Associate Recruitment Consultant Review

I have learnt so much from my time at Hays. I have met some great people, learnt valuable life skills and built up my confidence. There is a good social vibe at Hays and the team will go out together most weeks. Some of my time here has been difficult, and the role can be hard, especially when the environment becomes too competitive. However I am glad that I managed to complete my year here and I am grateful for the skills I have learnt. I have thoroughly enjoyed the satisfaction of placing candidates in roles and visiting them down the line to know that they are enjoying their role. I love the buzz of meeting a deadline and putting money on the board, contributing to the team total and my own personal goals.

This varied during my time at Hays. My team has changed around a lot since I first started, due to turnover. When I first began at Hays, some of the other employees saw me as just the Placement Student. However I then went on to bill similar amounts of money to my colleagues and prove my abilities. My direct team all get on really well and respect and help each other. Both in and out of work we all get along well. However the department as a whole can sometimes not be the nicest environment. Due to Recruitment being sales based, consultants sometimes feel the need to take jobs or money you have made and try and have it under their name. It is a very very competitive environment, and it is not always healthy. It can be hard to work in this environment and you won't always feel valued. However my direct team have been lovely and I feel supported and valued by my manager.

When I first began at Hays there weren't many new starters, this enabled my Manager to support me whenever I needed. She trained me up, listen and observed my work and provided constructive criticism. My manager then moved to become Director of our department and it was more difficult for her to support each individual. There was then a change around in management and I had a new manager, who would oversee 7 of us. This made it easier again to feel supported. As the turnover at Hays is quite large, even when I hadn't been here for too long, I was expected to support new starters and have them shadow me. I am now one of the longest members of staff in my department.

During my time at Hays I have been extremely busy, more often than not I run out of time in the day, than have noting to do. There is a lot of competition in our market and it is important that we act fast and deliver the quickest, and best quality service. There aren't usually many times where I don't know what to do with my time.

From the off with Hays I was given so much responsibility. When I first began with Hays I was supported by management and colleagues around me, as I was trained on how to conduct meetings and phone calls and the role itself. However I was then speaking to clients and candidates over the phone, conducting sales calls, interviewing candidates and meeting with clients. I now also have the responsibility of training the new starters and supporting the team around me when my manager is busy. I have even conducted team training on specific aspects.

I have learnt so much during my time at Hays. The main skills that will aid me when moving back to University are the organisational and time-management skills that I have developed. Working from 08:30-6/7pm seems like a very long day, however when you're busy and have lots of roles on, it can be difficult to manage time and make sure that everything is completed. I will definitely take these skills back to university, when revision and coursework become too much, I will remind myself just how much I managed to complete in a working day at Hays. A lot of things can go wrong throughout the process of filling a job at Hays. Candidates can pull out of roles or offers, or clients could offer the role and then take it back and there are times things just won't go right. I have definitely learnt to look on the positive side of things, to work out a way to fix things, rather than break down or give up. I know that final year will be difficult, and that there will be hurdles to overcome, but following my time at Hays, I have learnt to deal with these kinds of situations more efficiently. My confidence has also increased, I spend a lot of my time speaking, meeting with or negotiating with clients, this will make presentations at University easier for me.

The office is generally very busy, especially near the end of each month, when we need to meet deadlines for fees. There is always something going on.

Once I had started at Hays I never really had any contact with the internal team. New starters who weren't Placement Students would have aftercare appointments to make sure everything was going well, however I didn't receive this. My manager does have monthly meetings with everyone in the teaqm to make sure everything was going as planned.

Hays are very good with their training programme. When I first started I was shadowing and learning on the job. You are then sent off for training on week 6 and week 12 of your time here and these training sessions help so much and show you techniques for dealing with clients or complaints.

My management team have said in reviews with me that they think that I have done well over the last year, billed well and had a committed and strong work ethic. They have said they would love me to return after university.

I was the only Placement Student in my department and there hasn't been any regular events planned between placement students in the office. I would have enjoyed more of a socialable environment with the Placement Students. However everyone in my department goes out every Friday - which is nice.

The Bars around the Office are expensive, but that's fairly normal for London City.

There's a lot of bars/pubs/clubs around the area - some also have Happy Hour

Only a male football team.