Allen & Associates

This was such a terrible waste of my money. I paid for their services about a year and a half ago and still have a bad taste in my mouth. I believe it was about $ 2500. They claim they will do a targeted company search, all I did was choose names from a very long list of local companies which I could have obtained on my own. I can’t remember how many companies I was able to choose but there was a limit. I don’t even know if those companies hire product managers… There was nothing targeted about it, they had no inside information or connection to these companies.
They offered 2 hours of one-​on-​one career counseling via the phone with a career counselor of your choice. It turned out to be a joke — basically we just connected through LinkedIn, the woman talked a mile a minute and didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.
They redid my resume. I was furious with the first draft. It was obvious based on the mis-​spelling and the grammatical errors that the person who drafted my resume did not speak English as their first language. I insisted on someone else writing a completely new draft, but really all they did was re-​word my existing resume. They didn’t bother to glean any new, applicable information from me. The only thing new that I learned was to leave out the months of your work history, just include the year.
The fiasco ended with a package in the mail. A portfolio with Allen and Associates in gold which I would never use and promptly threw away, a bunch of printed copies of my resume and some blank envelopes and a CD with a copy of my resume burned on it. Waste of paper, waste of postage, waste of a CD, waste of a portfolio, WASTE OF MONEY.
Supposedly they sent an email cover letter along with my resume to someone (hiring manager, HR, who knows?) at the companies I chose. I received no phone calls, no emails, not even any auto-​generated emails from any of these companies.
I highly recommend that you do not use Allen and Associates when looking for a job.

I have a bit of a biased opinion, because I used to work here. But I took the information that we provided for our clients and used it to get the job I wanted when I relocated to DC. Allen and Associates is a career consulting firm. The have professional writers put together your resume and broadcast letter. Trust me you need it!
They send out the letters for you to the companies you pick. The letters are addressed to decision makers that will you hire you. They even give you the list to make follow up phone calls and set up the interviews. Then they prep you for the interview and provide you with a list of questions to ask and how to negotiate a higher salary.
Packages range from $ 900-​$ 5000 and pricing depends on how many companies you want to approach. When I had to relocate to DC to get married, I had the writers re-​do my resume and give me a list of companies in DC. I had 3 job offers my first day of interviewing because of the knowledge and preparation. I took the information I was teaching my clients and tried it in the real world. My first job offer doubled my salary. I also used the information to double my salary again when I relocated to San Francisco. The knowledge they provide you with is priceless.
There isn’t anything they do, that you can’t do yourself. But who has the time to professionally put together your resume and research 100 plus companies. That is what you really pay for. If you are stuck in your career or just graduating from college like I was, I recommend hiring Allen and Associates to professionally market you to companies you want to work for. I know this sounds like a commercial, but it really works.
Also read the book: What color is your parachute?
A lot of the stuff they teach you can be found in that book.