Recruitment Consultant Review

I absolutely loved my internship with Hays Recruitment - so much so, I stayed on an extra few months, and have enquired about coming back part time during my final year studies. I really valued this internship as it was varied, I was giving responsibility from day one, and I felt challenged. The training programme Hays offered for interns was second to none, and there is plenty of social events throughout the year, giving you that real sense of being part of the team.

Hays have a great team culture in place. In the office I was part of a relatively small team, but throughout I felt my hard work was always acknowledged and praised, and useful advice and feedback was provided where needed. Throughout the year, I can recall numerous times a colleague asked me for assistance on a particular job and had great faith in me to deliver. On many an occasion, my colleagues have asked me to also come and meet one of their candidates in a registration, as they have valued my opinion on them and believed I could represent well to the clients I was working with.

In my first 12 weeks at Hays I went through a set training programme, covering all aspects of the role. My manager was always on hand to provide guidance and support on areas I was unsure of. This is an extremely busy office, and everyone in the team will always find time to help you out. After the 12 weeks, I sat down with my manager to review my progress, and advice and support on my next steps were provided. If an unexpected situation ever arose and I was unsure of how to deal with it my manager did not take the responsibly off me. They advised how to deal with the situation and full supported my approach.

When I originally seen my working hours for the week, I genuinely worried how I would get a 9 and half hour day in. Looking back, I don't recall many days were I have been "clock watching", and constantly found myself saying "there is just not enough hours in the day" Recruitment is an extremely fast paced and constantly evolving environment. Working as part of the team to fill temporary and perm jobs, I would also be sending out marketing, register candidates in the office, attending meetings with clients, managing temporary workers placements, working on compliance as well as various other back office administration duties.

A few months into my placement my manager went on maternity leave (although very short term) I was left with very important and challenging duties to cover in her absence. Alongside managing temporary workers placements, I was now registering jobs with clients as they came in, and working on them independently, advertising the roles, sourcing the right candidates, arranging interviews, providing feedback, and placing the successful candidate in the role! Working on an extremely busy desk, there has been plenty of occasions my manager has split the work between us, trusting I can deal with the pressure of filling roles, and is 100% supportive in my decisions.

The skills I have developed in this role, to me are skills for life! Being my first office job, I wasn't overly confident, but after 15 months in the role I have developed really strong team work and interpersonal skills which I believe will make me a more rounded and attractive candidate for any employer. Going into my final year of BSc Marketing, it's great to see information gained from the classroom actually working in real businesses environments. I believe It will make me more commercial aware for final year assignments, and I feel I will be a lot more driving to get a good grade to ensure I get such a rewarding and challenging job like this when I have graduated.

Hays is a very corporate environment, with a professional atmosphere but equally I felt very relaxed in the team and around my colleagues. The director has an open door policy, so it was great if I ever needed anything they were available for that support. The team were great to get on with, and you always got a laugh.

I was actually surprised how well the placement was set up, as I was only the second student to complete it in their Belfast office. I was provided with a lot of training and support throughout, and had regular meeting with my manager to review my progress. For the first few weeks of my placement, every morning I came in my manager had an agenda wrote out, so I was always kept busy and learning new things each day.

Hays offer a wide range of training opportunities for all to get involved with. Despite being a placement student, they were completely on board with investing in to my future. In my time at the company as well as attending a 4 day intern training course in England I would always be involved with online team training in the office. Hays also has an internal database of training courses that you may attend if interested.

Very appealing! Throughout my placement my manager made it clear that my work was valued by not only her but also the business. During the training programme I attended it was suggested that a good performance throughout the year there was a good chance of being offered a position on their graduate scheme. The fact I really enjoy this role, and being part of the Hays team, it acted as great motivation throughout the placement and meant that I was always wanting to do my best to impress.

For most of the year I was the only intern in the office, however I got on really well with my team and every few months we would have went out after work for food and drinks. Working such long hours in the day, this wouldn't have happened all the time but we always made an effort to celebrate birthdays and team achievements whether that be going out for lunch, or bringing a munch into the office!

I already was living in Belfast so I was well used to the cost of living in the City. Belfast can be as expensive or as cheap as you make it with a real mixture of prices in food, drink and activities. Rent would have roughly took up 1/3 of my wage.

Hays was located bang in the city centre and Belfast just like any other major city is filled with great pubs and nightclubs! There is also a great range of restaurants to choose from, and you are never stuck for something a bit different to do. (With dinner theatres, and the odyssey arena is within walking distances for music festivals/ concerts.

Moving up to Belfast I was providing with endless opportunities to get involved in sports team, and attend local gyms. I regularly attend music and sports events happening in the city. The company often likes to organise events for it's staff so you'll find that you never don't have something to do.