I was curious about Parabolic (parabolicusa.com) so I filled out their brief interest survey and booked a Calendly call...
Red flag 1: They ask in the survey whether you are okay with paying for their service (implying that you pay before even getting an offer)
Red flag 2: I scheduled two separate calls through Calendly with two separate employees and neither showed up for their calls. I even sent out reminder emails 5 minutes in and they each replied later with some BS excuse as to why they got held up.
Red flag 3: Several of their employees are interns (currently in undergrad) and several others don't even have Parabolic listed on their LinkedIn profiles, which reminds me of people I somewhat know that are in those mega-sized pyramid schemes (Amway, etc.) who also knew not to post it on their profiles.
Red flag 4: They do not post any of their job listings on their website. There is no knowing that they even have many postings to list..
First hand experience with them right now (2 weeks in). All of this is correct more or less:
1) Yes you put down a deposit to begin a headhunting contract with them. They work for you not like Shelby Jennings that works for the company they were hired by and pays them.
2) Yeah they are disorganized as hell I still get marketing emails about their services even though I'm already a client.
3) Femi Palmer and Tony Zheng are the two main guys doing all the leg work and the others are kind of fluff. However there are coaches behind the scenes that do interview prep and resume review that don't show up because its a side job for them. Think like WSO mentors but with more specialized experience and it was more productive IMO than any WSO mentor that I have experienced. The coaching part is definitely the most solid part so far.
4) Yeah after you get brought in they share this google drive equivalent like thing that's full of "nothing data" like here's a bunch of job's, talk to the rep about each one you're interested or don't because you are going to brought up anyway if you're a fit so it doesn't matter.
My maybe naive stance so far is they can be as sketchy as they want to be as long as they get me a job.
Thanks for the insight! How much is their deposit? What percent of your job offer base-pay do they take? I hear it is ~10%, which for the Associate level, would be around $13K.
They had 3 different packages with 3 different options each for deposits it could be 0 to 10k (no base % charge for 10k). I think at best its as low as 7k and at worst 16k. I wouldn't use them if you already have direct industry experience. I still have them if you shoot me your email.
Hey bud,
So can you update on any progress so far?? Have you landed a job?
I understand all the red flags and concerns yet somehow I'm still here debating if I should use their premium service to get me a job..
When I started using their service back in the Summer it was disorganized, but they picked up the slack by September and things have been pretty good since. I have been on the Premium plan so they were very responsive and serious about giving me a premium experience. I started using them in August and stopped last month after I landed an offer in Fixed Income Sales & Trading at a Bulge Bracket. I was previously doing Trade Support at a Bulge Bracket and came from a semi-target school (Class of 2020). While their prices are high, the jobs they help people get are also high-paying so I thought of it as an investment. While there was a small chance I could have got the job myself, the process likely would have taken at least a few months longer than without the help of Parabolic, which ensured I was prepared for interviews but also helped network and source on my behalf. They are also cognizant of people's financial situations and gave me a generous discount, so I am very happy they did this for me
Please any update on your side? I’m considering taking the service.
THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM I USE TO WORK FOR THEM BEWARE EMAIL JACKHARDENPARABOLIC@GMAIL FOR PROOF
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/job-search/headhunter-review-para…
Thoughts
Hey Any updates on your progress with parabolic so far? Were you able to land a job/interviews at good firms/salary
Please stand by for further comments...
Any updates? jordan 6?
I recently had experience chatting with their representative. I am thinking of buying premium package, but the more I search for them, the more doubts I have. I could not find any reasonable information about their company, after checking their Facebook page I am questioned even more: all the reviews does not look real for me, including people who made reviews. Going to LinkedIn and searching for further, I found few guys who recommended their service on their official page, some currently work at Parabolic, and even those who land decent jobs in Banking/Consulting looked to me more as a classmates of founder from Penn, rather than real customers. Anyway, I am in high uncertainty about trying their service, anyone had any updates?
I have had a two conversations with this Femi Palmer character. I ultimately decided work with them for two reasons. Firstly, they contract they sent over was full of typos. Secondly, I it may be a scam. My understanding of their business model is that you pay $XX amount to work with them once they get you a first round interview and they will work with you until you get "that job" offer. As they mentioned on their website they are well connected. So, what if they have a hiring manager they are friends with pull you into an interview process with no intention of bringing you past the 1st round......
Any updates to share? What service did you purchase?
Hi James, they have a money back guarantee policy based on landing a job, not receiving an offer or even an interview. If they have friends who are hiring managers and get you an interview, then that wouldn't satisfy their money back policy.
I was also a bit concerned when I saw typos in their contract. However, I gave them the benefit of the doubt as they are a startup without a legal team. It was a risk, but I am happy I took it
Please would like to hear if you have any update ? I’m considering the program.
I really enjoyed my experience, it helped me break into Investment Banking in a particularly tough market. I am an International Student as well, which made it even tougher for me. Parabolic’s robust connections and very helpful and kind coaches helped me a lot
FEMI IS A CON ARTIST
lol mind expanding?
