Pros
You will learn a lot about the technology and market you support. (On your own, not through training by company) Many of the recruiters are fun and are what make this company palatable.
Cons
Now that the only pros are out of the way let’s get on with it starting with the culture. Actalent screams from the mountaintops about their “culture” and uses it as a selling point. When in reality it’s a cleverly crafted way of extracting as much time from their recruiters and account managers as possible with 0 added pay or benefits. Diversity is next to non-existent, and what diversity the Schaumburg office does have is met with bizarre and racially insensitive comments by the Director of all people (who also has no problem touching employees or their property). It feels more like cult recruitment than a healthy work culture. Now let’s move on to career growth or the lack of it. Specifically in Schaumburg there is very clear favorites who promotions will go to first (despite lack of any leadership ability). The company has a no dating policy…yet in Schaumburg it’s acceptable for a manger to date a subordinate on their own team. Which if it were anyone else would not be tolerated. Some teams will get all the support and guidance from upper management, while others are ignored and left to struggle in this recession. Next we have the job itself. This is a great job for you if you have no problem taking advantage of people or pretty much lying. You will be cold calling every single day, and will be micromanaged (down to the minute) on your metrics. You will be trying to convince very smart, capable, and proven engineers and scientists to leave their careers to come “full time consult” for Actalent. What that really means is they will be working on a short term contract, with substandard (understatement) benefits, little to no PTO, no guarantees of long term employment, an hourly wage versus salary, and little to no support outside of your assigned recruiter who is already overworked to the point that individual care on a meaningful level is impossible. You are expected to work through lunch, work after hours, not take time off, and spend atleast 1/4 of your day in pointless internal meetings that accomplish nothing. I won’t even go into benefits because they are a joke, an absolute joke of the highest order. However one of the benefits they offer is “flexibility”. I’ll go ahead and tell you right now that’s a lie. The only flexibility offered is you making yourself able to work into managements unreasonable expectations. They scrapped hybrid work and are back to 5 days in office…because of “productivity”. When in reality it’s a way to begin pushing people out. This is because the company is currently hemorrhaging money. They won’t lay you off or fire you because of this, but what they will do is make your work life so miserable that people will just not tolerate it anymore. This is evidenced in the massive turnover rates, 8 people in under a year in Schaumburg for example. This ranges from senior managers who are massive producers, to new hires who are forced out. There is a reason the barrier to entry is so low for this company. It’s because they don’t value you, they don’t value your contribution or your input. They have a feedback based rule, which in reality is just a way for them to demean you while you just have to sit there and nod. The CEO thinks the way to navigate a recession in staffing is just work harder. There’s no plan, no support, no empathy for the people working to their breaking point. Just shut up a dial. This company has the size and revenue to be a market leader and pillar within staffing. However it acts like a turn and burn call center. If that continues I’m not sure how the company will see growth.
