• Ivy Exec

2018 CUSTOMER CHOICE AWARD

Ivy Exec

Overview

Ivy Exec has a rating of 4.01 stars from 286 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Ivy Exec most frequently mention customer service, job search, and positive experience. Ivy Exec ranks 21st among Job Search sites.

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 100%
Positive
1
Neutral
0
Negative
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3
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What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

  • The paid subscription for Ivy Exec was worth every penny.
  • One of the better customer service experiences I've had.
  • 2018 Customer Choice Winner

Critical highlights

  • Several times a year, they get complaints about charges that were not authorized on people's credit cards.
How would you rate Ivy Exec?
Top Positive Review

“Credibility and Integrity”

Sunday K.
9/9/23

Ivy Exec Is A great Platform That offers Genuine Opportunity for Consumer to share Thoughts on Market Research and projects. They are highly esteemed on integrity and honesty with great customer support.

Top Critical Review

“Unethical business; Unauthorized charges; Run for the hills; Cannot get your money back!”

Srinivas N.
5/4/20

This is one of those unethical businesses that is around. I was charged $166 for 6-months membership without my consent. I tried to get the membership cancelled by writing to them a number of times, and called them few times. I have not received a single reply nor acknowledgement from the company. These kinds of businesses should not exist. I have never seen a business that starts with $0.99 and then switches you to 6 month membership costing $166. Somebody should put these people out of business. The CEO went to Columbia university, and has history of legal shenanigans. I cannot fathom how a reputed school can admit somebody like this. Accountability starts from the top. An organization is the reflection of its founders/management. Update: I got my refund, but still is NOT right.

Reviews (286)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

ivy exec (72) customer service (44) credit card (20)
Thumbnail of user sundaykeglovicrbd79
1 review
0 helpful votes
September 9th, 2023

Ivy Exec Is A great Platform That offers Genuine Opportunity for Consumer to share Thoughts on Market Research and projects. They are highly esteemed on integrity and honesty with great customer support.

Thumbnail of user niallg6
1 review
0 helpful votes
December 1st, 2022

A fantastic organisation! Great cutomer support from beginning to end of the process. The team are really informed and go the extra mile at every stage. I would recommend them unreservedly.

Products used:
Ivy Exec membership

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Value
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Thumbnail of user t3rranc3br0wn
1 review
1 helpful vote
November 30th, 2022

That didn't help me find the job, I want. I kept getting wrong jobs in the newsletter, so it's wasted money for me.

Products used:
Membership services

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Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user jennab218
1 review
0 helpful votes
April 1st, 2022

This company offers so many things to offer. The website has online learning of various business topics to educate yourself and your staff. I have referenced them to build a educational class for my staff. The surveys do pay if you actually answer the questions with expertise. I have nothing but positive experience with this company. I have been in Healthcare for 25 years, and not all companies are legit, but this one has been nothing but exactly what they say they are.

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Thumbnail of user anonymousa1454
1 review
2 helpful votes
June 24th, 2022

Ivy Exec has certainly had a controversial tone since its founding by Malek Jalal and Elena Bajic. Husband Malek Jalal was on the Board of Directors, wife Elena Bajic has been the CEO.

The company deserves praise in the last two years, as it has weathered the COVID storm of business, and seemed to reinvent itself, after very turbulent times.

Many people seem angry that they wish to be part of this best in class service, and often cannot make the cut, or do not get what they paid for. It is important to remember Ivy Exec is still a work in progress, and it will take decades before it becomes a sort of online country club for the best in class leaders to come together, be open with each other, and building trust. Slowly, it is coming along.

Among gossip circles in the city, etc. people who have taken a dislike to the company, or the current CEO Elena Bajic often make unfounded criticisms. Yes, Elena Bajic was married right after university to an older Malek Jalal; Bajic never had Wall Street experience, but simply married someone who was a renowned trader. Yes, Malek Jalal has been in prison for fraud. Yes, any legal search on a place like PacerMonitor, Unicourt, or even Justia shows that Malek Jalal has been in legal investigations for ten years, and there were lawsuits "Elena Bajic V Malek Jalal" "Jalal v. Bajic, Ivy Exec" and ten other lawsuits naming Jalal, even up to the present week this review was written.

Yet, anyone who actually researches the facts will see that Malek Jalal was involved in the bigger "United States v. Gregory Schnabel," a $50,000,000+ renewable energy fraud case. Malek Jalal of Unity Fuels was a subsidiary company, to which Malek Jalal eventually was convicted, faced with millions of dollars of fines and restitution.

However, to be clear, neither Elena Bajic or Ivy Exec was involved in any of this. Simply because someone disagrees with her management style, personality, business decisions, or expectations does not mean they should bring her personal life or the unscrupulous action of a spouse against her. That is unfair.

