Toronto Pathways |
| Canada, Ontario |
|
|
Consumer reviews about Toronto Pathways |
|
truthwhattruth
|
Mar 29, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
I saw that show. I thought it was crap. They just showed what they wanted to show, not the truth. That recruiter guy they had on the show, the so-called expert, Nick Corocodilos, doesn't know anything about Canada or how hard it is for immigrants here. I looked him up on the internet. He's some American guy with no experience here at all and doesn't know what he was talking about. (Even the CBC has talked about on how difficult it is for them to get established in Canada, and how many foreign-trained professionals are stuck in crappy, low-paying jobs.) Recruiters have no interest in people who are new to Canada. That's a fact. The companies they work for tell them to find someone with recent Canadian experience, so they skip right over immigrants. Am I lying? Nope.
I was a client of RDG Careers. They helped me a lot, I got my money's worth (better job, higher income), and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Even after I got a good job, I could still have meetings with my advisor and talk to him about what was going on. That's the idea of their long-term contract. You get unlimited meetings with your advisor. I couldn't care less that they changed their name. No, they're not recruiters and they won't go out and find a job for you, but they will help you have a better career. Just don't expect them to do it for you. You have to be prepared to do the work. If you're new in Canada, get some lessons on how to speak English, CLEARLY AND PROPERLY. Nobody will hire you if they can't understand you. Somebody here said that everything they do with you can be found for free on the internet. Oh yeah? Where does the internet give you all the meetings you want with an experienced advisor who really gets to know you in-person and gives you the right advice to help you be successful in your field? Nowhere. You can read a cookbook online, too. Will that make you a top chef? Did watching porn make you a fantastic lover? I really doubt it.
Maybe they had some guy working there who exaggerated what they do. It sure sounds like it. I never dealt with him. That's pretty bad, though. I hope he got canned, but the rest of them are decent people and do a good job.
If you were never a client, you have no right to complain, BTW. It's just pointless bitching. You should go out and get yourself a real hobby. I came on here only because I suggested to a friend of mine that he become a client, he saw this and freaked out. I'm still telling him that he should do it.
|
|
Scrappy_TO
|
Mar 29, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
truthwhattruth, you're missing the fact that the company deliberately and knowingly misleads prospective clients into coming into their office for a high-pressure, psychological meeting under the guise of an interview. If they were 100% transparent in their prospecting activities, clearly stating that they offer services for a fee, right from the beginning, and if they didn't try to capture PIPEDA-protected information about prospective clients without disclosing that they're using it to tailor their salespitch, everything would be fine.
|
|
truthwhattruth
|
Mar 29, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
Perhaps you missed MY point. I was a client, not someone who didn't become one for some reason. My experience was good. I was not mislead in any way. They told me about the fee before I decided to sign up and, yes, it was at the second meeting. That was soon enough. I could have walked out if I had wanted to. Nobody was holding me down in the chair. They had no information about me that I hadn't already made public by posting a resume on the internet. I worked with two different advisors, in fact. My first guy, Murray, was great, but he had to take some time off for an operation. My second guy, Gord, was just as good. Do you actually know what the hell you're talking about? Doesn't sound like it. I'm not here to argue for them. I don't care whether you do business with them or not, but my advisor helped me a lot and there are always two sides to any story. Most of the people who have made comments here were not clients. That's like me telling someone to never buy a Mercedes, despite the fact that I've never owned one. It just isn't right.
|
|
Scrappy_TO
|
Mar 29, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
truthwhattruth, you're right, you were happy with their service. Acknowledged. For me and many others, it's an issue of whether or not the means justifies the end. And CBC was not the only major national news organization preparing a story. CTV W5 was also about to, in follow-up to the Bernard Haldane scandal (one of the company's former names) but CBC beat CTV to air and so CTV shelved the story.
|
|
truthwhattruth
|
Mar 29, 2012
|
Toronto Pathways is a stupid scam
Brian, at least you have a bit of the right idea. You're correct that they're not recruiters, but the "so-called" part of career counselors is wrong. They're actual career counselors. The advisors even have real accreditations. I've seen them. I was a client, and I have never had any regrets about that. Everything they talked about actually worked. They helped me get my career back on track over 5 years ago, and the advisors I worked with are still there. I'm not an immigrant. My family has been here for about 200 years, but that didn't help me at all to get a job after my company closed down and left me without a job after over 20 years of employment. What they do may not be for everyone, but it sure helped me.
|
|
truthwhattruth
|
Mar 30, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
For me, the only question that matters is whether the results justify the cost. In the business world, it's called ROI. In my case, they did. No question. And in all the time I was going in for my sessions, I never met a single other person who had anything bad to say. But, of course, they were all actual clients, not anonymous complainers with no real knowledge, only assumptions and conspiracy theories.
