In early June I handed in my last University assignment for the year, but my joy and sense of freedom was short lived – I had to find a job for the summer.
So, having dedicated a day to updating my CV (or perhaps two, these things can’t be rushed… well, that’s the excuse I gave my husband, ... Read review
Advantages: fast, friendly, efficient Disadvantages: problems with timesheets
In early June I handed in my last University assignment for the year, but my joy and sense of freedom was short lived – I had to find a job for the summer.
So, having dedicated a day to updating my CV (or perhaps two, these things can’t be rushed… well, that’s the excuse I gave my husband, anyway) it was on the following Monday that I actually got around to contacting any agencies in my search for work. My original plan was to dress ... ...half decent agency in the area for the next few days… It was only on the offchance that I thought I’d check out a job website or two first. www.reed.co.uk was one of the first that I came across, and I found it easy to register online, their search facility was straight forward and I could refine my search to a very local area. I’d soon sent off my CV for three jobs that’d caught my eye. I didn’t stop here, though, I visited the websites of all of ... more
In early June I handed in my last University assignment for the year, but my joy and sense of freedom was short lived – I had to find a job for the summer.
So, having dedicated a day to updating my CV (or perhaps two, these things can’t be rushed… well, that’s the excuse I gave my husband, anyway) it was on the following Monday that I actually got around to contacting any agencies in my search for work. My original plan was to dress smartly, grab a handful of CVs and trek around every half decent agency in the area for the next few days… It was only on the offchance that I thought I’d check out a job website or two first. www.reed.co.uk was one of the first that I came across, and I found it easy to register online, their search facility was straight forward and I could refine my search to a very local area. I’d soon sent off my CV for three jobs that’d caught my eye. I didn’t stop here, though, I visited the websites of all of the usual suspects, Blue Arrow, Brook Street, Premiere, and lots more – I found jobs that I was interested in on most sites and sent my CV off into cyberspace on each occasion.
Imagine my surprise – I was still on the computer, applying for jobs, when the phone began ringing. It was Reed – they’d received my application for a job and would like to invite me in for their test and interview process. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realised that the job was permanent, so obviously no good for little old student me! Still, I was impressed with their speed in contacting me. I was also happy to note that they were actually advertising ‘real’ jobs on the internet, not just ‘pretend’ jobs, or positions that have already been filled, just to entice people to register with them.
It was only about an hour later that the phone rang again. This time, the interview was for a temporary job – in the evenings in fact, so it would fit in perfectly with my studies if I decided to keep the job up into the next University year. ‘Great’, I thought, as less than three hours after applying I was actually sat in the branch taking their tests and filling in their forms. It took a couple of hours to run through everything, the tests and forms and face to face interview, etc. But this is normal for most agencies. However, they offered me the job on the spot (and yes, I am a little smug about that!) So, just to clarify what happened here – I sent my CV off in the morning – Reed rang before lunchtime to invite me for an interview – they offered me the job at around 16:30 in the afternoon. Result!
When I commented on their speed and efficiency (I WAS pretty pleased at the time) I was reminded of the Reed motto – ‘where the right job looks for you’. I’ve always considered these things to be more a case of advertising than actual company policy, but in this case it turned out to be true… At this point I still hadn’t heard from any of the other agencies I’d applied to, and I’d contacted around about half a dozen so far! In fact, it was several days before any of the other agencies got in touch with me, and one particular agency took over two weeks to contact me for the first time!
Of course, there was one drawback to my marvellous new job – it didn’t start immediately. My new best friend at Reed warned me that it might take anything up to a month before I could start my new job. Shame… Actually, I was pretty ecstatic that hubby couldn’t complain that I hadn’t found a job – but I’d still get a few weeks off. It wasn’t MY fault that my job hadn’t started yet, after all!
