Hey guys..Just wanna share my experience with Akar Insan.

Last week, they call me up last minute ( the evening before) for me to attend an interview the next day. On that particular morning, i receive a job offer from other company. Realizing that this other job is a confirm job, so i call in akar insan to tell them i will not attend their watsoever interview as i already accept other job.

They told me i had to attend whereby i had to follow attendance policy (some sort of agreement between employer and jobstreet). Or else they gonna blacklist me on jobstreet. No way am gonna allow that, so i went. I went for the interview and all i can see that this recruitment agency is a crap.

We had to write an essay, choose two people out of scientist, economist, policemen, priest, pregnant lady, doctor, etc - should survive if the world ends. Few minutes later, interview. The interviewers have big-headed style, as if they were sOOo good in english. They does not smile neither had warm welcome approach at all. I don't see any reason why interviewers need to act antagonistic to us? to see how we deal with stress? if they were a lil bit more friendlier, i bet they would get more input and see greater potential of these candidates. Some people are just too afraid to talk when being forced, aite?

Yesterday, i received an email (with the list of other candidates email address along), stated our application is unsuccessful for the post of telemarketing and business analyst.

What soo crap bout this whole process is that, thru jobstreet, I applied for Management Associate position. Then when they call me, they said there's a vacant for Risk Management Exec with Maybank. When i got the feedback, i was said to be unsuccessful for Telemarketing and Business Analyst.
Ridiculous isn't it? I was called for 3positions with just one interview...Wee!

And i also received a Reminder Notice from jobstreet written
"Employers give feedback to us that some candidates do not remember the positions that they had applied for. To give employers a good impression, we encourage you to remember the details of the jobs you apply. Thank you."

Yeah right! they are the one who has all this positions mixed up. Now blame it on me. I knew its A.Insan who gave the feedback coz thats the only company i went for interview under jobstreet. Am so pissed off with A.Insan. This sucks! I was never experience bad remarks from anyone. So far, i received recognition for Good stud, Good employee.. Now i got such marking by jobstreet due to the absurd accusation by Akar Insan.

Conclusion, i had bad experience with recruitment agency. So guys, think wise. I would advice u to go interview direct with ur preferred company. U choose the company. Not under recruitment agency. Say NO-NO. They just wanna get commission.

Thanks for reading, guys! felt the relieve after writing.

Sorry Akar Insan - this is true experience from me. Better re-set the management system.
Would not want more candidates experience such mixed-up.

Have a great day everyone!

1. they can only blacklist you. doesnt mean you are blacklisted from ALL employers.

2. the jobstreet reminder is normal, and is autogenerate when you apply for many jobs in a day(?)/short period of time.

3. just ignore this agency from now.

True-true... thanks tommy!

@sanna
when you are blacklisted by job street, when you apply for jobs via jobstreet, From employers perspective, they will see an indicator where you have been blacklisted by jobstreet due to a feedback from a previous company that you did not show up for interview or whatever..

So tell me, will the HR even read ur resume since they know you might not show up for the interview despite u applying for the job?

yeah...thats y i attend though i told them, i ALREADY ACCEPT other job. wouldn't wanna get my account blacklisted seen by other employers.

At that particular time, there was like 20 candidates waiting outside. These recruiters seems busy. I don't think the HR even read my resume. I told them bout the other job, she (the one answered) sort of increase her volume loudly, saying "Trust me dear, the job u gonna get is sooo much better than the one u accepted" i was like, woo..no way.

But i did go on with the interview due to 'blacklisted' threaten..hahaha

Some of these recruitment agencies want to make up the numbers e.g. number of applications received, number shortlisted, and number interviewed, before they submit the final few candidates to their client.

Unfortunately, you were just made to fill the number game here. Some industry players or supporters will say you wouldnt know if you don't try, but I am sure your attendance was merely to enable this agency to jack up their figures for 3 clients in a single interview.

unfortunately this is also true.

sometime we get tricked by these.

in any case, you can apply for many jobs on portal. if you do not wish to go interview, tell them you already found a job, simple.

idk why not send a mail to JobStreet and inform them about it? don't let some 3rd rated recruitment agency place you in bad light. doesn't matter whether JS believe you or not in the end but at the very least you've explained the whole situation to them and they should not listen to only 1 side of the story.

the recruitment agencies and headhunters that I dealt with by far - are pretty good. I have no problems with them o.O

I'm not too sure Jobstreet would do anything about it as they are just the enabler. Plus, it is employers that pays for the ad, not employees.

JobStreet does not blacklist every candidate with each complaint filed by the employer.. they will send you an email to get your explanation first..

should u wish to report the company, there is a "Report Advertisement" link below every job ad in JobStreet.. so u can send ur feedback on the company / recruitment agency..

