Penguin Recruitment Reviews

Many thanks for your review and I am delighted you consider us a “A good company for recruitment!”
From your brief comments - I don’t believe you left this calendar year but if you had been here I think you would have found our social events have hit a new high with The Charity Quiz, Go Ape, It’s a Knockout, The Swansea Bier Festival and next month we are going for a VIP fast pass trip to Thorpe Park. And of course in July we have the New and Improved Sports Day with Beach Party in the evening. Similarly our monthly prizes have been generating some phenomenal results with people winning Jeroboams of Champagne, new outfits for work , new shoes, perfume and this month – a prize of your choice! You choose it, you hit target – you win it!

As for the downsides, it’s recruitment – we know it doesn’t suit everyone. We always explain at interview - it is a really tough telephone based job. The rewards are still fabulous – but you need a powerful engine and considerable staying power to get you through your first year and into a genuine career in recruitment .
Cut throat ? This I can’t understand – we encourage healthy competition – but at Penguin integrity and fair play always prevail. If the author of the review would like to elaborate I will investigate this with a matter of urgency.
Long hours – It can be, the nature of recruitment is we need to speak to candidates before and after work, however we do offer the opportunity for consultants to leave early up to three times a week. We do offer flexible working plus a “Sporting lunch” once a week for consultants to get involved in a sporting activity of their choice - eg surfing or the gym at lunch time. In fact today we are having shower facilities fitted so that lunch time runs and volleyball games can be more strenuous !
Cold Calling: It exists. The job does involve business development, but recruitment is a sales role . We are however very specialist which means that each consultant only speaks to one niche sector of clients and our conversations are about candidates who only work in that sector. As such if industry knowledge is used wisely, each call should be at least warm.

If anyone reading this is interested in a career in recruitment, please get in touch or pop into the office. We will be more than happy to show you round, you can chat to the new recruits and if you are lucky and move quickly you could find yourself on the bus to Thorpe Park!... MoreLess

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We would of course prefer all our employees to build a long career at Penguin, but I fully accept the reality of the competitive, commercial world we live in and that a percentage of people come and go in every organisation.
We do have quite a unique culture, accepted. We purposefully chose to create an organisation that had an element of fun about it and wasn’t too corporate in its style. I believe the majority of people enjoy that culture, but I totally understand that it may not be for everyone. A couple of the points you reference are from several years ago and have already been addressed within the organisation so I won’t dwell on them here.
I’m pleased to see that you considered the managers to be ‘superb characters and a big help’, but somewhat disappointed that you then mention they have little influence. I tend to believe that it is their character and level of support (that you mention) that makes them influential in the workplace. We certainly appreciate their work so I’ll have a think about addressing your point internally in case I’m missing something.
The current management team have progressed into those roles internally and we encourage all staff to work towards career advancement targets. Our business has grown (and can only continue to grow) if we bring talented individuals through from consultant to manager and that is something that we will continue to work on.
Thanks also for praising the incentive schemes. That’s an integral part of the way we work – offering activity days, prizes, lunches and so on to individuals and the entire team. And yes, the Christmas shopping giveaway is always popular (who wouldn’t like being given up to £1,000 to go shopping on a work day!). I’m not sure on your point that the raffles don’t go far enough though – we gave away a Sonos sound system and £1,000 holiday after all – but as usual we’ll discuss the incentive options with team members in case there is a lesson to be learned there.
Finally, may I wish you all the best in your future career.... MoreLess

Thank you for the review. My colleagues and I appreciate the positive comments around the manner in which we both train and develop our new consultants to enhance their recruitment skills and knowledge. This is important to us. It’s also pleasing to see that you enjoyed the incentives and activities that we organise. I’m a firm believer in rewarding staff and in trying to build a strong team ethic and such activities help achieve that in my opinion.
Obviously I’m disappointed to hear that you felt that some of our management processes were not to your liking. However, I have a duty of care to fellow staff and our clients and as such I will not shy away from following up on complaints of inappropriate emails being sent from the company email account – for example. We have worked hard to build a strong position in the market place and a strong brand reputation so I really make no apologies for protecting that.
We try our best to reward and recognise good performers and I believe there are great career prospects at Penguin for those that do perform well and meet our expectations in terms of representing the company and respecting fellow employees. I had thought this was communicated to all staff, but I’m sorry if this wasn’t clear to you during your time here. We will work to address that.
I wish you all the best in your new venture.... MoreLess

I'm beginning to wonder if we might be being targeted here with a campaign to discredit us – a sudden flow of similar reviews. It’s a competitive market and some will do whatever it takes to try to gain an edge. Anyway, that’s not my style or Penguin’s style, so I will again respond but I'd just ask any potential employees who are reading this site to come along and meet us - talk to me, talk to the team who are currently employed here. We're completely open about the way we work. Of course the views of employees that left us (sometimes after as little as a few weeks) are valid, but I would ask that you also keep an open mind and perhaps give greater credence to the views of those individuals that are our employees.