All sales people make their products sound great. That's their job. Didn't you know that by now? That's why Shulich tells you that their $100K MBA is going to get you a fantastic job right away, with a 6-figure income, and that you'll be in senior management in 5 years (as if!). That's why software salespeople tell you their $250K+ applications will do everything this side of driving the delivery truck for you and tucking you into bed with a warm glass of milk at night (ha!). That's why your $50K car doesn't ever come close to the gas mileage that was in the brochure (WTF?). You always take these things with a grain of salt. Wake up!
Sounds to me like you've got a lot of inside information there, maybe a lot more than the average person would normally have. It makes me wonder who you really are and what you're trying to do on this board...a competitor perhaps? A former employee with a grudge? Maybe you're actually with the CBC? Whatever. I don't give a FF. I've had my say and I won't be back here. This place was expressly designed for chronic complainers, and nothing makes people braver than anonymity. Good bye.
|
|
Scrappy_TO
|
Apr 5, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
Not a competitor or in the media industry here. Just a potential client who caught onto their manipulative hard-sell and PIPEDA-violating tactics and want to help warn those most vulnerable (new Canadians and those not familiar with how recruiters don't usually charge candidates). This company is not a recruiter but a service provider charging a fee, despite contradictory appearances. And I haven't remained anonymous when dealing with this company or with the government agencies which found merit in my complaint and is including it in a summary to parliament - just on this board.
|
|
SarahWOO
|
Apr 9, 2012
|
Employment scam - Toronto Pathways
Thank you for your sharing! My friend and I just went to the Ontario Job Fair in Metro Toronto Convention Center on April 04. We saw Dale Smith and another guy. Dale Smith
use the same techniques to collect a lot of resumes of desperated job hunters and I think a lot of people will be ripped off. Why those guys still show up after the investigation?
They should be in jail!
They knew immigrants cry for jobs and they need to make ends meet but they are cheating people!We should raise awareness to people and put Dale Smith into justice!
|
|
scamreporter9999
|
Apr 30, 2012
|
scam
Thank you to everyone who posted on this site. Excellent piece from CBC Marketplace
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/recruitmentripoff/
I have filed a report with the Competition Bureau exposure their often racist practice and I encourage you all to do the same
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/GH%C3%89T-7TDNA5
|
|
scamreporter9999
|
Apr 30, 2012
|
Scam: Toronto Pathways
Thank you to everyone who posted on this site. Excellent piece from CBC Marketplace
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/recruitmentripoff/
I have filed a report with the Competition Bureau exposure their often racist practice and I encourage you all to do the same
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/GH%C3%89T-7TDNA5
|
|
mickeysan
|
May 16, 2012
|
mislead by Toronto Pathways
Toronto Pathways advertises as an employer on CareerBuilder.ca. I believed that I am submitting my resume for a position advertised by a head hunter. They phoned me within hours and invited me for a face-to-face job "interview" at their office in downtown Toronto (350 Bay St, 9th Floor). It took a while to tell me about the fees and clarify their business model. I am upset because they obtained my data by telling lies and I took me time and energy to go to the fake job interview. They asked $6500 + HST and suggested that I take a loan to pay these fees. The way they obtain the business leads is dishonest, as they try to pass as genuine employers or employment agencies.
|
|
WillNotBeScammed
|
Jul 13, 2012
|
employment Scam - still there
Something smelled a bit weird...I was baited by the potential for a job and went for the first interview. I asked openly if there are fees and was told directly no. Red Flags went up when way too much time was spent on things other than my skills and any positions.... second Red Flag they wanted to invite my wife and I together for a second interview. There are no pamphlets, no information about the companies they've worked with, and there is no useful info on their website... that was a 3rd Red Flag.
After reading some of the complaints I see more... like targeting new Canadians, I am a little less new, but they seem to latch on that I was from the US and the 4th Red Flag was them asking how our finances are. 5th Red Flag.... wanted me to commit fast to the interview - which means commit before you get to research them further.
|
|
joebremote
|
Jul 18, 2012
|
They just about had me convinced!
First I received and e-mail asking for both my phone number as they had my resume forwarded from another recruiter. Flags went up as my phone number is on my resume (duh). So I send them my resume, and I did a Internet search of their company and found this complaint board! Great! They just called me and booked an appointment for me on Thursday at 10am as they "found my resume out of 1,000's and looked very promising". Just redid the Internet search as I could not remember who they were, watched the CBC undercover work, and I will not be going to see them. You should not pay to have your recruiter, they are paid once they fill the position for the company who hired them! Anyway, nice work posting this complaint board and thanks for the information so I don't waste hours driving into the city and thousands of dollars for what I can get for free!