I should’ve known that these things never work out how you expect them to. The very next day, Reed rang to offer me some temping work stuffing envelopes for the large telecommunications company which is right opposite my house… The two days work originally planned turned into a couple of weeks of soul-destroying envelope stuffing. It wasn’t so much the boredom of the job that got to me, I’ve done worse jobs, it’s what I was stuffing into the envelopes that caused me such pain! You see, the telecommunications company that I was working at was running an enormous competition at the time in conjunction with Metro – giving away trips to Euro 2004… Can you imagine how soul-destroying it was for a football fan who’d have given their right eye to have been at Euro 2004 to be stuffing other peoples tickets into envelopes all day every day? The temptation to stick a couple in my pocket was immense, it’s just lucky I’m such an honest person!
Still, the envelope stuffing lasted nicely until my start date in my ‘proper’ job. That’s not to say that it was without it’s problems, however. I received my first time sheet and faxed it off without a problem, so my first weeks wages was paid into my bank on time. However, since that point I never received another timesheet, despite numerous phone calls to Reed, so didn’t get paid for weeks afterwards. Nice when I eventually got paid a lump sum, of course, but not so good when you’re relying on the money just to get by.
In my initial interview I’d been handed a booklet to read about my new job – it was pretty frightening stuff, actually, listing all of the things that would get me fired if I did them! It seemed like every paragraph ended in ‘this could result in termination of your contract’. Still, I tried not to let it put me off, and I’m happy in my job now – two months later. Of course, not every contract is the same, some are better than others, but mine is fine.
However, this opinion is about Reed itself, not my placement, so I’ll get back to that. The branch that I work for is at St Albans in Hertfordshire. When I first visited the branch I was impressed at how pleasant and friendly the staff were, and that’s continued. Every time I call they know exactly who I am as soon as I give my name. I like that friendly service, and it makes me feel like it isn’t a problem for me to ring and ask them anything I need clarification on. In fact, it really isn’t a problem at all, the staff at Reed have never been anything less than totally friendly and helpful to me. I feel like I matter to them, as a person, which is something that I’ve found very rarely in employment agencies before.
That’s not to say that my employment has passed without a hitch! Timesheets have been an almost continuous problem. Either I didn’t receive them in the first place, couldn’t get them signed off or Reed didn’t receive them when I faxed them over. I think I was probably only actually paid on time two or three times when I was using paper time sheets. However, I have now switched over to their internet based timesheet system, which is far, far superior. So long as I complete my timesheet in time, I just need to pass it to my supervisor, who authorises it and passes it to Reed, and the jobs done. No faxes to go astray, or chasing to make sure they’ve received it. Marvellous!
Still, I have to say that even when I was having problems getting paid, Reed have never been any less than helpful when I’ve called them. This even involved sending one of their own staff into the telecommunications company I’d been working at to get my timesheet signed, once I’d finished working there. This really was above and beyond the call of duty, especially as I only live across the road, but I’ve always found that Reed will go out of their way like that for their temps.
The time sheets themselves are a little confusing, however. The part where you fill in your hours is very straightforward – that’s not the problem at all. However, there’s a couple of boxes above this where you can fill in how many days you needed to buy lunch at work, and how many miles you travelled to get to work and back. This wasn’t explained to me, so I just ignored it to start with, however, I soon found that if you fill in these sections it has a very positive effect on your pay. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but Reed have in place a system where you can get a tax rebate, or something similar, for travel and subsistence. Therefore, if you fill in this section (truthfully, of course) you’ll get more money!
Every problem I’ve ever come across has been sorted out with the minimum of fuss on the part of Reed, and the minimum of effort for me. I only recently noticed that I was on the emergency tax code (it took me several weeks to figure this out) which I shouldn’t be as a student. It was only a day or two after contacting Reed that I received the relevant forms, and less than a week after sending them back that I got my tax rebate, and full pay (without emergency tax code). Now that’s what I call efficiency – I know how much trouble I’ve had getting tax codes sorted out in the past, but Reed just got on with it.
Of course, no working relationship can be totally without friction. Personally, I was annoyed to discover that the other trainee who started on the same day as me, to do the same job as me, was getting paid significantly more than me. I complained to Reed, who contacted the HR department at my assignment to ask for more money for me. This was refused, as I don’t have the same past work experience as my colleague. I couldn’t dispute this – so basically decided to lump it and carry on working there.
