Recruitment Consultant Review

I loved my placement year as a Recruitment Consultant at Hays. I worked as part of the education team recruiting leaders. I was supported and given high quality training from the start. I learnt a great deal during my year and feel I have developed my skills and expertise of the recruitment market.

From the get go I received a lot of support and guidance from my Manager and the training team. My first week at Hays involved intense training in class and at my desk. I received training on how to use the systems and databases and all aspects of working with candidates and clients.

I feel I have developed a huge range of skills during my placement year at Hays. I have developed not only my verbal communications skills but also my written communication skills which will assist me in my future studies. I have gained confidence and had a real insight into the professional workplace.

There was a great atmosphere in the office and I felt right at home. Hays is an extremely sociable company and everyone was easy to talk to. Whilst consultants at Hays work extremely hard, the atmosphere remained positive and relaxed. Most consultants spend their time on the phone and the office is bright.

My intern year at Hays was extremely well organised. There were 11 interns starting in my office in total, spread over three start dates in the summer. I started with 7 other interns and from the get go it was extremely well structured. It is well set up so that you have the training and develop the skills needed to come back after your final year of studies.

On the day I started my placement I received training in class and at my desk. Over the course of my first month with Hays I received morning and afternoon training with the directors and managers of the business. I also completed online modules to gain a better understanding of the online systems.

Hays set up the intern year and provide you with all the relevant training and skills in hope that you'll come back after your final year of studies. Hays offers a structured career path where you can be promoted fairly rapidly. If you have already completed the intern year, promotion can be more rapid.

During the training and various intern conferences I got to know the other interns very well. My team was a fairly young team with other interns and graduates. This meant I had a very sociable year and there were always additional opportunities to go on work incentives with the team eg. bowling, dinner, drinks etc.

I lived at home during my placement year and commuted into London. My commute was about an hour and a half and was quite expensive. being in central London the cost of living and socialising is a lot higher than at uni but equally your salary is sufficient to cover this.

If we hit targets every month we get to leave early and go to the pub for 5 free drinks each. Being in London the nightlife is great and there is a lot of bars, pubs and clubs etc locally. Living further away, I could easily stay at one of my colleague's houses after a night out.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in activities. For example, there were charity bake sales and runs eg. tough mudder, race for life etc. We often have incentives we can go on with the team for free if we hit our targets such as bowling, drinks, trips abroad, dinner.