Agensi pekerjaan, last time jobstreet to apply this job

its ok...i just wanna share.. not planning to banned any company..heheh

hmm, i went to the akar insan there for interview as well
applied for IT specialist without any proper job description and it's very vague

after waited for two hours, i was called and the interviewer told me, we are actually looking for programmers and database guy only for now while i am a computer security student, why the hell they call me there at first place

and one more thing, akar insan did not disclose their company name on the job ad, just a simple 'company confidential' or something

this akar insan sounds so much like Talent Lab, so I search on Google..and it really is Talent Lab. Why they changed the name? because the former already have such bad reputation? -.-

herm...'company confidential'... curiosity arise here...
did u actually go through the interview?

hey sorry to 'tumpang' at your thread. I just wanna ask in general, do you all rily trust those companies labeled as 'company confidential' ?

As for me, I feel hesitant to apply for those jobs advertised by them..Whats the reason they wanna remain as "company confidential" ?

what i meant for the confidential is jobstreet job ad posted by them, example is will be this http://www.jobstreet.com.my/jobs/2010/5/de...040499.htm?fr=J

I'm going for an interview tmrw.
Lets see how bad is this company.

The email they send to me is crap lousy template.

Company confidential means the recuritment agency does not wish to disclose the name of their client in the job posting, until the candidate gets interviewed.

Some reasons include
1) The client does not wish to let people know they are hiring, for various reasons (competition, public scrutiny)
2) The agency does not wish to let other agencies know they are dealing with the client, because if I am a rival and I know that Company XYZ is using agency, sure I will attack this customer and try to grab the deal.

hrmmm ....i 'm currently almost in the same situation as sanna...so izit worthit 2 go onot??Looking from all the response about akar insan...must think twice but also donwan 2 be banned from jobstreet.,...does anyone know how much recruitment agency charge 4 their commision??...scared they take advantage...

It's too bad as some shady companies are using this policy to con people into applying for lousy sales job and whatnot.

If you are required to pay the agency for a job, I suggest you walk away. Nowadays its the client that foots the bill.

hrmm thanks Mr Tommy ...so that means that the basic they're offering is minus the commision rite...nvm i'll just try 4 the interview..and see hopefully they're not trying to push me 2 sales job...and sorry still new at these stuff...need guidance from the more experience...thanks again..

I received calls from the job agency mentioned in 1st post, 'they' only used mobile numbers in all their calls to me. Even sometimes the number has no people answer, need to call for 2nd or 3rd time.

Don't you think its fishy?? A recruitment agency using personal phone to deal with official matters?

This post has been edited by dattebayo: Jun 29 2010, 11:03 AM

people, do your research before u attend the interview in akar insan which is also known as the notorious recruitment agency - the talent lab. just search around the forum, check out the experience of candidates (all negative).
No doubt they secured contracts with some big banks in malaysia, but dont forget u can always apply directly. The boss there talk as if he understands banking industry very well..but the fact is, he's just a nobody who knows 0 about banking industry. I'm just surprised that there are still banks who trust their recruitment ability. Come on, what they did is just put a very VAGUE advertisement so innocent/curious people would apply, arrange interviews in some "creative" places, make the selection procedures to be sooo glamourous/tough, package it well, give you false impression and etcetc.

Beware people, this company is not professional at all. To akar insan/talent lab, you are dealing with people's career; organizing interviews for a bank's job at some random cafes are just irrelevant. More importantly, how can a none banker understand the bank's need?

is AKARinsan have that bad reputation? tomorrow i have an interview with them, dunno what position...they wont tell me..
anyway i going to the in interview to check on them..wish me luck...or bad luck...

waraooooo... how can so dodgy until never tell ppl what position they are interviewing for??

i had a bad experience with Recruit Express KL (the one in Standard Charted bldg) too. the recruiter kept telling me to go interview for the job that i wasn't interested in. then he screamed at me, saying i'm rude for not taking the offer. wtf

drag_on_dragooN later don;t forget to share you experience here

Sometimes its not so productive to attend interviews when the job itself is unkown. The only reason they withold the info is because the job is unattractive.

i came with my friend for assessment with them last week and i find them quite professional... they found me to be suitable for an IB job and i pass thru to the next round with the IB!

they give me a lot of advice and tips on how to talk to the investment bankers! wish me luck, guys!

my friend got job at retail banking... but he's ok with it as his english and iq not as good as mine... ha ha ha... (sorry, friend)

i know one of the owners is an ex-investment banker before... so you cannot fool them if you dont know a clue about banking :-)

edited

This post has been edited by blackmarket: Jul 28 2010, 11:29 PM

I got my first job through agency and in the world's largest consumer bank some more. So unexpected.

