How much are your services?

Good question, we will know more specifics after we meet you, know your goals, and gain a better understanding on how to market you. There is a fairly large menu of items to choose from at Career Pro Inc., including professional resume writing, coaching, interview training, full career transition packages, coaching, federal transition, web portfolios, career marketing and branding, etc.

We recommend scheduling an initial consultation to build a customized package that fits your needs and budget. We can charge hourly ($275) or on a flat fee basis (to be determined after you free initial consultation). If you are price checking, and are approaching your career branding and search as a commodity purchase, we highly recommend that you rethink your strategy and overlying goals. You career is very important to us and critical to you, let's treat it that way.

How quickly can I get a quote on exact costs?

We have specific questions for you and your company; however, that conversation and quote can be obtained in less than 24 hours. Service delivery starts can be obtained in 24 hours as well. If you have more time we can meet with you personally, speak to you on the phone or answer e-mail questions. It's your choice.

What is the difference between Outplacement and Recruiting?

According to the Directory of Executive Recruiters, executive search firms are paid by the companies who hire them to fill a position, typically a fee of one-third of the job's first year compensation. Search firms are not working for you, but for their paying clients. Therefore, do not expect them to be overly responsive when you contact them.

According to the Directory of Outplacement & Career Management Firms, fees are paid individually to outplacement firms to assist individuals or groups who need career transition assistance. Therefore, individuals can retain services or firms can pay up front for a suite of services.

For our alumni and non-fee paid clients we offer recruiting services at different contingency and retained fees. So if you want our recruiting division to look at your resume just send it to info@careerproinc.com - Attn: Recruiter Manager. There is no need to call. If you are an employer and want to have our recruiting division handle an executive search call us and ask for Michele.

How are you different from other outplacement companies?

We feel that we have the greatest choice of products, services and facilitation of work to benefit you. Compare the specific deliverables under our Individual or Corporate Outplacement program to any company, anywhere. You decide based on our responsiveness, professionalism and highly individualized approach to your needs. Call us. E-mail us. Ask us to offer you a competitive quote for you or your company (groups or individuals).

Find out our specific deliverables that have been personalized for you, based on your requirements. To us the word outplacement sounds pretty cold like some standardized program, a cold set of services and generalized advice. That's not what you get from us.

There are many recognized, large outplacement companies and we respect what they do. But if you want our help for your employees or for yourself then consider an individualized outplacement alternative program. We don't compete with anyone but ourselves and our commitment to excellence in the careers field.

We invite outplacement companies to seek us out and use us for the needs of their executives or individuals who need our specific assistance in the areas they often do not cover:

• Recruiter Advocacy
• Campaign Work Tied to Results
• Federal Employment
• Specific Search Strategies
• International Career Options
• Personalized Services
• Self-employment
• VC Research and Access
• Personal Branding, Marketing, and Coaching
  

We sometimes handle contracts that are too small for them. We enjoy partnering with larger outplacement companies on contracts that may involve hundreds of people.

Because our service caters to the individual we will do projects and treat every client as an individual. But your individual needs will be met with our highly specialized and individualized services.


I am concerned about my company finding out about my individual search. How do you achieve confidentiality in your individual outplacement and executive search programs?

For 15 years we have taken every step we can to ensure the confidentiality of each individual. From your personal information shared with us about your search, to your campaign, we take confidentiality seriously. Your information will never be sold to outside vendors. We recommend the use of cell phones and break times to work on job search or career transition issues unless your employer has endorsed your use of company time for outplacement/career transition. So integrity matters. Try running a confidential search by masking your resume on Monster or CareerBuilder. Do you really think that employers and recruiters can't figure out who you are. That's why our advice is to not post on many of the search engines initially and especially if you risk confidentiality. Most of our clients leave our offices and have more industry coded (SIC and NAICS) research in two weeks than they could ever muster on their own. With this unprecedented level of channel focused research, interview training, documents, and personalized approach you will be ready to face your competition.

We try to limit calls to you at work. We recommend targeted executive correspondence not resume blasting services. But to do this requires a lot of work and sweat. Search may not succeed overnight. But then again there are no easy buttons or quick fixes for people who want a quality campaign facilitated.

Do we have curve-breaking success stories? Yes we do. Again, you can protect your confidentiality and frankly not steal from your employer by using proper search protocol. If you are not working you have more latitude but you better appear to recruiters to be productive and not wasting time. Haphazard postings to search engines and sloppy, nonproductive search behaviors hurt clients. Confidentiality is key; we take it seriously and so should you.

