Hays recruitment agency - experiences?

[jastreet1]

Hi all,

I am looking to employ a company accountant for Jan 2013 to help with the financial running of the business and take some of the responsibilities from me and the other half.

I have approached Hays following a recommendation, and wondered if anyone had any experience. They seem very keen (we have given £30-35k wage budget) and want to charge a very large £5k+VAT fee with much less 'insurance' than other companies offer?

My opinion is that I do not mind as long as I get a highly skilled person who fits the job role perfectly.

So does anyone have any personal experiences with Hays?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 138423]

Why would you use an agency and not source an accountant yourself for free? Advertise, that's all Hays would do!

In answer to your question, I have used Hays in the past and have dealt with them in placing people with them as consultants; they are not better than many High St agencies imo!

 

[Richie N]

You could try a specialist local Accountants agency.

 

[Richie N]

Why would you use an agency and not source an accountant yourself for free? Advertise, that's all Hays would do!

In answer to your question, I have used Hays in the past and have dealt with them in placing people with them as consultants; they are not better than many High St agencies imo!

For someone who done rec2rec, you're not doing a good job selling agencies.

 

[Billmccallum]

Hi all,

I am looking to employ a company accountant for Jan 2013 to help with the financial running of the business and take some of the responsibilities from me and the other half.

I have approached Hays following a recommendation, and wondered if anyone had any experience. They seem very keen (we have given £30-35k wage budget) and want to charge a very large £5k+VAT fee with much less 'insurance' than other companies offer?

My opinion is that I do not mind as long as I get a highly skilled person who fits the job role perfectly.

So does anyone have any personal experiences with Hays?

Thanks in advance.

Do you need an accountant or a finance manager?

Good financial managers are not always accountants, I have considerable experience in financial management in private sector SME's and small and large charitable organisations, but never completed an accountancy course.

In some situations it is better have the accountancy/audit function separate from the business (by that I mean the independancy of the audit from an external stakeholders point of view).

Identifying exactly what you need would be the first step and it could save you a large chunk of cash in the long term.

 

[uncle_rico]

Source an accountant yourself and save yourself some money in this current economic climate you can get a highly skilled person for a fraction of the desired wage, wait until they settle in and possibly offer an incentive/bonus if you want someone long term to commit themselves

 

[David Ballantyne]

You could try using a job website to advertise your vacancy.

Ones that I have found to be good as a job seeker in the past are:
reed .co .uk (pay to advertise)
totaljobs .com (pay to advertise)
indeed .co .uk (free to advertise)

These are the best sites for job seekers because there are lots of jobs on them. Conversely, they should also be good sites for employers with a vacancy because lots of job seekers visit them looking for jobs.

You will of course have the hassle of sifting through lots of CVs that applicants submit, but I suspect that it will be a lot cheaper than using an agency even if you include the cost of your own time.

 

[fisicx]

The two times I have been involved with Hays they were hopeless. They didn't understand the job spec, they were very poor at communicating and I couldn't even find the Job on their website.

Not saying the other recruiters were any better, all seem to be staffed with people who follow a script and have little working experience.

 

[Richie N]

The two times I have been involved with Hays they were hopeless. They didn't understand the job spec, they were very poor at communicating and I couldn't even find the Job on their website.

Not saying the other recruiters were any better, all seem to be staffed with people who follow a script and have little working experience.

That to me is down to the individuals, also they probably lack the knowledge of your sector and may not have had the correct training.

 

[David Griffiths]

That to me is down to the individuals, also they probably lack the knowledge of your sector and may not have had the correct training.

Maybe, but is it not the responsibility of the company to ensure that the individuals don't work in sectors where they don't have knowledge and do have the correct training before being let loose on paying customers?

 

[Richie N]

Maybe, but is it not the responsibility of the company to ensure that the individuals don't work in sectors where they don't have knowledge and do have the correct training before being let loose on paying customers?