As a temp working for Reed you’re entitled to holiday pay, maternity pay and sick pay, after a qualifying period. Basically, you have to earn it before you’re allowed to claim it! However, booking holiday, calling in sick and requesting holiday pay are all extremely straight forward and usually accomplished with a single phone call.
But, I’m sure there’s just one thing that you’re really interested in, isn’t there? What about the money? Well, I can tell you that the usual rate in this area for envelope stuffing is £6 ph. Not great money, especially when you consider that you can get paid more than that for cleaning in Hertfordshire. I’m on a pay rate which is very slightly higher than that for the accounting-type job that I’m doing at the moment, but not much! Unfortunately, my contract stipulates that I’m not allowed to discuss my wages (I got into trouble for that when I found out what my fellow trainee was being paid) so I can’t tell you exactly what I’m paid at the moment. Still, it’s enough for me to get by on, and it’s certainly not a bad wage for a temp in this area.
When it comes down to it, I’m happy in my job and I’m happy with Reed. Yes, there’ve been a few hiccups along the way, but all in all I’m happy to recommend Reed as an employer. They’ve been pretty good to me!
Advantages: Getting a foot on the ladder Disadvantages: Rude staff, unreliable, problems with time and holiday sheets, not given notice when employment ends
I signed up on Reed's website when I was living in Edinburgh in March. I filled in all the details on the website and posted up my CV. I had heard nothing from them, and no jobs matching the description I had filled in had been sent to me by email. So I decided to go into their offices.
When I went in there were 2 guys in front of me looking for work, and I over heard them suggest they signed up to the website because they were currently short staffed ... ...it came to my turn I asked if I could speak to an adviser, but was also told to sign up to the site. When I told them that I had been for over a month, they told me to wait another 2 weeks before coming back in. They didn't take any details, so I was unsure how they would know I had been there 2 weeks before anyway.
At the same time, I was looking to possibly moving to Sheffield, and decided to look into recruiters in the area. I was recommended ...
mental_infestation 26.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Reed.co.uk
Advantages: clear, easy to use, search well refined, easy follow-up Disadvantages: you're not the only one who'll apply for your ideal job!!
...So I did. Reed.co.uk is a very clear site in my opinion, and so easy to use. The main page: The jobs are divided in lots of different sectors to start with, to pre-select the type of jobs you'll be looking at, rather than getting 150 pages worth of jobs in your area. 26 sectors are as follows: - Accountancy, - Admin and secretarial, - Banking, - Building and construction, - Customer service, - Education, - Engineering, - Financial services, - General ... ...yourselves you won't be disappointed! reed.co.uk **** UPDATE ****
I have not been looking actively for a job as my partner works full-time and we're doing fine financially ; I was really looking for a job to get myself back, to get a life, after taking 2 years out to look after my little boy.
Reeds called me yesterday morning with a job offer. The money wasn't quite what I wanted and I told them so, but they were certain that I was right for the ...
sylvie_dubois03 05.03.2004 (07.04.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Reed.co.uk
Advantages: Friendly, effient, inspiring staff. Excellent at communicating quickly and thoroughly Disadvantages: None that I can think of.
The branches of Reed in Bath and Bristol are excellent at recruiting and matching the employee to the right employer. Reed post over 30 new jobs a day on the Bath/Bristol sites at the time I was looking for employment. So there are plenty of jobs for you to browse at any time. I have had two experiences with Reed. The first in Bristol, were eager to sign me up and get me registered - even though I'd only had a just under a year of admin experience ... ...recruitment agencies made me feel patronised and unwelcome because of my lack of experience. But the Bristol office seemed happy to take me on. Unfortunately I cannot report further on Bristol as I got a job with another agency, that I'd joined earlier than I had with Reed. I made sure I recommended them after this as they seemed positive and able to help.
My second experience was in the Bath office. I had left my previous job and was now looking ...
