Skip to contentSkip to footer
  • Community
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • For employers
      Notifications

      Loading...

      Elevate your career

      Discover your earning potential, land dream jobs, and share work-life insights anonymously.

      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      Hays

      Engaged employer

      About
      Reviews
      Pay and benefits
      Jobs
      Interviews
      Interviews
      Related searches: Hays reviews | Hays jobs | Hays salaries | Hays benefits
      Hays interviewsHays Recruitment Consultant interviewsHays interview


      Glassdoor

      • About / Press
      • Awards
      • Blog
      • Research
      • Contact Us
      • Guides

      Employers

      • Free Employer Account
      • Employer Centre
      • Employers Blog

      Information

      • Help
      • Guidelines
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy and Ad Choices
      • Do Not Sell Or Share My Information
      • Cookie Consent Tool
      • Security

      Work With Us

      • Advertisers
      • Careers
      Download the App

      • Browse by:
      • Companies
      • Jobs
      • Locations
      • Communities
      • Recent posts

      Copyright © 2008-2026. Glassdoor LLC. "Glassdoor," "Worklife Pro," "Bowls" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor LLC.

      Company Bowl sample

      Want the inside scoop on your own company?

      Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.

      Bowls

      Get actionable career advice tailored to you by joining more bowls.

      Followed companies

      Stay ahead in opportunities and insider tips by following your dream companies.

      Job searches

      Get personalised job recommendations and updates by starting your searches.

      Recruitment Consultant Interview

      25 Apr 2014
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Cambridge, England
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Hays (Cambridge, England) in Mar 2014

      Interview

      Stage One - Telephone interview - questions about why you want the job and why you'd be good at it - everyone must pass this stage?! Stage Two - Competency based Face-to-Face Interview - Same as stage one, only in person. They will spring a role play on you, so be prepared to act out a sales pitch. They are looking for composure, ability to sell coherently, they want the candidate placed in one way or another, so things like offering training posts and temps come in handy - they love that. Stage Three - Assessment Centre - Presentation on a topic of their choice - unseen. You one minute to prepare, two minutes to present. This is easy and they just want you to be calm under pressure. - Selling a candidate - You get a CV and rank in a team, you then role play to sell your candidate. I had the hardest candidate to sell but got him work experience, others had outstanding candidates but didn't get anywhere. It is tough, but it's a great insight. - Business Development Call - You get an unseen topic and then (back to back with an assessor) you role play a phone call. My topic was that the client had been sent a mailer, and I was giving them a courtesy call. All you need to do is bare in mind that every single role play is sales based, so try and sell them someone even if it doesn't really seem to fit in with your topic. Booking a meeting goes down very well. - Writing a job advert - waste of time, they don't even look at it and leave the room to decide whether you're through or not wilst you're doing it. Stage Four - Director. - You meet a director in the centre that you've applied for. Because the assessment centre can take you away from your chosen office, you don't meet anyone from where you will potentially be working until this interview, which is daft really. They also have little idea of how you have performed, other than you are sat in front of them so you must have done okay. This stage trades really on your sales history. If you haven't got one, then you've been strung along for three interviews because this is likely to be the end of the road for you. They go hard at you, which is fair enough, but this stage lets down the whole process. Or at least it did in the Cambridge centre. I didn't get the job, but I've had experiences of other firms since then who have been more professional and much more respectful.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      'What on earth are you doing here then?'
      1 Answer
      4

      Other Recruitment Consultant interview reviews for Hays

      Recruitment Consultant Interview

      4 May 2026
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at Hays

      Interview

      I had a video interview with HR. After a week, I had an in-person interview with two managers from different teams. The HR told me I got into the final round where I needed to do a role play,

      Recruitment Consultant Interview

      18 Dec 2025
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Hays

      Interview

      Hays managed recruitment for a big 4 bank, I applied and someone with fake name arranged a phone call interview - which is fine although they don’t even include anyone’s names in the email. Then they called me 2 hours earlier than the time I booked - which is fine because we’re going to have a chat anyway. The guy sounds like no emotion at all - which is also fine because nobody really cares. HOWEVER, when I started talking, there’s a dead silence on the other end, no reactions AT ALL for 3 minutes straight, and then they started to cut me off and throw some questions at you, with no common sense at all. I was explaining myself with some questions that I don’t have to explain to any other recruiter ever, and the guy kept going like I did something wrong. I stayed in manner and professionally this whole time trying to give answers to their questions like ‘but where are you located, why didn’t you say that in your resume’ - no questions were asking those in JD, why am I have to explain myself like a criminal? And the fact that Hays recruiter has no professional manner and basic understanding is just ridiculous! At the end he kept saying ‘we CANNOT help you’ - excuse me, has anyone asked for help??? And they ended the call like I cheated. Hays recruitment is RUDE, ARROGANT, UNPROFESSIONAL, they think they are the centre of the entire universe, just imagine working for them as your contractor. They have NO ETHICS at all!!!

      Interview questions [2]

      Question 1

      Where are you based now?
      Answer question

      Question 2

      Are you currently residing in the city of this role?
      Answer question

      Recruitment Consultant Interview

      25 Nov 2025
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Hays

      Interview

      Only managed to get a phone call interview where they asked for your motivations to join. 2nd round interview was supposed to be an assessment centre and seemed to have been pre-arranged prior to my call with them as there was a fixed date aready. Informed them that I couldn't make it due to prior plans already and said that they will get to me on the updated date. It's been 2 weeks and no indications of rescheduling.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      What is your motivation to be a Recruitment Consultant?
      Answer question