Hays Reviews

Pros

Working at Hays, specifically the Calgary office can be a roller coaster. They hire people who do not have recruitment experience and give them a chance to really develop a career. The first few months are really tough. You will be thrown into uncomfortable situations and be forced to find your way out. You will probably cry, get angry and frustrated, even have to leave to blow off some steam sometimes. However after you get past that initial few months, you will start to have some wins. Your wins will be celebrated and acknowledged - they have monthly presentations that shout out all the wins of the people working there and recently made some changes so the wins dont have to be focused solely on profit. You will most likely make some really good friends while working there. There is this sense of "we are all in this together" and you can take comfort in knowing that everyone around you knows what it is like to have a bad day, or be disappointed by a manager, or be put in impossible situations. You will also have people around you who know how special even the small wins are so they will celebrate those with you as well. Everyone is pretty young and almost everyone is really helpful/ open to teaching new people. It is a great place to start a career and you will learn so many lessons working there, both professionally and personally. If you show interest in them, they will show interest in you.

Cons

Sometimes the job just sucks, but that is recruitment in general. You have to be able to handle the highs and lows of the job without breaking to the pressure. There is no real flex times or days and that is not going to change. They are an old school business who sees the benefit of your typical 8-5 job. There will also be lots of hours outside of work that you will need to be working. If you are looking for something that is 9-5, with an hour lunch, do not work in agency recruitment! You have to make your own success. There will be times where things are unfair. There are some people in the management team who are not the best leaders, they can be unfair and biased and all of those things that you are not supposed to be as a leader. But, there are also great leaders there who will help you to succeed and give you the advice and support you need - as long as you ask for it. Things will be unfair at times and you just have to be able to role with the punches. If you are looking for a trendy company that is all about that work/life balance, this is not the place for you. They have a strict dress code, no remote working, and are KPI based. Imagine what a job looked like 20 years ago and that is what you should expect. This isn't really a "con", it is just the way they work and if you go into the role with other expectations you will be disappointed.