So, thank you for the feedback although it is disappointing to hear that you felt our business processes represented micro management. I have a responsibility to the business to ensure our financial forecasting is accurate. So for example, if a manager is consistently unable to provide performance updates that are genuine we do have to take steps to analyse that. We trust our employees and allow them to perform their roles unhindered unless there is an issue that needs addressing. The process is fair and transparent and we try to offer support to help turn any problematic situation around. I appreciate this could be considered micromanagement, although our intentions are entirely positive and transparent. I will consider how best to approach any similar situations in the future, but hope the need doesn’t arise.

As I’ve mentioned previously on here we do have a unique culture. We like people to have fun, be energetic and take pride in their successes. The incentives, bonuses and activities that reward staff are all part of that. As are the weekly meetings that are designed to ensure transparency across the workplace and help us provide accurate financial reporting. The intention is to encourage all consultants to strive towards hitting targets and earning bonuses by sharing success stories through the team. I accept that this culture may not be right for everyone though, but we feel it works well for the type of success-driven atmosphere we are trying to cultivate

Penguin remains a long established and successful organisation. We’re very proud of the culture and of the team that we have in place. We will of course always work to improve our client and candidate offering and to provide the best support and working environment to our employees. If anyone reading this has passion and self-belief and is motivated to build a rewarding career please do make contact with us directly via www.penguinrecruitment.co.uk for a fair and open conversation about the opportunities that exist right now.... MoreLess

Thank you for the review. Again I find myself wondering why we have suddenly been subjected to an influx of negative reviews, having received almost none in the previous 13 years of our existence . To all job seekers out there, I again ask that you contact us directly at Penguin to find out about the opportunities that exist here. I’ll talk openly and honestly with you as will any of my team (you can gladly talk to our current employees). We are a transparent organisation that believes in rewarding success and we welcome enquiries from anyone that would like to build a career with a long-established, well regarded recruitment specialist.
At the risk of repeating myself, I will address the points raised here. I’m pleased that you found the working environment fun – it’s important to us that the team enjoys what they do as ultimately that leads to a better level of service for our clients and candidates. We try to encourage a positive team spirit through the regular free incentives and activities that everyone can take part in.
As regards the combined points about micromanaging, motivating staff and career progression opportunities I am of course very sorry to hear that you felt that way. We try to support and develop team members who are struggling to find their way rather than leave them to drift towards the exit door. In most cases this has a positive effect and I’m always proud to see individuals that, mostly through their own efforts, are able to turn it around and begin to enjoy healthy commission payments and win incentives. I do understand that in a few, rare instances that could be seen as micro managing - particularly when performance improvements don’t follow and the individual chooses to leave the organisation - but the positive outcomes far outweigh the negative. I’m content to continue developing staff in much the same way as we have over the many previous successful years.
As an open and transparent organisation, the path to promotion is clear for all. I’m sorry that you felt those expectations were not attainable for you, but the fact that many individuals have progressed into management roles and continue to enhance their earnings gives me confidence that our career development programme is working pretty well.
Finally, allow me to respond candidly to the comment about the company financially benefiting the two directors. Yes, of course the co owners benefit from the success of the organisation - we now employ over 30 specialist consultants and the business is a far cry from the early days of Nick and myself working alone in a garage.
Going forward however and of utmost importance to me is that we are able to continue to reward the staff that have helped us to grow the organisation and that we are able to offer career paths and earning opportunities which reflect their commitment and dedication. In so doing we hope and expect that Penguin will continue to flourish.... MoreLess

What can I say – You can’t please all of the people all of the time. Incentives and team building activities are part of our DNA. In the last 2 months we have been surfing, paddleboarding and Go Ape as well as all expenses paid trips to Ascot Races and Alton Towers. So we do try to mix it up, but I do appreciate trampolining might not be everyone’s cup of tea – It wasn't my favourite either!
No Incentive to become a manager? Well the financial incentive is considerable, I am not quite sure how you were not aware?
Jim... MoreLess