Red Recruitment in Bristol

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  Tijana Boskovic

  :: 07 November 2017 21:21:58

  Awful experience, don’t waste time here! They want to give everyone low-paying, entry-level jobs. When someone recommended me for a higher-paying position, they got mad. I was sitting there with a bunch of wannabe bougie office staff who were trying to tell me that they’re better than me and that I have no right to make as much money as them. I got the sense that the office staff didn't know anything about what employers wanted and couldn't get past their own narrow-minded prejudices to find out. I’m not a "migrant" but I am here on a 2 year youth-mobility visa from Canada, and as a Serbian-Canadian, I experienced the same, and perhaps even greater discrimination, from people who are supposed to be trying to help employers find the right fit for their companies!! These people were basically doing everything they could to convince me I was wrong for the position, overtly stating that my visa wouldn’t help me in securing the job (untrue, I later phoned around, no one cares), while implying that my degree was useless. When I explained I had a Master’s degree in English literature, Katie just raised her eyebrows and nodded in a patronizing way. Everyone in this office seemed to minimize my degree past the point of common sense. Yes, I understand it’s not related to experience, but I got the impression that they were doing everything in their power to down-play it, which makes you wonder what kind of agency it really is. I should mention that I was suggested for the role by mere coincidence, after calling in for temp jobs.. Someone picked up, asked for my CV, was impressed and said they had something they thought I would be a good fit for. After some digging around on linkedin, I realized this person who recommended me was the one person of colour in the office, and when I asked if she would be speaking to me about the role, Katie just smiled and said “no, I’ll be interviewing you," and that X person was just an associate of hers. It sounded more like a threat than an opportunity. The vibe during the “preliminary interview” was one pitting me against her, she was asking so many questions to disqualify me (even as I met the requirements for the role entirely), and doing anything she could to render me “unfit for the role.” She couldn’t even hold eye contact with me, it was that transparent. When I arrived, I saw Hayley, who I spoke to at length on my first visit to the agency, and who tried to get me to take the first minimum wage call centre job she had (explaining that, she too started from the bottom and worked her way up - except she had no education, but fair enough). When I saw her, I smiled and said hello, but she just scowled and walked away. It was like I had started a war just by showing up to the agency and suggesting I had the right to apply for the position. The office secretary kept rolling her eyes as she printed off my CV, and asking how you pronounce my name in a smug voice. I’m not writing this to try to get some accountability from RED (duhhh), I understand this happens everyday with them. I’m just trying to help others see through the facade, so that these clowns don’t waste your time like they wasted mine. I took a day off work to speak to them about this position.. was told I’d receive a call with a mock role-play interview..never did. But what’s most insulting is not the fact that this job was being kept from me, or that I was being sabotaged from applying in some way, but that they really tried to do everything they could to make me feel inadequate. Ie. Katie said things like “this job is very demanding, I would’t even be able to do it” ..I don’t see why she would be a benchmark for my capabilities, so on and so on. Instead of boosting me up as an agency, they did everything they could to tear me down. Well, if there’s one thing my MA taught me - it’s how to analyze and dissect operations and write scathing sentences to sum them up. Anyways, my confidence about job hunting was really depleted after working with this agency, and it took getting away from this place to finally feel better

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  Leah

  :: 05 September 2017 15:57:28

  This agency contacted me about a job, when I went to the interview I was told that "I didn't have the experience for that job" even though they contacted ME about it in the first place. Instead they said that a company called OVO Energy was recruiting and that they'd pass my CV on and I'd hear back from them about in about a week, 2-3 weeks later I hadn't heard back anything so phoned them up. I was told the person I had to speak to wasn't available, and she'd get him to phone me back later. He never phoned me back! This happened again when I tried to phone up a week later!! I'd had enough of this agency so went to the Bristol centre to find out what happened, the guy again "was in a meeting" (typical!!) and someone else came out to talk to me about it. She said she didn't know why I never heard back from them, and would get him to phone me back on Friday last week, which again I didn't receive a single phone call! She also told me there are no jobs available right now, which is funny as I got a spam email yesterday from them that they send everyone who is signed up with them about a job going at OVO energy. The cheek! Please don't waste your time here, this is the first and worst agency I signed up with. Lots of promises and they don't deliver.

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  Patrick Morton

  :: 10 July 2017 16:16:49

  top notch, landed me a job v. quickly

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  Henry Woods

  :: 15 June 2016 14:45:28

  Had a phone call from a consultant about a job which I was interested in a few weeks agao, consultant said they'd submitted me to the job, chased them just over a week later for feedback as had anything about the job, the consultant gave me feedback that I didn't hold the desired experience for the job (even though the consultant was sure I would be ok for the job with my background) I called the company directly (that I'd supposedly been submitted to, as they had another job available on recently for that company to tell me that they'd never had an correspondence or my CV from Red!! very disappointing to be lied to, and not the first time I've had issues with Red Recruitment. Not very professional bunch of liars!! Would recommend Brook Street, Mainline, Reed, Pertemps any day!!

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  Kadel Antoine12

  :: 02 March 2016 03:22:37

  A very disturbing experience. My friend tells me in the first instance she continued to be contacted for jobs well below her experience and salary level. Despite asking not to be contacted unless there was a suitable job, again she continued to be contacted where on each occasion she says it felt like she was being coaxed into Junior Roles and a "fishing expedition" took place where enquires were made into which other agencies she was in contact with and what job she was being put forward for. Then there was the issue with another agency advising her that they had put her forward for a role and that they understood that another agency had put her forward also. She stated to me that she was perplexed, as she had not spoken to anyone about this role. The other agency advised that it was Red, when asked Red Recruitment refuted the allegation. Due to the drama of the two agencies interaction with her and the now frown from the client she was forced to withdraw. Okay then a role came up and she was asked if she wanted to be put forward, she attended the first interview, and was called in for a 2nd interview. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful with the client choosing the other candidate with more industry based experience. You would have thought that she would have been notified that she had an unsuccessful application from the agency that put her forward, not at all. She heard absolutely nothing from them Thursday, neither Friday so decided to contact the client directly. The Client was embarrassed however advised my friend that she was not successful. In turn my friend contacted Red and advised that their conduct was improper and discourteous and they had a duty of care to notify her that she had been successful. The client was copied into the email. What occurred after left us both shell shock, The manager contacted her by phone. First she was extremely dishonest advising that a message was left on her phone that she was unsuccessful, who leaves a message on an answerphone of that nature, her main reason however for calling was that she appeared to be embarrassed possibly has her client was aware of the critical email they were copied into. My friend terminated the call and barred her number and sent an email asking not to be contacted again, self pity from an agency when they failed to do the right thing. . In my opinion stick to what one deem to be the tried and tested reputable recruitment agencies that have been around for a considerable amount of time who have treated people well with courtesy and respect. In my opinion as she created no commission for them in this role she became invisible. When seeking employment one needs a calm and balanced interaction and my experience of this agency has been one of chaos and I as a Recruitment Consultant gasp when I hear stories as this as it conveys a message that all agencies are like this which is an issue for the industry.