I asked about their "money-back guarantee". In summary, their service is $500+ per month to get 20 applications. There is no money back for submitting applications. Do not use their services. They have sent me 7-8 emails pushing me to join. Their most recent email:
I know cost was a concern in the past, which led us to come up with an Access package that only costs $500/month and that you can cancel at any time. It comes with 2 coaching sessions a month and 20 job applications we do for you, plus the Notion Drive with the ATS-beating resume software as well as the other factors that were mentioned in the previous packages.
We do not give a money back guarantee for the job application services, since we are physically applying to jobs for you and sharing the sheet with you.
Service essentially saves you time.
I was always interested in working in Equity Research or Investment Banking. However, I attended a non-target school and have been working in Business Operations at a bank and strongly disliked my job. It was just not something I was passionate about. At first I was skeptical of paying $5,000 for a service, but what I can tell you is the price is more than worth it, especially for people looking to get into front-office finance jobs as well as roles in consulting. I was paired with multiple great coaches, including Femi (the Founder), Bobby, and Akin. They helped me ace my interviews and introduced me to their connections, which spanned across various banks and other financial institutions. I got a new job in Investment Banking in 2 months!
Fake account^?
I'm calling BS too. Equity research, investment banking and consulting couldn't be any less similar, and no amount of connections can get you an IB job that quickly with zero direct/adjacent experience.
YESS FAKE ACCOUNTS ALL OVER THIS SITE AND OTHERS I USE TO BE INCHARGE OF THEM
I do know of a job placement firm that is legit because they helped me out personally. It is called EGIS Careers and here is my review:
I was very hesitant at first, I did not believe a service like this could be real. But Ameen did everything he could to show me his past clients and explain the whole placement process. I was very exhausted already, networking with employers one by one and sending emails every day but with little to no success. After some due diligence, I only heard very good things about Ameen, so I decided to give it a shoot. Long story short, it was well worth it. In less than a month, Ameen was able to secure me an internship in the prestigious industry of investment banking. He is straight to business and will make sure you are prepared to answer all of the possible questions the interviewer might ask you (He is pretty good, I got an offer with the first firm I interviewed with!). Ameen will respectfully give you raw feedback, but this type of coaching is necessary to be able to compete and land a job in one of the most competitive industries around the globe. After my experience with him, I do recommend him without a doubt for anyone looking to get into investment banking, buyside or any other type of gig he may be able to help with.
Strong first post. Lol I am grabbing popcorn for this thread.
I have friends who used Ameen and have great things about him. One of the reasons why I chose Parabolic (despite their spammy emails) is their pretty robust network of coaches compared to Ameen, who is only one person. Which of their advisors told you they were in Investment Banking while they only an Investment Advisor...? Prior to booking a session with a coach or mentor, one can very easily look them up on LinkedIn or just ask for their resume. Kinda tough to lie about such things
Again, BEWARE guys. There are several fake reviews/comments on this thread. ^This is one of them. They monitor these forums. Also both EGIS and Parabolic seem to be created/run by the same people.
I WROTE THIS COMMENT IT IS FAKE
I spoke to EGIS back in the summer and their approach is much less personalized approach and the number of coaches that Parabolic has is much greater than that of EGIS. The guarantee policy of Parabolic is much better than that of EGIS, which has an "interview guarantee", lest I am mistaken. I believe it is 4 interviews or an offer, but this means very little to candidates like myself who did not have a problem receiving many interviews, but acing those interviews was where my struggle was. Parabolic has a 100% Job Guarantee, which is much more comforting if you are about to invest many thousands of dollars into something.
I wrote this comment its fake
This is likely a fake comment^
it is a fake comment I wrote it before I left the company!
Parabolic was quite helpful to helping me move from the sell-side to the buy side. I used Parabolic to move from BB ER to a $2.5bn single manager HF. It took about 3 months and several rounds of interviews at a dozen places but they were getting me phone screens and first rounds. My behavioral and technical skills were already decent, but having great coaches like Josh and Richard (a portfolio manager at a multi billion dollar hedge fund) really helped. You can apply to jobs yourselves self and learn most of the technical guides and behaviorals for free but it's nice to have them all in one place. Can't say enough good things about the coaches, but their emails can be spammy
I wrote this comment its fake !
Hey everyone, this discussion does seem helpful as it kind of portrays there are people getting good things out of parabolics. While cost was an issue i did sign up for their services. And even though there can be loss of money if they are scam, i am concerned if they are involved in something illegal ( too far fetched, but stuff like human trafficking). I am from India and signes up for their services to land a PE role, adjacent to one i am in but just a promotion. So any thoughts on these concerns you guys?
I posted a detailed discussion of the issues I came across while running DD on them on the jobs board, you should check it out if you havent already. Thought it would be a quick hour task but kept finding more flags the more I looked
This company is 100 percent a Scam. I worked for them firsthand, and I can tell you they don't get people's jobs. They supply a terrible product and don't care about the customer. The owner is a con artist that pockets the money and hides behind contacts to lock people in and not give refunds. They have been banned on multiple payment process servers for this exact reason.
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