Additionally, Ivy Exec faces criticism because many of the employees are outsourced in Serbia. Serbia has less expensive labor, including white collar workers, combined with fast internet infrastructure. Ivy Exec is using a smart model by having a well-decorated, posh Manhattan office, with lots of manpower in Serbia. This is actually a way to keep productivity high, especially on a lean budget.

In the end, if people object to Elena Bajic or Ivy Exec, I suggest they write to their customer service agents. After terminating Malek Jalal at the time of his trials and divorce, the company has gone a long way to cleaning up all operations, and trying to refocus. I think this is a good example of reinventing a company, and working admirably towards better results, or even some sort redemption. I hope business schools eventually write a case study about everything that happened, and how to persevere during tough times.

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Thumbnail of user srinivasn7
1 review
17 helpful votes
May 4th, 2020

This is one of those unethical businesses that is around. I was charged $166 for 6-months membership without my consent. I tried to get the membership cancelled by writing to them a number of times, and called them few times. I have not received a single reply nor acknowledgement from the company. These kinds of businesses should not exist. I have never seen a business that starts with $0.99 and then switches you to 6 month membership costing $166. Somebody should put these people out of business. The CEO went to Columbia university, and has history of legal shenanigans. I cannot fathom how a reputed school can admit somebody like this. Accountability starts from the top. An organization is the reflection of its founders/management.

Update: I got my refund, but still is NOT right.

Thumbnail of user jayb767
1 review
8 helpful votes
January 5th, 2021

Ivy Exec is a scam that offers consulting fees for time and knowledge shared from industry subject matter experts but does not provide payment.

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Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user philips210
6 reviews
9 helpful votes
September 8th, 2019

IvyExec gives off a bad vibe.

Recently, they have done some webinars, etc. that get high rankings.

Several times a year, they get complaints about charges that were not authorized on people's credit cards.

Also, a deep web search owner Elena Bajic has a bad reputation as a self-serving person and a workplace bully, despite her open professions towards having family, pets and general philanthropy.

On the Better Business Bureau, they have a current rating of "F" and are not allowed to register because they have too many infractions.

Something just does not seem right about them.

Thumbnail of user masling
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
January 9th, 2022

I've been pleased with the interactions and communications with Ivy Exec company. They are honest and over deliver on follow-up and making sure things happen. I'm very much searching forward to working with them in future.

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Value
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Thumbnail of user razaa2
1 review
16 helpful votes
March 10th, 2016

I was paired with a Career Advisor who took the time to review my resume and gave me relevant, specific tips to improve my resume along with some examples. I was also invited to schedule a follow-up appointment after making the suggested changes to make sure that the changes fully show my skills and experience. The career advisor also listened to my current situation and suggested other job searching methods such as connecting with alumni through LinkedIn. Overall an excellent experience.

Service
Thumbnail of user richards124
4 reviews
31 helpful votes
January 30th, 2015

I clicked on their button for a job at Calvin Klein to which I am qualified. They responded saying that I didn't have the credentials to "become a member." I wrote them back asking if they'd seen my LinkedIn profile. They responded that they deal mostly in financial industries. Okay, so where's the CK job. I posted on LinkedIn my disdain for the company. My ancestors founded most of the Ivy League. As if... They rejected me, and so now I've broadcast that rejection to my networks. They're becoming infamous by the second. If you encounter them RUN FROM THEM SCREAMING!

Tip for consumers:
Run from them screaming!

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Thumbnail of user mikes932
2 reviews
16 helpful votes
May 11th, 2018

I had a very large project and the Ivy Exec team and RJ went above and beyond my expectations recruiting hard-to-reach respondents for my Market Research study. I needed 15 high-caliber business professionals in the insurance industry and they were the only vendors who were able to assist me. RJ went above and beyond making sure I had no concerns when the deadline was approaching and sure enough, they delivered. His Project Management team (I believe her name was Aleksandra) sent me daily reports of qualified respondents and always made sure all my needs were met. The project was a huge success and we have worked on several projects together since. I highly recommend RJ and his team for all of your recruitment needs. Especially hard to reach, c-suite executives.

Thumbnail of user ab3535
A B.
2 reviews
17 helpful votes
April 14th, 2016

Signing up for a free membership? Beware that your card auto charges after the short few days grace period--and you won't get a refund after 7 days. Just a scam to get a yearly fee charged automatically!! Go check out their reviews on yelp or the complaints on BBB-they all tell the same story. Their positive reviews are suspiciously too good when the BBB and yelp say otherwise.

Thumbnail of user patricks401
9 reviews
15 helpful votes
May 27th, 2019

The person was knowledgeable and gave me some great pointers and things I can do to make my resume better. I did not use any other service and hence cannot comment.

