Chandler Hill Partners, Inc.
reviews and complaints

Chandler Hill Partners was a complete rip off. I was contacted by Jon Vargo and after meeting with him, he told my wife and I that I was extremely marketable and they could assist me in getting a job within 30-45 days. After filling out numerous homework assignments and giving them nearly 6, 000 in cash I got nothing in return. They revised my resume and I was later told by another resume writing firm that it was a horrible resume. Their helping out with a career search was me calling companies that may or may not have job openings and ask to speak to operations directors and other personnel and ask to meet with them as I was doing research. This is how I was supposed to get a job. Lie to them about doing research and hope they offer me a job. They in no way guided me towards any companies with possible openings. The even gave me a list of interview questions that they stated are the standard questions asked at interviews. I have had several interviews since Chandler Hill and have been asked about 2% of those questions. With some of those being tell me about yourself and do you have any weaknesses. I was recently contacted by Career Solutions after I responded to a job opening on career builder about helping veterans get jobs. After having a phone interview with them, my wife and I started doing some research and found out that career solutions was formerly Chandler Hill. Companies of this nature are a disgrace, they prey on desperate honest people looking for jobs in this tough economy and all they do is tell a good story and take your money. This company along with any others like it need to be investigated by our government and brought to justice so they cannot hurt any other unsuspecting people facing hard times.

This is a scam.
Their approach makes job seekers think they are going to be represented by Chandler Hill Partners, a company that falsely claims to be in touch with jobs in the hidden job market. They claim this by stating that they have employer clients that they work with, and that you will be marketed to. Basically they are the middleman between you and their clients.
There is a price for this. I paid an upfront fee of $5, 500 with a retainer of $1, 500 to be paid after I get a job. I agreed to this as I felt it was worth it given the story they told me. After a couple of weeks I was asked to write letters and make phone calls to people I know and state to them that I was looking for a position. As well, they insisted that I find random companies in the Dallas Fort Worth area and try to talk to them to get an interview, even if they are not hiring. I quickly found out they do not have any real contacts, and they just teach you how to look for a job. Basically, they used a bait and switch technique to con me out of thousands of dollars. I have tried to get my money back but they are stating that 75% of my money was used up in the first 30 days. Well, it took 30 days to find out this was a scam.

I think it is truly awful that there are organizations like this taking advantage of so many desperate, jobless individuals given the current economic state. It truly disgusts me that this is happening. I have come to the conclusion that I may never get my money back, but I wanted to do everything I can to make sure this does not happen to anyone else.

All the negative comments, stories, etc:., about Chandler Hill are correct!. They are a rip off and promise you the world, while giving you nothing?. They take your money and move on to the next person|. In viewing many of the complaints people had all over the country, it seems to be a pattern with them, regardless of state, region, etc.. If you sign up with them, you will not get a job and you will be the one doing all the work in order to secure some type of employment'. Do not give them your money or your time and if they contact you, which they seem to do, please ignore their requests". They mkae it sound like they can do wonders for you and tell you everything you want to hear, but that changes after you fork over the cash...