Thanks again, Joe B. Sarnia, Ont.
|
|
Kuruwi
|
Aug 10, 2012
|
This is not a job agency
One lady phoned me and told that "your resume is very good and one of the DIRECTORS reviewed and wanted to see you ASAP to help me out". I was surprised, what a good people !!!!!! Then I asked do I want to pay any service that Pathways provide. She told, NO. After while, she told me that “we are carrier counseling team"
That is it.........When someone call don't go right away since we don't have job. Google it and find out more..........
|
|
jonh
|
Nov 21, 2012
|
Toronto Pathways
I went to these scammers thinking they were head hunters. This place is a waste of time!! They make you fil in bogus forms to reveal yourself then try to tell you what you are lacking!! What a scam! They try to fish you in telling you how good your resume is or of all the jobs they have! Save yourself the time and bull shit and bother wasting your time! Their address is 350 Bay street, suite 900 (they have so many scammers working here that they take up the entire floor!!
|
|
Thankfully Safe
|
Jan 24, 2013
|
Toronto Pathways Still Doing Their Thing
I, too, was a target of this scam just recently! I received a call from Pathways ("Pathways*" on a business card and Toronto Pathways on their website, http://www.torontopathways.com/) inviting me for an "interview". Some recruitment agencies do hold in-person interviews so this wasn't a total surprise and I agreed. At the "interview", everything started off as one would normally expect, reviewing my resume, discussing past employment experience, etc. Maybe there were a few too many irrelevant personal questions being asked about my family situation, ages of my children, etc. but the agent and I seemed to have good rapport so I allowed it.
Things got exciting as claims started to pile up about the "agency" having access to an expansive listing of job postings from the "hidden" job market, direct interface with internal company job posting databases, two to three hundred new jobs every day, most of which are not publicly advertised, and even indications that they had several opportunities already for which they felt I was an excellent fit. There were assurances about the speed at which Pathways likes to operate, the expertise and efficiency with which they market their candidates and number-drops of lucrative salaries along with indications about their clients negotiating even better offers than the already excellent salaries mentioned and getting sign-up bonuses! I consider myself a rational person and not one to take bait readily but the approach was so slick that even I started to wonder what I had been missing in the way I handled my career progression all these years.
What really set the flags off, however, was when I was invited to a second interview and the agent slickly suggested that my wife be present as well to "bring her on board" with my career strategy, the specific "methodology" the agency was using, etc. This is when I started wondering just what bill of goods was I being sold. When I inquired on who covered the costs of all of the agency's efforts, I was told that “part†of the cost would be shouldered by me in the form of a "retainer" fee but my qualifications were so good and they had such a positive indication on how fast they could place me that, in my particular case, the "retainer" would be rather small - I would be an easy sell to potential employers. Requesting that I be given at least a range within which the "retainer" moved were deflected with explanations on how they did not want to mislead me with the wrong number until they had an opportunity to perform a thorough assessment of my profile against their job database. After all, I was lucky to have them do this as they only chose to represent about one out of seven people that they meet with.
I nodded my way through the rest of the meeting but, as soon as I got home, I reached out to Google and found multiple complaints about the fraudulent tactics employed by this "agency". In essence, they tend to target new Canadians in particular, taking advantage of their cursory knowledge of the mechanics of the job market. The goal is to make the potential client believe that imminent employment, with a much higher salary than you had expected up to this point, is just about guaranteed and it appeared that there would be little to no effort on your part as the deal was almost in the bag - just leave it to the "experts with all the diplomas on the wall". The end result of the smooth sales pitch is a fee in the $3,000 to $7,000 range although no numbers were quoted to me – I found that out by researching online after the “interviewâ€. With a sale that sizable, I assume Pathways technique includes bringing in the spouse at the second interview to close the deal with both partners and offset buyer's remorse cancellations. Once the payment is made, you find that you have to take your chances like everyone else - they just help you improve your resume and train you on presenting yourself at potential employment interviews. The quality and value of those services is unknown as some of their clients never even get a job interview. All those imminent job opportunities seem to vanish!
The entire approach and pitch is very accurately exposed in this CBC Marketplace Investigative Report: "Recruitment Rip-Off", http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/recruitmentripoff/. It was deja-vu watching this report as I heard the same Pathways agent say the same words that were said to me. So perfect was the match that you could tell the agent had it all memorized complete with an entire arsenal of buyer objection rebuttals.
Needless to say, I abandoned the entire thing but thought I should help people pass this on to anyone who may be out there, seeking that dream job. Pathways is not the place to find it!
|
|
|
|
|
