Business Careers

I am confounded by the polar reviews of Business Careers on a number of sites. They all seem to be either one star or five. Personally, my experience was five stars all the way.\r \r I applied for an administrative position through a Craigslist ad. I was contacted shortly by Dana Clemens, who asked me to come in and meet with her. She was polite, courteous, engaged, and straight-forward about the strengths and weaknesses of my resume and application. She helped me play up the good parts and strengthen the weaker ones. It had been quite a while since I'd interviewed for jobs and she really improved my interview skills. Over the course of the few of weeks it took to find a good match, Dana was able to set up several interviews for me. Before each one, she had me meet with her first, either in person or on the phone, to discuss the company, the position, even the individual who would be interviewing me. It was immensely helpful. If she didn't have anything for me for a few days, she'd still call and check in.\r \r I should make it clear, I am not exactly the most marketable candidate. My work history has some gaps, mostly for long-term educational and volunteer experiences, but to an employer it probably doesn't look great. I'd explored a couple of divergent academic directions, too, which makes me look pretty scattered. Despite these drawbacks, Dana was able to frame me and my qualities in such a light that the company that hired me on, a thriving medical office on First Hill, was thrilled to have me. I've been there a month now and I absolutely love it. I'm getting a higher wage than I had initially listed on my Business Careers application, plus full benefits, and I love the environment and the people I work with. My previously-abandoned educational direction even contributed to my attractiveness as a candidate. More importantly, this job was NOT ADVERTISED ANYWHERE; Dana single-handedly got me the interview and prepared me for it. I couldn't be happier with the service I received! more

My experience with this company is a couple years old, but I figure it's still worth mentioning. I searched employment agencies on the Better Business B. website and found Business Careers. I contacted the company and interviewed with Debbie. During our interview, the recruiter took a handful of calls (she never bothered to take off her headset - she would just put up her hand for me to pause while she answered calls from complaining candidates), badmouthed candidates to nearby co-workers after each call, and proceeded to ask me a number of inappropriate questions - like what are the positions and workplaces of my siblings, parents, and husband; where I live, if I own/rent, if my home was expensive, and so on. She attempted to dumb down my resume and my references. Debbie then said she was placing people with my level of experience at jobs earning about $24K, significantly lower than jobs I've had and what my peers have had (with similar education and experience). She wanted me to come in the next day for a math test from a specific company for a position, but she didn't want to tell me any details about it, as they needed to see that I was a good fit before giving me any information about any position. As the interview came to a close, I politely asked to see my application. I planned on keeping it and walking out, although she would not let me go near it. She said that she had years of experience placing people with great companies and that the paperwork is the company's property. I made up some excuse to avoid returning the next day for testing. After walking out of there, I feared she would do something with my personal information, including my social security number, and hopefully she hasn't. The experience was an incredible waste of time. It was so ridiculous - I thought maybe I was on Candid Camera, or in the Twilight Zone, or dreaming. I guess not, though. Business Careers is just that bad. There are many other employment agencies in the area - it's not worth your time to deal with Business Careers. more