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

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

Thank you for the review although I am of course disappointed with the content. Apologies for not responding sooner but it has only recently been brought to my attention. As this is a site that potential employees might read I feel it is only fair that I take the opportunity to address some of the points as directly as they have been posted.
Our male / female ratio currently stands at approximately 42% female, so I’m not in agreement on the very male dominated comment. We are an open and inclusive organisation and recruit and promote individuals based on merit alone. In fact, the fastest promotion to manager we’ve ever had is female. Personally I see that as irrelevant but I wanted to address your point.
It is possible that an employee that leaves after only a few weeks in the organisation wouldn’t be aware of that though and I will look at any improvements that might need making in that area.
As to your point about not paying staff, in our entire existence there has been just one significant issue, relating to somebody that had left the organisation. This would not be the right place to elaborate on that but I am confident in our payroll procedures and transparent reward structure and take heart from the fact that our current employees remain happy with their remuneration and incentive structures.
The statement ‘incentives are lies’ is a particularly risky one to make on a public forum. Obviously this is categorically not the case and our ongoing and transparent rewards structure would evidence that as indeed does our Penguin Recruitment Facebook page.
Penguin is a long established, successful business with a strong client base and a strong reputation. I am always disappointed when our place of employment doesn’t work out for an employee – particularly when they leave after just a few weeks – but we will continue to focus on delivering a good service to our clients and candidates and creating a fun, motivational environment for our teams to operate in. We continue to welcome job applications from people who believe they would perform well in such an environment.... MoreLess