Ottavia 14.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Reed.co.uk
Advantages: good consultants, range of positions Disadvantages: no holiday pay for weeks
I first came across reed online, and browsed through the job section for the area I was looking in, I also applied for a couple of the postitions but never got a reply back from my emails, which I was rather disappointed at, even if I wasnt suitable, it is courteous to reply back.
After I moved down south to berkshire, I was wandering round the town, had enough cash to see me through a month or so, but spotted a large reed agency in town, so just ... ...making it look more professional for me, had a short interview just saying what i wanted, what type of job i ideally wanted, the minimum wage, hours, etc.
Then they set me in a room with a pc and gave me some tests to do, data entry, word, spelling and grammar, and if felt a bit like school lol
But i did well, and my tempory advisor was certain she could find me a postion within a week or so, they had interviews lined up for me all over, i was ...
alleykatz 18.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Reed.co.uk
Advantages: Good Allround Site Disadvantages: Not very specialist
Reed.co.uk are one of the larger recruitment agencys on the high st and internet and offer a god variety of services. I manly deal with reed via the internet. I deal this way because reed seem to prefer it this way all their consultants have access to all yur data and when they get positions in they can search the job criteria against all applicants on their database.
Reeds Internet site is not the fastest in the world and can lock up at times but ... ...from IT to teaching. andbhave loads of jobs in each section although some times the advert date is a few weeks old in many cases.
I have subscribed to their jobs by email and sms text message which is quite useful so i have their up to date vacancies in my area without having to log on to thier web site which is pretty standrd these days with the recruitment sites.
Note that sometimes you get jobs sent to you that are not suitable at all but you ...
richardjmeek 06.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Reed.co.uk
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Advantages: easy to use! more personal Disadvantages: none!
I have just been using reed.co.uk as i really need a new job!!! Its so easy to use and you can look at THOUSANDS of job vacancies in minutes! After registering for an account, you can go look around, simple. The account is really good as it has a to do list and what you have applied for and what other job possibilities suit your criterial needs. It is also really specific and you really refine your search to what, where, when and part time/ full time, weekend, weekday etc. I love it! its so much easier than fish4jobs and all those others as its more personal and easier to read. I thoroughly reccomend using this for anyone of any age and experience! The registration itself takes about 10mins but its worth it in the end!
P.S had to add this so it was edited and a bad comment about it could be erased. ...
tillymint10 01.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of reed.co.uk
Advantages: duunt know Disadvantages: Very very very very veryy deceiving poor service.
Reed.co.uk has its good sides, to be honest. The layout is good. The website is userfriendly and easy to understand. Loads and loads of Jobs.
HOWEVER, the downsides OUTWEIGH the very few goodsides despite the "loads and loads of jobs" i have spent way too much time waiting for them to contact me. As if i have nothing better to do and wait by the fone. I would not recommend you to rely on them.
Please do apply to other competent agencies bcox this is reed thingy are just incompetent and cluelss agency. I definitely would not recommend anyone to apply unless you want tsomething which is very time consuming. It takes 1 sec to find that website on the internet but it takes ages for them to contact you, i.e if they do ever contact you. I had a lot of friends who told me that they applied to reed when they grauated, but the website ...
babyh123 04.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of reed.co.uk
Advantages: Can search for jobs advertised directly by the employer. Disadvantages: Very few if any.
I joined this web site about 5 months ago to look for a job. I also joined numerous other web sites.
Although not perfect and needing some improvements in my opinion, I have found reed.co.uk to be the best of the job web sites that I have used. There are two reasons for this; firstly you can filter out all employment agency advertised jobs and only get results of jobs advertised direct by employers.
In the current very tough job market I believe this is a very important option to have because in general if you apply to an agency you are very unlikely to be offered an interview unless you fit the exact criteria they are looking for. Also, a lot of jobs advertised by agencies are not real jobs they are just trying to get your details on their books so that they can boast to potential employers about the size of the pool of applicants ...
bella6789 02.03.2009 (03.03.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of reed.co.uk