The approach at Conexus is quantity over quality. In my belief, they do not value getting to know the client, nor do they care to truly understand their pain points. It was communicated that spending more than 15-30 minutes on calls with clients or consultants is a waste of time. The culture here is transactional, instead of focusing on a client’s need, providing a service, and finding a solution. Partners are more concerned with KPI metrics (cold calls), rather than building a relationship and becoming a trusted advisor. During my initial interviews, I was very transparent about my approach and how I’ve found success in my career. The response was, in summation, “…come here and do what you’ve done in the past.” However, it was made evident during my first week that this wasn’t the case at all. Instead, expectations are 500-800 calls per month, minimum – there is no negotiation here. The Partners believe in using fear-based tactics and would email the team, threatening performance plans, even when everyone had met and/or exceeded their KPIs. The environment is chaotic and confusing: • Partners contradict themselves frequently and do not seem to be aligned. • Most staff are junior-level and need more experience. Some, not all, were highly reactionary and handled professional matters with aggressive and impulsive comments, and lacked the mental agility required to operate in the environment. • Directors are forced to bring every recruiter (upwards of 3-5 people) on a scoping call with a client. • There is no defined structure for handing off business to the team; most hand-offs go to the same people every time. • My pay was incorrect multiple times - It took months to get it right, and I had to make numerous requests to the back office to connect via phone to sort it out. The partners never once made mention of it. • I found many times, the Partners do not listen and instead jump to a conclusion based on what they think is being asked. They usually responded with an irrelevant comment rather than listening and interpreting the question. • The team is stuffed into a tiny room and expected to host meetings with high-level clients and candidates. Several clients complained that it was distracting, and they could hear the people in the background through my required (noise-canceling) headset. • Most external calendar meeting invitations have no relevant subject line and there is no attempt to align internally before taking the call. Hence, attendees often need clarification when joining, which can look disorganized and unprepared to a client. • Employees are in varying states of entitlement, which fosters frustration and a less collaborative environment and makes it extremely difficult for new employees to gain their stride. • Partners foster an environment of throwing multiple resumes at a client, even when they blatantly don’t match the client’s needs, rather than being thoughtful and selective to find the right person. Overall, Conexus does not seem to value an organization with a fair, professional environment that fosters independence and creative thinking. They do not appreciate critical thought or wish to have high-level conversations to see and find solutions for future landmines. I do not recommend working here.