I was contacted by Chandler Hill Partners who told me I met their stringent selection criteria and that they could help me transition into a lucrative position in a new industry. I did my research and uncovered mixed reviews, however everything I read seemed to be countered by some kind of research and insight explaining it away. I can only guess the reason why I was targeted by Chandler Hill was because after being informed by my current employer that my position was being eliminated I began to research opportunities in the DC area and post my resume to various online job boards. Upon being contacted by the Chandler Hill Partners representative I was led to believe I had submitted my information versus them finding me. Because I had submitted my information to a number of sites in pursuit of a reliable headhunter it was easy for the Chandler Hill representative to lead me to believe I had submitted my information versus them trolling job boards for people who recently uploaded/updated their resume. I 'interviewed' with a Chandler Hill Partners sales consultants which consisted of a meeting where I was questioned about my 'liabilities' and a Myers-Briggs assessment. The sales consultants do a good job of making you feel like they can really help, and even addressed my concerns about complaints I read on the Internet. I was led to believe that so long as I was willing to put the work into it I was perfect for placement with one of their contacts looking for director level candidates. I was then that before Chandler Hill would take me on I must go through a second interview with my spouse. I was that part of Chandler Hill's process is to ensure the candidate and their partner met the cut to move forward with their services because the companies Chandler Hill Partners were to connect me expected to interact with both my husband and I as part of their interview process. Prior to making my decision to sign with Chandler Hill, I accepted a position with my current employer. In light of the current economy, I decided it made sense to continue to explore options and consider doing so with Chandler Hill Partners. I signed on with them in mid-April and put in many hours of 'homework' that was supposed to result in career advise and the creation of marketing collateral that was supposed to include a resume that would take me to 'the next level.' All I received was a Word document with the text I inputted into the eSearchOnline portal.I was told my inputs had been reviewed and edited by a certified resume writing expert but had not.I was tasked with writing a script for a video that was to be reviewed and edited to better align with the direction Chandler Hill was taking me in.I know the script was not reviewed or edited because it came time to film it I read off the text I sent - typos and all.There was no assessment of my skills and experience or discussion around what I was looking to transition to. The meetings with the campaign manager consisted of 'workshops 'where my campaign manager told me how to do all the things I was doing before I signed the contract with Chandler Hill.I did not receive the promised direct contacts I was promised until months into the process.I was told I had to provide them contacts within my network and pursue them before I would be provided contacts from Chandler Hill.When I did receive their direct contacts I found they were associated with the industry I had said, on many occasions, I wanted to look outside of.After finally being provided with the draft marketing collateral and direct contacts (none of which met the mark) I raised my concerns.At that time I also attempted to contact Chandler Hill Partners for copies of receipts for the amounts for which they had billed me thus far.I requested my sales consultant contact me but was instead contacted by my campaign manager.When he contacted me in response to my message he did not seem to know why I called and instead told me to call him if I had a problem with something.When I told him that I had reached out to get a record of charges billed to my credit card his tone became less accusatory.During this time I had also contacted the campaign manager by phone, email and during meetings to let him know that the marketing collateral, etc., I had received was not satisfactory and that I did not see how it was going to help me get the type of position I was told Chandler Hill could help me get to.He told me to redo the inputs I had provided earlier in the process but provided no direction on what those inputs should look like, what needed to be changed.He then asked me to provide him with a job description for an integrated marketing director - the type of position I was looking to transition into.After telling him that I thought I was paying Chandler Hill to provide me with that type of information and coaching he said he would look for something I could use.This aroused my suspicions and led me to contact the Chandler Hill Partners client advocate who assured me that she would act on my behalf. She told me my options were to pursue another campaign manager or request a refund. I told her I would think about it and let her know as I was still in the mindset (as I still am) that it is in my best interest to continue to research and explore employment options.
In the meantime, my campaign manager provided me with some job descriptions for the type of positions I was looking for and asked me to rewrite my inputs based on that information.He said we needed rework everything that had been done thus far because it did not align with the direction I had been looking to move in since I started working with him and Chandler Hill.Basically, none of the information I ahd submitted or provided about my experience and the direction I was looking to take had been reviewed.I was told I would need to start from scratch.I was six months into the process and I had nothing to show for it so I decided that the best thing for me would be to end the relationship with Chandler Hill Partners and pursue a refund.The client advocate said it would take 8-10 business days to review my case and get an answer. I was told that the case would be reviewed by Sarah Hightower Hill and an executive committee. I spoke with the client advocate on Tuesday and received a response the following Monday - I am guessing my 'file' was not reviewed by anyone other than client advocate and the response went out in that day's mail. The respnse I received informed me that Chandler Hill Partners provided me 75% of the services and therefore would not provide me a full refund. I did not receive the items promised in the agreement. I was also send 'documentation' which was made of faxed copies of forms with my signature and questionable dates.One document reflected that I received marketing collateral and contacts on 7/21 despite the fact that I have emails correspondence with my campaign manager reflected that as of 9/7 I had not yet been provided with the promised direct contacts.I requested an original, notarized copy of the documents and was told by the client advocate that I did not need them. In my experience, the people at Chandler Hill Partners are not adept in doing what they claim they are - career transition and marketing - but to their credit are adept as selling their services and not following through.I wish I had taken a friends advise when I asked her about this firm - she said you should never pay someone to find you a job. Use your network-talk to friends and family and get an honest critique of your resume. Do research-there are a ton of free resources out there. Do not let Chandler Hill or other companies like them con you into spending your hard earned money on an empty promise.On a side note, I reworked my resume with the help of a friend and former co-worker, have received calls from potential employees and have a phone interview next week.

