Report Abuse
“A bit of a long review here but it has been a long and...”
Written on: 24/02/2011
A bit of a long review here but it has been a long and frustrating experience.
Well where should I start when it comes to reviewing my own experiences and ultimately frustrations of using job agencies? ......I know with the worst one of them all...Hays.
Out of the blue a recruiter from Hays rang me after seeing my CV posted on a job website although; they could not or would not tell me which one! I assume that they are not allowed to but anyone who has used job websites will know that on some, like Monster, when you apply for a job a recruiter specialising in that area gets an email alerting them of another potential victim.
After the formalities of the initial phone conversation I was asked to come into my nearest Hays branch to register even more details. My first impressions were that it appeared to be a very professional organisation intent on customer satisfaction. How wrong was I? After being told that the recruiter who rang me had left the company, (a common theme or statement that numerous other people have said has been told to them), I was ushered into an interview room and told I would be dealing with the branch manager from now on. The interview went well and all seemed fine as he said he would definitely forward my CV on to the job they had rang me about. So after three weeks and no correspondence from Hays about this job I rang my contact only to be told he had now left the company. Therefore, I assumed that he had not bothered to send my CV off or that the company did not want to interview me. Either way I would never find out.....or so I thought.
By now, two months had passed since I visited Hays for my informal induction/interview and I had not heard back from them since being told my contact had quit. Then one again, out of the blue, I was contacted by Hays about a job that I might be suitable for. So after 30 seconds of the recruiter informing me of the details about the job I stopped him as I realised it was the same job they had told me about before. The recruiters response was to say that my previous contact had left the company and not forwarded my CV on after all (I was correct in my earlier assumptions). All that being said this new contact managed to forward my CV off. I then received a phone call saying that I was to be put forward for an interview but Hays would call me back with the time and location, (as both the company and location had not been divulged to me yet for some reason). I was told that they would ring me back the next day....they never did and after four days I put it all behind me. I then received a text message saying that I had missed my interview and could I explain why! Well this was news to me as I was not told when and where it would take place! I rang Hays up and surprising remained polite and cool and I asked them what the hell happened. I was told that apparently my contact, (my third one with this recruiter), had rang me up, spoken to me and informed me of all the details the day before the interview. I hit the roof and said that I am sure to remember any such conversation taking place and that no phone conversation between us had taken place the day before the interview. Yes like a MA postgraduate is going to forget that!
To sum up my experience with this agency I would say that I was treated like an idiot, lied to throughout our dealings and I would not recommend them to anyone. Total incompetent parasites that prey on job searchers. SCUM!