Good for you then..

hey!! guys, just received call from AKar Insan, after I saw all those comments. I felt reluctant to go for the interview
but i scare they will blacklisted me since i didn't reject the appointment through phone. ==
should I go for it or should I apply directly with the company?
advice please...i am confused now @@

This post has been edited by =='': Aug 13 2010, 02:46 PM

hey hey, did u see my deleted my post above? at first i thought they were providing bad service but hey, they actually served me quite well. Weeks ago i went there late for around 1hour and so i actually sms them and they replied, saying that its fine they can wait for me. When i reached there there i was so amazed with the crowd. Staffs there told us to be patient to wait for our turns politely and share some jokes with us. The interviewer was very friendly and helpful during the interview, gave me a lot of valuable advice. But unfortunately i was not good enough to get any offer from them. Overall its a good experience.

Go out and meet some other candidates there! you have nothing to lose as you can share your experience with them.

If yo have time, and want a job, go for it.

Not all recruiter are pariah.

True, i managed to get 2 job offers with not bad salaries frm top banks through recruitment agencies, one of them was akar insan. My experience with akar insan isnt bad at all. I find them rather helpful n professional. but their assessmt quite tough, in some cases i saw, the candidates were quickly shown the door once recruiters find them not suitable.

I hate those headhunters seriously. They give false info, and they always FORCE u and push u...especially these recruiter from India. I mean India indian in msia and singapore headhunter/recruitment

A lot bad experience, i said dowan liao cannot freaking leave me alone woh. Got 1 chinese gal headhunter aso ask me who i report to in my current com la.. then keep ask me want try this company anot although i said no liao... damn annoying.

wow. i got sms from Akar Insan at 12.12pm yesterday. then later in the evening around 3pm they called me to set the interview today at 11am.

i managed to do some research bout this company on the net. some said positive some said negative.

i dont know what position they offered me cause when they called me yesterday, the background sounds noisy so i dont hear much.

i'm quite nervous actually. but i will share my experience later.

as this is my 1st interview after graduation, i'll go to the interview today with my dad. quite scared + nervous. huwarghhhh!!~

wish me luck guys !!

you haven't deal with other agency, that name doesn't sounds like malay. until then, you have very limited experience.

huhhhh???

Just curious, are they working on saturday?

Ya and it sucks!

i had a bad experience with recruitment firm too.. they call me up several time and keep on ask me to go for an interview (whereby i alr told them based on the JD i felt i m not the right candicate..) yet they keep on presue me n tell me they alr submit my resume to the client company and the company wish to meet me up.. then i saw she so keen, so i ask her to sent me the address.. then when i open the mail.. cham.. it was actual my sister company is hiring. mean hor.. my boss, my sister comapny ppl know i m looking for job and want to leave de.. cham cham now.. my bonus is gone soon i believe...

1. I usually dont insist if you are not interested. Its a no-win situation usually.

2. Your boss might not know unless the sister company hiring manager tells your boss. in any case, just say you were interested in opportunity in sister company hence your application. If you lose your bonus because of this, I dont' think your current company is savvy to the word "staff retention" in which case greener pasture might be a good idea after all.

I'll make a rant today.

Sometime (actually very often) the client will send over a JD:

requirement:
bachelor in xxx, master prefer
must xxx year exp
must mnc
must expereince in <insert looooong list here>
prefer to have cert <insert loooong list here>
rm cheap cheap rate

Hiring managers sometime want someone who knows everything and expects to be paid peanuts.
Its part of our job as recruiter to educate them on the reality of the job market as well as maange their expectations. True enough, they;d probably take their business elsewhere but its better than us wasting our time finding the candidate for them to reject, and end up the client label us as incompetent.

if you want to find superman, go to planet krypton. planet earth no superman.

Hi I'm from Best Mark International Referral Firm.

I understand yours and many other Agensi Pekerjaan's problem.

Bear in mind, No one can black list you. It's used only to scare you because they have already arranged the interview for you and it would appear to be bad on their end if they were to tell the employer that "Oh, the candidate is not interested anymore"

First of all, this "Akar Insan" or Talent Lab ... you must know they get paid commission, and they would usually tell their clients that they have the "Right" people for the job and so forth. Thus, a rejection from a candidate is a huge NONO to them. C'mon what policy and crap are they talking about? did you sign any papers with them? is it in black and white?

No, they can't black list you from all employers, except that they will just put an "Earmark" on your name so they won't bother calling you the next time. Because profit is all they think about and there's nothing worse than getting a good candidate with high potential of getting a job declining to go for an interview.