I was told on more than one occasion that CH was a "retained search firm" and that 95% of their clients found positions this way and had fees paid.

Beginning in April 2009, I contacted Chandler Hill via website after seeing a webpage that indicated they had positions to fill for companies looking for people in certain disciplines. I submitted my resume and was contacted a few days later, and set up an appointment to meet with Jon Vargo in the Houston office. During this meeting he said that only 15% of available jobs were filled through the usual method of resume submission. The rest were filled through direct contact, and they had an upper edge because they were a retained search firm and they had special contacts in companies that allowed them to bypass the usual hiring method. I took a Myers-Briggs test. Based on the results, he said that my personality was receiving offers on an average of 35 days, and that I was qualified to be placed for a Director, possibly Vice President position. He then required my wife to attend a presentation where she was given the same sales pitch. It was this promise of them being able to bypass the usual employment gatekeepers and presenting me at a higher level to companies that relieved her concerns that this was a scam. I would not have gone with this scheme without her agreement based on their statements. I have other documentation to back up my statements. All of the other complaints that I have found online recently should also reinforce my statement. Absolutely nothing was said about clients using the "referral interview" method of finding employment, which it turns out is the only procedure that they use. The name of a specific HR person at Schlumberger located down the street from this office came up repeatedly during all of these meetings.

The contract that I signed had a sentence "Client acknowledges that CHP is not a placement agency..." The description of services provided by JonVargo were not indicative of a placement agency, therefore this sentence did not concern me. The Campaign Strategy in the agreement did not exclude the type of services as outlined by JonVargo either. He said they present me to certain contacts they have in a large number of companies via the video resume they produce. NOTHING was said about relying on the "referral interview" method of employment marketing until the very end of the Preparation phase. Why else would they produce a "video resume?" This product is completely useless with referral interviews.

The contract states that the value of Part 1 Services is $5287.50, and on reflection after the fact, there is no way these services are even close. I responded to prepared questions with answers that I already knew. There was no deep soul-searching to find the inner me as expected and implied.

I received a letter from Ms. Hill that says in the first meeting (between Jon Vargo and I), I was not under any false expectations regarding their services. My response to that is Ms. Hill was not there, I did not yet know what services were implied in the sales pitch or what services were provided in reality. I expected more than what was received based on the website that introduced me to CHP and implied that they had employers looking for employees: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/careers-707954-Chandler_Hill_Partners

Had "Referral interview" been said in the sales pitch, I would have left.

More notes of interest.

I emailed Geri Daily at CHP regarding my concern. The last sentence in my email read "I propose that services promised are to be provided, or a majority of funds paid should be refunded." Her response was "I am sorry to learn that you wish to terminate your agreement." There was no denial regarding the statements made by JonVargo. Her response categorically verified that CHP is aware of such statements made by Jon Vargo and that he is misrepresenting himself and/or CHP and purporting fraud.

I received a settlement offer from CHP dated November 17, 2009 and postmarked November 25, 2009. It said to return the signed agreement within 10 days. I received this letter on November 28, 2009. It was mailed 2 days before my response was due back. I wonder if this is typical of how they do business in cases like this.

My wife posed as a potential client for a meeting with Jon Vargo on Monday May 24, 2010 with a concealed recording device. In the recording Mr. Vargo clearly states on several occasions that Chandler Hill is a retained search firm, and that companies come to them looking for employees and that is how 95% of their clients find jobs. These are the same claims that I was told during my meeting with him last year. I relied on verbal statements by Mr. Vargo in making my decision to retain them. Prior communication with Chandler Hill has them saying that this was never said and that they are not a retained search firm. For this reason I demand full refund.