Thumbnail of user alexysw1
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
January 30th, 2020

Good to relate the theory to a practical situation at hand in the case study and then reviewing I was really impressed with the customer support team follow up

Thumbnail of user mimik5
3 reviews
28 helpful votes
December 10th, 2014

Yelp.com has penalized IvyExec for their shady self promotion. Go on their Yelp page and see how Yelp has hidden 31 of their reviews which were all between 4-5 stars. IvyExec thought they were slick by posting positive reviews on their own but Yelp caught on and hid all of them.

It goes without saying that IvyExec is a scam. Not only do they steal job leads from independent recruiters (they copy job leads from Monster.com LinkedIn.com and Dice!), they also steal money from their users. I honestly cannot wait till someone takes these criminals to court.

Shame on IvyExec and shame on Elena Bajic for running a criminal enterprise. Sooner or later Americans will rise up and put these Eastern European scammers to end.

I encourage all users who have been scammed by these criminals to go on every review board and warn others.

Tip for consumers:
Do not give them any of your information! This is a major scam.

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Thumbnail of user louv15
1 review
15 helpful votes
February 24th, 2017
Verified purchase

Great interaction with Ivy Exec - sharp folks, very client and delivery focused. We were hoping to source a bit more expert interviews overall, and there was a mix-up with the payment process with one of the Experts, which led to the Expert not providing part within the deadline of the agreed insights, but I hope the payment was sorted out in the end. Thanks to Hanna and the team for supporting us!

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Value
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Thumbnail of user jeffd59
1 review
16 helpful votes
January 14th, 2016

Ivy Exec has been a useful resource, with information about careers and opportunities. I recently participated in a survey with them, and I was impressed with the thoroughness of it. The questions were meaningful, and there was a follow-up call from an actual person! This definitely lends credibility to their output. When I had a question about the process, they were responsive and answered my questions.

Thumbnail of user tait12
1 review
15 helpful votes
June 23rd, 2015

Nii provided excellent customer service and really articulated where the weaknesses were with regards to my CV. He provided clear solutions on how to improve it and avoid colloquial jargon that was a bit passe or even overused. He also provided stylistic advice in terms of how best to structure the CV in light of initial HR resume scans for keywords. His advice was brilliant and I look forward to seeing the traction it brings in terms of my career transition. Thanks Nii and Ivy Exec!

Thumbnail of user kapaluam
1 review
12 helpful votes
September 5th, 2013

You will be calling the customer service number because their website isn't very good. Customer service rep is pleasant enough when they can answer the phone but I wonder exactly what they do. Their job board is dated at best or filled with fictional jobs, at worst. Of all of the job sites I have visited, easily the worst.

Thumbnail of user stevenm399
1 review
7 helpful votes
October 11th, 2018

I've attended several of the webinars (and regularly read the articles) and have always found them highly valuable for older professionals such as myself.

Thumbnail of user davidd138
1 review
15 helpful votes
May 28th, 2015

Promptly rejected within 12 hours because they could not approve my application. I have a BS in Pharmacy, an MBA, and I have started 3 successful businesses but I have 28 years of experience in sales and business. Maybe my age is a problem; I'm 50!
Beware experienced sales execs, your age may be a problem. Isn't this called discrimination?

Thumbnail of user sammih4
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
August 30th, 2020

They are ok and can be relied on, and are managed by professionals who know what they are doing. You can trust them

Thumbnail of user lawrencer18
1 review
18 helpful votes
March 25th, 2015

Why anyone would pay for this service is beyond me... After signing up for the free month it became fairly obvious to me that 99% of the opportunities can be found on free sites or on the original Company Website, you just need to do some quick related searches to find them.
Of the jobs that were recommended to me, a large percentage were not in my related field, so they were just throwing more darts at the board, rather than focusing on good matches. Relevant jobs sent my way quickly ceased to exist, the allocated account manager was often OOO when I reached out to them, and failed to follow up upon their return, and even the All Access service failed to get me access to certain opportunities.

DO NOT sign up for this service... no matter how desperate you are to get a job...

Tip for consumers:
DON'T DO IT!!!

Thumbnail of user joig3
1 review
6 helpful votes
May 11th, 2017
Verified purchase

My first time working with IvyExec and we had a challenging project on our hands and they worked on the project for a month and a half to get it done. They came up with solutions, was patient with the process and truly enjoyed partnering with them. Looking forward to our next project together. Great work all around Aleks and Mirjana.

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From the business

Ivy Exec offers executives jobs, career advice, and paid market research studies for senior business leaders and subject matter experts.

Company Representative

Thumbnail of user kevink76
Milijana R.

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4.0
286 reviews
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