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Barclay Simpson

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Quickly becoming 'Just another recruiter' - Recruiter Barclay Simpson Employee Review

1.0
27 June 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great mix of clients, you’ll be allocated an area or a selection of clients to work with who are legacy and so you can start building a pipeline. Depending on your team, there is a fairly relaxed culture for going for drinks or long lunches. Reward culture for big billers

Cons

Flexible working is a myth, particularly if you don’t have children. Regardless of your commute or competence, generally working from home is frowned upon. If this is something you are looking for, regardless of your situation, negotiate this when you receive your offer and try to get it in writing as otherwise it is highly unlikely. There is very much a facetime culture- CEO likes to know exactly where people are, if a desk seems empty, he will ask about your whereabouts. Politics is a big issue, cliques are evident & nasty and people do get picked on. Diversity- Yes it is something they are trying to change on a visual level, but attitudes are still from 30 years ago. Profit share used to be a big scheme that made the firm different, but with the new management, the firm is progressing quite quickly towards a traditional commission model so I wouldn’t buy into this in interview.

Explore other reviews about Barclay Simpson

5.0
23 Nov 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People are great to Work wjth

Cons

Nothing j can think of

5.0
11 May 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I joined more or less out of uni and feel I landed on my feet when I picked Barclay Simpson. The team has more seasoned recruiters than most of its competitors and what you get with that is good training, direction and opportunity to work with well networked recruiters in the corporate governance space. You are also given room to develop an area of expertise within your space which I think is essential for job satisfaction. Everyone wants to "own" a slice of the market and you get pretty solid support for your ideas. After two years, I had the opportunity to move to the company's US office in New York. It has been a great experience and while recruitment feels more like the wild west out here when compared with the UK, the opportunity is huge. The firm also established itself as a major name in the governance recruitment space in the US. BS is not a KPI shop but if you are putting in the effort, you will hit these numbers anyway. You have a lot of time to arrange your own desk how you see fit. The PTO and WFH arrangements are very flexible, some of the best I've heard about in recruitment. Barclay Simpson is the kind of company that requires a high degree of independence. You will have all of the support you need from managers but you do have to go out, win business, establish yourself in the market. It isn't the kind of firm where you will be given things to do 24/7 and so if you are able to work independently and leverage the experience of the team, you will do well here.

Cons

Barclay Simpson is known for its focus on corporate governance - audit, risk, compliance and cyber - this steads the firm well in good and bad times as clients need a good governance framework - but sometimes we may be missing out on hot recruitment areas.

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