The company should recruit consultants that have knowledge of the sector and yes they should ensure that they have the correct training.

 

[fisicx]

Hays contacted me with regards a technical authoring job. It was in a very specialised field that needed a high level of scientific knowledge. It was the Hays branch manager that contacted me. She professed to knowing nothing about the job and asked me if I were suitable! I sent them an updated CV and heard nothing back. When I contacted them I was told the manager was on holiday in Spain.

I did some work for Search. They were hopeless as well - the recruiter hadn't even read my CV properly.

Two other recruiters contacted me through totaljobs and never responded when I expressed and interested but they did both ask me to join them on linkedin!

One recruiter suggested I had something to hide because my facebook page was set to private.

 

[Richie N]

As the saying goes, a successful business is reliant on the people within it.
You do get unprofessional consultants and unfortunately it reflects on the agency's reputation.

 

[jastreet1]

Thank you all for your responses and I am pleased you have all taken the time to respond.

I have seen the job advert on the website here:

http://www.hays.co.uk/jobs-search/J...ion=leicester&isFuzzy=true&isHomePageSearch=1

Seems a bit jibberish but hey (excuse the pun).

I was kind of a little bit cautious because after the meeting I had about the vacancy, they said they would send an email and would I mind confirming everything with basically an all ok. This was sent late afternoon and I made a point in saying that I do not always come straight back and that they would have to bear with me on emails as I sometimes catch up when I get home but I would get back when I can.

That said I received 3 calls the following at at 09:02 (just walked in!) and again at around 1100 and 1400. My concern was the air of desperation if I am honest and I was not happy at all.

That said, they are very well known in the industry I am wanting to recruit for and come highly recommended. I have read reviews which seem absolutely diabolical, but they all seem to be from the employees side so its difficult for me to get any opinion on other employers who have used Hays.

If Hays are not the right company than who should I use for the skill set I am after?

Thanks again all.

 

[Deleted member 138423]

Using recruitment agencies is all about them working very closely and professionally with you to find the right person for your company. Don't accept anything less! Many High St agencies, Hays being one of them, tend to have the belief that if they throw mud at the wall, something will stick, but that doesn't help you, the customer who will pay very good money.

I would consider that a smaller, independant recruiter would perhaps be of better service to you and in terms of this, there are many independant specialis accountancy recruiters out there. If you do your due dilligence, you will find perhaps the right one for you, but please don't feel pressured by any of them to take someone on from them. Employing a company accountant or likewise is a very important for you, you need to get it spot on!

Alternatively, look at job boards to advertise on if you feel confident enough to deal with the whole process yourself.

Good luck!

 

[Richie N]

That said I received 3 calls the following at at 09:02 (just walked in!) and again at around 1100 and 1400. My concern was the air of desperation if I am honest and I was not happy at all.

When was this? As if it was within the last couple of weeks then things do go quiet around this time of year, so they would have more time on their hands to follow up new clients.
Saying that though, calling 3 times is a little too much, maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon is enough but you have to remember Recruitment Consultants are working to sales targets etc.
Some consultants do prefer to call clients before sending CVs to give them a brief on the candidate.

When you next speak to your consultant, just remind them of your preferred communication method and timeframe, they should then hopefully get the hint.

 

[karterbezon]

Hi Friend,
I have a good experience about an IT agency. I was searching for job for few months. My friend suggested me about xist4. I went through the reviews and past recruitment of the agency and after that i registered there. I got placed as a Software developer in an IT company.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I would take a different approach in that I would contact my present accounting company and ask for their suggestion as to what I really need in the way of qualifications etc and ask if they had any suggestions of people who may be available

Working on the assumption that the larger companies have most of the trainee accountants and hold onto trainees untill they qualify and then some move on others stay within the accountancy firm, so they may have people interested or know of somebody

Far better than a agency trying to second guess what you want and charging a arm and a leg for it

Even local papers would be better especially if you know what qualifications to ask for