Personal Career Services/PCS - any good?

FionaY

Thank you everyone. I have a meeting planned for tomorrow with PCS which I've decided to cancel. I'm sure some of the consultants are excellent however I had no idea what the bottom line was with regards to costs. I'm unemployed and was concerned that the fees would be too high - and they are.

Hezzawithkids

I see, so no-one's allowed an opinion unless you authorise it first? This is an open forum, not your private domain to dictate the content.

I was a prospective client of PCS but was refused access to any of your so-called 'satisfied' clients to get any feedback on your services. At that point in time having been unemployed for over a year I was wary of committing vast sums of money to process that couldn't be proven independently. I started this thread to see if any of the 7m+ MSE members could offer any insights. No-one could. That was enough to deter me from proceeding (not that the consultant with whom I had spent two sessions with could be bothered to follow up on our meetings).

anelan

Hi Guys,
I think pcs give a service for some people who may not be so capable of 'marketing' themselves, whether they are worth the fee I don't know.
zbg comments are very pertinent to me. I went to see them in Bristol and I said to the guy businesses are under pressures these days, margins are cut, there is often a pay by performance to the fees so what sort of flexibility do you (pcs) have to the fees, can part of the fee be linked to success? Short answer was no. Pay it all up front no guarantees. That's not good enough in this day and age.

KNJ60

I have been unfortunate to use them, took 3390 pounds.
lots of smooth presentation, but deliverables were not matched by promises.
A BIG regret.
We are now in dispute, I will try and claim back through debit card on voluntary chargeback, failing that will try small claims court
Oh this looks like my first post, but have been here a while under a different user id

Helmsdale

KNJ60 wrote: »

I have been unfortunate to use them, took 3390 pounds.
lots of smooth presentation, but deliverables were not matched by promises.

I wonder how long that post will remain before it gets edited - anything that gives info about cash seems to get censored on this forum. Nervous MSE lawyers, I suspect. Sorry to hear experience though... that's a lot of money to pay out, particularly when you are jobless.

It confirms what I've always thought: retail outplacement (i.e. where you pay the fees yourself), whether with PCS or any other consultancy, isn't a great idea, in my opinion. The initial presentation is usually by a sales manager, who probably never gave a minute's career advice to anyone in his/her life, and who is on commission for signing up clients. The 'deliverables' are down to the consultant you're assigned to when you've signed up, who is earning a flat fee whether you get a job or not (I bet that gets edited too haha).

Incidentally, some contributors to this thread haven't a clue - outplacement consultancies are entirely different from recruitment agencies, who are forbidden by law from charging fees to candidates.

jojo96

Well, thanks to all of the above.
I went to see pcs yesterday. I thought it would be a consultant who may or may not have a job to match me to. He told me however about how their company had wonderful access to the 'unadvertised job market' and how he could get me the right job for me in 6-12 wks. He said I was unlikely to get a job searching the internet with the 'scattergun' approach. He never mentioned any cost and I assumed that they would be getting the normal commission from the client company. He told me he sees 15-20 people a day and he only chooses a max of 3 to move forward with. I was the first of the day! I came away feeling all warm and cosy and looking forward to easily getting a new job soon - I'm unemployed.
How stupid and gullible did I feel when I opened his email this morning out lining his 'price'?! It was getting on for 3k to be paid in 3 equal installments.
Now I have found this thread - and this is the first time I have been on here - I feel happier that the experience is behind me and I can carry on with my own job search. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

SueC_2

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

and charge just under £3k to manage me for 12 months,

I'd be as worried by the 12 months as I would be the £3k. How long does it take to re-write a CV? If I were paying them £3k I'd want results a bit quicker than a year down the line.

But for me to even consider paying them for their services, they will have to stop stalking me with automated impersonal emails on a virtual daily basis. If that's any indication of their marketing skills, then thank you very much, but it's not an approach I'll be taking with any potential employers!

Graeme_Phelps

I attended a meeting with PCS last week, having previously succeeded to ignore their many flattering emails, texts and phone calls. The wonders of pester power!!

Working on a "nothing to lose" basis I met up with someone titled as a regional director; yet who's own Linked In profile does not include a reference to PCS.

What concerned me was the person's lack of familiarity with either myself or my career. There was clearly no pre-sifting for people they could help; so all their sales spin, was just that.

It is nice to receive compliments and when job searching it is easy to clinch at any positivity in current market conditions. Having a well presented CV and feeling confident about being interviewed is certainly important and PCS may be able to assist with that.

If someone else was paying then I'd probably give my time, but out of my own taxed income I think I'll follow the advice of others and consider engaging an independent consultant for one-on-one advice.

Finally, given the success statistics that they quote, it concerned me that Googling does not identify anyone raving about having found a job with PCS.

Siobhanee

Thanks everyone for these posts. I was approached by PCS last February, I had an initial meeting, but then soon found a contract role and thought nothing more of them.

More recently my contract role has expired and I find myself unemployed. PCS have contacted me again and being hear my whit's end I was tempted, but thought I would try to find reviews and costs for PCS. Thank the lord I found you guys!

But where do I go now? It would seem there is no one out there to help mid to senior managers to get back to work. Why should we have to pay for that service, especially in today's economy, but then I do now take note that independent career consultants may not like that comment.

Everything I have read on line has indicated that I should register for job seekers allowance, which I have done, but they are not there to help mid to senior managers to get back to to work. They want you to take any job, anywhere at any money regardless of the expertise you have. In my job searches, I have found that many jobs on the internet really do not exist. (I have printed evidence!) Even on the job centre website (a requirement of theirs that I use their site). With the contract you have at the job center you have to complete 6 'looking for work' activities a week and since the end of April I have documented over 270 of these activities, including marketing myself to over 50 companies in and around my area. It is frankly exhausting. Anyway I digress...

If PCS and other associated/like minded companies are potentially not be used/trusted, where to mid managers go for help on what career/job decisions to make next.:)

Helmsdale

Siobhanee asks why anyone should pay for a service to get mid to senior managers back to work, and then answers the question in the next paragraph. It's necessary to pay because the State doesn't provide an appropriate service in your experience, and you haven't been able to do it yourself.

So you obviously need effective support. However, in the light of previous contributions to this thread, I personally wouldn't go to PCS or similar agencies. Your best course of action, in my opinion, is to find a local self-employed and independent career consultant (a one-man or a one-woman business), ask for references from previous clients, and negotiate a deal. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.