How does outplacement or executive search work with Career Pro Inc.?

We take a highly-individualized approach to outplacement and career transition whether you are paying or your company is paying for services. If you are evaluating our services just give us a call. We can enhance your existing documents, research and provide you with the information you need to make a better decision. As an HR professional, we invite you to call us if you have one or more outplacement or career transition candidates. No company or individual is too small or too large a project for us to consider.

How long will it take for me to get my next job with your assistance?

Jerry N. Boynton in his article, Selecting an Outplacement Firm states how difficult it can be to pinpoint the amount of time a project will require and how long a candidate will be in search. Our goal, however, is to streamline the process and provide the candidate with the tools, training, and skills he/she needs to succeed in their transition as quickly as possible. Mr. Boynton writes:

"Often, outplacement firms are asked the average time necessary for the candidate going through that particular company to find a job. Unfortunately, that question can't be answered in a meaningful way. Averages mean little in terms of the outplacement provider's "success rate". Market conditions, specific job function, experience, and the initiative of the individual in the job search impact the length of the search."

Boynton, Jerry N.; Selecting an Outplacement Firm, 14th Edition, The Directory of Outplacement & Career Management Firms, Page V.

"Although the ultimate goal of the outplacement consultant is to help the client find a suitable position as quickly as possible, the outplacement consultant of today has challenges other than instructing the client on how to write a resume and network. The consultant faces different clients with a variety of emotional, family, financial, personality, age, career, marketing and attitude problems."

Mulligan, Michael V., Ph.D.; What Does it Take to Be an Effective Outplacement Consultant?, 14th Edition, The Directory of Outplacement & Career Management Firms, Page XIII.

The US Department of Labor suggests that you should plan one to two months for every $10,000 dollars you expect to earn in your search. For many Corporate Outplacement clients you are in a timed event for 30-90 or even 360+ days to accomplish your search. With average individual fees for outplacement at $5000 for 60 days we urge our corporate sponsored clients to get as much out of their contracted time as possible. For Individual Outplacement clients average fees for outplacement range from $5,000 to $10,000 or more. Although we hope our leading edge products facilitate a fast and effective search, many factors influence search success as Mr. Boynton points out: client attitude and action, current technical qualifications, market factors, competition, age, income expectations, time of year, and many more.

As an Individual Outplacement client and whether you have a perfect employment track record or not, Career Pro Inc. wants to help. If you are a leader trying to select a Corporate Outplacement provider we want to help.

How do you measure your success?

We have helped 1000s of clients since 1992. Career Pro Inc. represents the best resources, specific products and highly-individualized career transition assistance and research available today. Through out associations, industry leadership and engagement within the careers, human resources and other professionals we hope that this work will help you facilitate a more successful campaign.

Our client relationships do require the client to participate in the program. Ultimately, the client remains 100% responsible for their search. Our facilitation, products and services will be delivered and measured. We ask each client to give us feedback so we can ensure total quality.

Of course we hope the techniques, products and approaches suggested by Career Pro will mean that you will get the best advantage you can to interview and be hired. However, no one can guarantee they will work for you. Marketplace demands in certain industries and certain fields mean tough competition and extended time frames for hiring, even in a low unemployment market (like certain areas of NC). Note: NO VERBAL OR WRITTEN PROMISE OR GUARANTEE OF ANY INTERVIEW, NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS, JOB OR EMPLOYMENT IS MADE OR IMPLIED UNDER THE TERMS OF OUR CONTRACTS.

Please know that Career Pro Inc. is an agency that operates under the laws of North Carolina and is a member in good standing with the Better Business Bureau of the State of North Carolina. Our client successes stretch back 15 years, we have many testimonials, endorsements, and relationships that we value. If your goals are not being met in your search, we always encourage you to allow us to assist you in resetting those goals. Because we have this level of customer service commitment, our clients know that they have an open door to politely and collaboratively discuss these needs.

How do you get paid?

If an outplacement package is offered by a sponsoring company, they will be responsible for payment of the career transition assistance package to Career Pro. If you are an individual that has contracted with Career Pro, we ask that you pay up front because our time and research is front-loaded. However, you may pay us half, and upon approval of documents and research, the other half. We take all major credit cards.