Average at best, incompetent & unprofessional at worst!

“Average at best, incompetent & unprofessional at worst!”

Written on: 27/05/2012 by The_Revenant (1 review written)

I have been attempting to procure employment through the Cambridge office of Brand Recruitment for some time now.

I have been registered with them for years, and have made an effort to visit them over the 90 mile, costly round-trip at least three times. As a marketing professional, I take my trade very seriously - and my reputation. Therefore I find it sad that the first time I've been driven to write a review about a recruitment agency is because of Brand Recruitment - a key employment channel for me.

Essentially my review boils down to a few defined issues -
1) Every time I speak to Brand, I'm dealing with a different person. Even within the established 'markets' I'm approaching! Their staff turnover is HUGE. This is not good, and gives me no confidence in Brand.

2) The way I am handled as a candidate is appalling. I am treated like a commodity, given very little information about my applications, and generally made to feel like an annoyance or in recruitment terms... "A.W.O.T." .... or "one of them!"

3) Lack of response to emails regarding applications or simple queries, this is totally unacceptable and shows Brand up as second-rate.

4) Telling me whether I'm suitable for a role or not, with NO information about the role passed on to me, is not only arrogant to the extreme, but also self-defeating. The agents I turn to time and again are the ones that KNOW me, and KNOW what I'm capable of. Brand's team couldn't care less, don't WANT to KNOW me, and don't deserve the awards they've somehow garnered.

5) Finally, whilst other agencies have succeeded in obtaining interviews for me, and have made it easy to use my employability to enhance their offering to clients; Brand has not. They have no interest in the 'right' fit for their clients, just the convenient or easy fit for their 'consultants' - the use of this word makes me laugh when referring to Brand, as very little consulting has been performed.

In Summary:

I am NOT a competitor to Brand, nor have I have any particular 'beef' with Brand or any individuals within the organisation. I felt that as a marketing professional, others of my ilk should know what they're up against when applying for positions through Brand Recruitment.

I hope that Brand can redeem itself, as I am still in contact with a couple of excellent consultants that have left the agency - who are not in a position to help me. These consultants KNOW me, just like I wish Brand would.

If you want to experience the frustration and incompetence, find them here:
http://www.brandrecruitment.co.uk/