Review: Career Strategies International, Inc.

Career Strategies International, Inc. Rating 0 out of 5.
White Plains, NY

Cost: $5,000+. Time Frame: 1 year; Results (Interviews): 0.

Over a 1-year period, their "strategies" produced absolutely no results.

A seemingly nice and likeable group of guys that provide little, if anything, more than is available in lots of places, including your local library. They do make it sound good though. First, they said very little unless I paid $50 and went to their offices in White Plains, NY. The visit provides them a tremendous psychological edge if you are not local, as you will have invested substantial time and expense in the visit. They are not high pressure. I genuinely liked Ed Speyer and we seemed to "click" in our initial chat. They are very vague in what they promise to do, but they are essentially advice-givers. Their engagement agreement was vague and I knew that I would have to trust them or pass. Ed was so nice that I decided to trust him--a mistake for me. If you are in (or seeking) a business development, sales or marketing position, or are otherwise adept at and comfortable marketing yourself, but could use a little guidance, these guys might be of some help (but so might a million others and a few books too).

The results of their "career counseling" were nothing very insightful or imaginative. A laundry list of possibilities without any significant insight into what would be "best." When pressed for a bottom line, I got one suggested alternative that was satisfactory, though not inspiring. That is not necessarily bad. The key is whether the role was something that I could be successfully marketed in. As explained below, if it was possible, their help did nothing to make it happen.

The resume prepared by Al Dold appeared to be an improvement in defining what I wanted over my pre-engagement version. But, as I said, neither they nor I could sell it.

Instead of preparing a cover letter for me, Ed provided (and only after request) a draft of a form which I then adapted. Ed made some minor comments and also missed some glaring errors which I later caught.

Ed was always very friendly but basically shoots from the hip and my impression was that he spent as little time and effort as he could get away with. Distilled, his advice was that I should make a list of companies and then contact them. Thanks for that brilliance. He added little more to the process, and most of his nominal efforts really missed the mark (suggesting categories of companies quite unlikely to need my skill-set). It was surprising given his background and I can only attribute it to indifference.

The actual implementation of the plan was a disaster. Ed suggested some websites where I should look for companies. Other than that, I did all of the work. At one point CSI acknowledged that their approach was not a good one for me and the president of the Company (Bruce Blackwell) promised to personally get involved and prepare a new approach letter. He never did. Ed continued to shoot from the hip providing advice that, while not inherently bad, was clearly a very poor fit.

I thought that perhaps working with someone else there might be useful, but it appears that their internal policies don't allow for this. (Maybe it has to do with who brings in the client and how they split the money.)

Career Strategies International suggests that they provide a highly customized approach although, except for the resume, it is closer to "minor alterations" to off-the-rack than to "custom made" (using a clothing analogy). It was not a good fit for this writer. They suggested (without guarantees of course) that the results would be good (suggesting an "over 90% success rate"). Their "unique" formula for me was for me to get a list of companies, for me to send out letters with resumes, and then for me to call the recipients. I do not consider myself particularly good at cold-calling, I hate doing it, and I don't think it is appropriate for executive level applicants. I explained all this to them at the outset and was told that they had solutions. Their solution was essentially to do it anyway with a slightly modified cover letter and telephone script.

I found most of their advice trivial, rushed and/or inappropriate for me (i.e., it might be good advice in some circumstances, but even nominal analysis showed it didn't fit the circumstances in which it was given).

Before engaging them they did allow me to speak with a former client who was quite pleased with the help he got (he's in marketing). I don't know if he was the only satisfied client or if I was one of the few unsatisfied ones.

Their plan for me did not produce results and they provided no real assistance after the resume was done. Their drafts of suggested correspondence (other than the resume) were laden with typographical and grammatical errors which I needed to (or in any event did) correct. Bottom line: A big disappointment and NOT worth the money.

Cost: $3,500-$5,000. Time Frame: 2.5-3 years; Results (Interviews): 0.

I hired [CSI] in late 2006. I "worked" with Ed on and off for approximately 2.5-3 years. This mainly consisted of phone calls and a few meetings whenever I was able to be in White Plains.
I got myself two "networking" interviews while I was working with Ed, but they were not a result of any of his efforts. He didn't get me a single interview.

I totally agree with [the above] assessment of CSI and Ed Speyer. He is a total fraud. As you say, the fact that he is so nice lulls you into a false sense of security. Here is my story:

I had been a lawyer for a few years and didn't like it, and I saw an ad for CSI on a website like craigslist. I met with Ed and told him that I had previously taught middle school for two years before going to law school, and that I had a masters in education. He convinced me he could help me. After months of me taking useless tests to tell me information about myself that I already knew, Ed told me I should try to get a job in college administration, and that my combination of two years' teaching, a M.S. in Education, and J.D. would somehow get me a job there. He then said I would have to pay him an additional $1600 for a cover letter and resume.

Needless to say, Ed didn't even make one phone call to try and help me get a job. It is pretty obvious once you get to know him that he is lazy, and only does things when he is forced to do them. Most of our sessions were spent schmoozing about things that had nothing to do with my job search. I particularly remember him discussing the problems he had with his father as a kid and how it influenced his life. This had no relevance to my job search, and sometimes I felt like he was using me to get things off his chest, as if I was his shrink or something.

Based on Ed's advice, I found and interviewed with a few people who had jobs in college administration. They all basically told me the same thing: I had only taught middle school for two years, and this just didn't qualify me for any position within the college. So basically, Ed's advice was the wrong idea for me, and I wasted all of that money on useless counseling and on an even more useless resume and cover letter.

I called him and told him about my lack of success, and asked him about other ideas that we hadn't discussed. He pretty much agreed with every idea I proposed[, saying] that it would be a "good idea", and that I should try it. It was apparent from his lack of concern that he didn't give a damn about what would happen to me, and he was just agreeing with me to get me off the phone. He never offered me any other help.

CSI and Ed Speyer are a SHAM. Save yourselves time and money; he's not going to help you find out what you should do more than you will yourself.