobs market" stuff must work too.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 14:48, closed)