Simply the worst recruiter experience I ve had in ...

Simply the worst recruiter experience I ve had in my life. I went deep in the process with Hearst Media, passing the phone screens with flying colors, and I was generally excited about the company. Hearst invited me for an on-site.

Working with the recruiter I d been assigned since the beginning, The Denzel Group negotiates a time for the on-site with me. We agreed to a time. However, they didn t send me a location. Since I was working in Philadelphia at the time, I put in a PTO request for the on-site, trusting that they d send over the location details in due time. But wait!

My recruiter informed me that I had to speak with the CEO and owner of The Denzel Group, Steve Denzel, before my onsite interview. I missed the owner s call that day, because I was at work. We connected the next day.

He wanted to know why I was requesting such a high salary range, and whether I thought that was realistic for the area. I explained to him that given my unique skillset, experience, and competing offers I d seen, that d range felt reasonably for me and I d be willing to negotiate with Hearst once we reached that discussion. He didn t agree. He emphatically told me that what I was asking for was unrealistic and wouldn t fly with Hearst. I asked him to politely represent my position to them (which they were aware of from the start of our conversations weeks ago), and I d deal with the negotiations when it came time. We ended the phone call on what I thought was an agreement to do just that. To quote, I ll update you ASAP .

Fast forward to the day of my on-site, I still don t have a location. The Denzel Group hasn t responded to any of my requests, so I texted Steve Denzel directly to which he responded, We canceled the interview.

So to recap: The Denzel Group setup an on-site interview, had me take off work, canceled the interview without notifying me, and didn t respond to my requests until the day-and-time if the on-site. And to bring it all home, I reached out to my contacts at Hearst, and they confirmed they never had a discussion with The Denzel Group about why I was dropped from the interview pipeline and they were looking forward to speaking with me. Due to the exclusivity of their recruiting contract though, The Denzel Group was required to be the intermediary.

Simply a terrible, unprofessional recruiting agency that has neither the employee or employer s best interest in mind. I would avoid at all costs if you care about your career earnings.