Finlay James Reviews

4.5

90% would recommend to a friend

(107 total reviews)

John Gaughan

95% approve of CEO

82% positive business outlook

Finlay James has an employee rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on 107 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Finlay James employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Human resources and staffing industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

107 reviews
1.0
9 Mar 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None really, if you want to work at a professional sales recruiter try Howard Jackson, Michael Page, Certus or BMS if you're desperate.

Cons

Terrible commission structure which means you have to keep billing, if you blank a month later part of that commission is debited back out of your commission bonus. Senior Management are ruthless and unprofessional Old school KPI management, have to be on the phone constantly, micro management doesn't work in modern day recruitment. You either candidate manage or you do new business separately, so not really a 360 role You have to spend a min of 45 mins on a call to a candidate. Bright sales professionals don't have time to spend 1 hour on the phone to recruiters. The staff are like robots, that's due to the Management style and KPI's Too many unnecessary conference calls to colleagues to run through status of Jobs As with all recruitment Jobs, very few make good money, you either sink or swim. That's recruitment. Bear that in mind when they sell you the dream at Interview

2.0
5 Mar 2019

Approach with caution

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some good incentives are available (Miami, Marbella, Race Days etc.) Friendly employees Gave me a good platform to kick off my recruitment career They have a global reach, which was good for variation and exposure to clients and candidates

Cons

Occasionally, it felt transactional and that a lot of people were there to make a quick buck out of clients and candidates, rather than focusing on their needs and requirements, as well as building valuable relationships for the long-term. From a culture perspective, it seemed quite backwards to me a lot of the time, as we were often pushed to do Glassdoor reviews a lot to get good ratings? This can be seen based on when the reviews are posted, as there are a lot in a short time frame (e.g. there were 10/11 posted within 3 days in March 18). There is a high turnover rate for staff (which is expected), but this is down to hiring fresh grads who don't realise how difficult it is to succeed and have been sold that they will be able to make the commission from day 1 etc. This was made difficult by there was a lot of internal ringfencing to stop certain people working with clients, where they wanted to fill their role themselves and get more commission or close a deal with one of their mates, rather than a candidate who was actually right for the role. Senior leadership often spoke badly about people who had recently left the business, making it out that they were the 'bad eggs' for leaving, rather than reflecting on themselves and working out why so many people were leaving and what they could do to retain them. This made me anxious to hand in my notice because I knew that I would be watched like a hawk about my next move. When I started my new job I had over 10 FJ people look at my profile to see where I'd joined on my first day, and I knew they'd be discussing/judging it internally.

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Finlay James Response
7y
Thank you for the review. We are disappointed to hear that you still feel this way despite leaving some time ago. It does appear that you may be confused about a number of points including the length of your tenure which you incorrectly state as ‘more than a year’ when in fact this was nearer two months. You also highlight our Project Freedom initiative which you will find actually ended well before your start date and as such, something you would not have experienced. Thank you for acknowledging that we provided you with the opportunity to kick start your recruitment career despite having no previous recruitment experience. This is something we take great pride in. Finlay James is very much about the building of relationships. In the early days, after your initial training, consultants will only work on one or two roles at a time. I think you will agree this is hardly a transactional approach. We do not employ anyone looking to ‘ make a quick buck’. Rather we pride ourselves on quality training and developing people’s skills to hone mid to long term partnerships. We are passionate about continuous improvement and we do indeed encourage our people to write reviews on Glassdoor in much the same way as we encourage clients and candidates to leave feedback on Trustpilot. At no point do we ever suggest what they should write however. You are sadly mistaken with regard to having the opportunity to earn commission from day one. In permanent Tech Sales recruitment with lengthy sales cycles a first deal in month three or four is the norm. This would have been explained to you both at interview and during training. People leave companies for a variety of reasons. Sometimes someone leaving voluntarily is the best solution for both parties. In over 15 years FJ has never tried to retain someone who wanted to leave. However we have had many people boomerang back to us and thus always try to leave the door open. It is perhaps fortunate that the vast majority of our people, past and present , do not share your views. Only last week we were recognised as Best Staffing Company to Work For ( UK 51+) at the SIA Executive Forum in Texas. Good luck in the new role.
5.0
3 Aug 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Finlay James provides a fantastic platform to make a significant impact in your recruitment career. The world class training and the inclusive culture allows you to express yourself and bring your own personality to the table. The flexible working style allows you to tailor your working day based on how you prefer to work and get the most out of your day. I would honestly recommend anyone to take up a career with Finlay James as this was one of the best decisions that I made for my career.

Cons

No particular cons, potentially could have more team events.

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Finlay James Response
3y
We appreciate your time to write this review and are delighted to chose Finlay James to start your recruitment career! We are really proud of our training, company culture and flexible working opportunities and are pleased you are finding them beneficial. Wishing you a long and happy career with us!
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Glassdoor has 114 Finlay James reviews submitted anonymously by Finlay James employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Finlay James is right for you.