The next time anyone "threatens" you, just tell them, Can you guarantee me the job + expectation even if I were to go for the Interview? Of course, do bear in mind that if you do this too often, your name will be tarnished in the job market. Because these Job Agencies have their own "community" where they meet up once in the blue moon and discuss about the trends and etc. So, if one of them decides to be funny and slander you, that's it for you.

Always remember there are ethical Job Agencies out there with License and is practicing proper recruitment procedures and process. So, they are not all that bad, it's those without a license tarnishing the industry. Bear that in mind.

For more information feel free to drop by my website Best Mark International to see how we can help you plan your career and achieve your long term goal.

Ha ha ha, promoting your agency by tarnishing other's reputation. That is sooo unethical things to do.

So free to slander a candidate when you guys meet up? Lol.

AKAR INSAN SDN BHD SUCK BIG TIME ,THEY SO CALLED GCEO AIDIL YUNUS REALLY ACT LIKE AMBIGA AND HIS FOLOWERS TOO . F THEM WITH THE ATTITUDE WITH THAT NO WONDER THE COMPANY NEVER SUCCEED ONLY TALK BIG PLUS NO MANNERS AS MALAYSIAN AT ALL .

Wow.... look like negative comments more than positive comments. Anyway, received SMS from Akar Insan S/B. Offering Banking opportunities. I just wonder where they got our contact information...

OK I saw this thread and just wanna ask about this thing if you sign a contract with recruitment agencies (let's say 9 months) and if you quit before the completion of the contract, are you expected to pay 50% of your salary to them?

I understand Kelly Services do make candidates sign a form as soon as they register with them that if they do quit the job, they have to compensate 50% of their salary to them.


Also, my other question is, why do recruitment agencies do the payroll instead of the direct company? what is in it for them and why can't the company just pay directly to the employer and why use all these contracts bla bla bla?

Not sure what type of form you have signed. is taht 50% of what, how many months of salary?

I doubt so, if they do that no one will want to commit such liability to them.


Recruitment agencies offer payroll services to direct company because its part of outsourcing arrangements.

Actually when a recruitment firm says its "company confidential" that means the job is not real. Usually serious recruitment firms with real jobs will dislose the name of company once you say you are interested (assuming they got your resume) If they do not disclose to you then it is very high chance that it is only a puller-ads. This is so that they can "pull" candidates in for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons including 1) traning the recruitment newbies to interview people (aka test rat i.e. the newbie will get to do real life interview with you for a job that does not exist to boost confidence and skill of newbie so that they can do a proper interview if they have a real job) 2. So that they can update their database with your particulars, just in case there are future employers who are interested in your set of skills. 3) To have a ready pool of candidates so that when they go "pitch" for jobs with an employer, they can boast and say that they have x no. of people who are within what the employers are looking for.

thats a nice agency. those i work with before had real job orders.

What a load of bulls*1t. At the end of the day whether its you (as an individual) or others, its all about making money (i.e. yr commission). If that particular candidate has the skills to match what yr client (employer) wants, i think all the agencies will send the candidates CV irregardless, in hopes that the candidate will turn up and accept the offer. After all everbody only thinks about yr commission, screw the reputation

screw them all..

Most HR agencies that have approached me over the years are getting from bad to worse!
Some will promise you the world, and never come to you.
Others will tell you to stay in touch, but they've left the firm.

Many of these individuals don't have any sense of integrity at all.
They only say what they want, do what they want, just for the friggin' $$$. Nothing more.
They've left their humanity part of life.

If given a better choice, it's best to just hook up with circle of contacts who have direct links to the company's hiring manager.
Skip the online crap (like JobStreet, LinkedIn, etc.), as well as, HR agencies; and go direct !!

I'm not sure why companies bother to hire HR agencies to do their work when they've their own HR personnel to do just that.

How about Kelly services?

I had bright prospect in pj last year. I was looking for a contract job and willing to try all sorts of companies since I've no working experience. I applied job A from them on jobstreet, and got call from them for a face-to-face interview. Get my details and requirements like preferred areas, company's field etc. Few days later they came back to me with job B interview, I didn't get that offer and job C interview was quickly arranged.

They really give me a good impression towards recruitment agencies.

Kelly Services is alright.
But they're more of an outsourced HR company, rather than a recruitment agency nowadays.

Usually recruitment company will take how many months of the employee candidate monthly salary as commission?

the worst agency I ever heard is Virtual Calibre ........ my friend hired by them for a project with an oil & gas company

Salary wise not bad (maybe because it's O&G ... they got more anyway) .. however they're not providing you Annual Leave ,,,, Medical Leave .... and whatsoever benefit ... if you are on leave for whatever reason ... it will be consider as unpaid leave ...

my friend stuck with them for almost a year now .. he's actively looking ....