Highly Unprofessional and Embarrassingly Unethical Workplace - Recruiter Onward Search Employee Review

2.0
18 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to wear jeans to work and actually leave your desk for lunch if you want to. Upper management will invest in you if they think you're worth their time. You can make a lot of money here if you're good at what you do. Good CRM/ATS.

Cons

Onward Search tries (a little too hard) to brand itself as having a "fun, cool, culture," - maybe it does in other offices, but not here. Sure, you get to wear hoodies and throw footballs at people's heads and blast grating music all day and be as unprofessional as you like in all manners of speaking regarding candidates, clients, and employees alike (not cool). Upper management is a mixed bag. Some, for instance, sit on the recruiting floor and actually recruit for their own positions, are truly passionate about the business, invest in you, and really are all around great recruiters. Only met the CEO once in person when he came to visit our office; he was very nice but was obsessively consumed by metrics. And others are highly unprofessional, talk trash about employees incessantly whenever they leave the room, bully and chastise them in front of the entire office and think that's okay, and say some of the most astoundingly unethical and unprofessional things I have ever heard in my life. They rate how attractive you are and debate about it amongst themselves after you leave your interview. Isn't that nice to know! Overall, all the company cares about are your metrics. And if you're not meeting your weekly metrics, off you go. As a caveat, this is sales, and that is how the industry works - especially when you're not good at it. But the way they HANDLE underperformance is embarrassingly unethical. Their hyper-focus on numbers means that you will receive little to no training and will be kept uninformed and confused as to every new process they implement, and then scrap. They simply have no long-term plan or strategy for how to actually retain, train, and motivate their employees, relying instead on the usual old hire-fire-hire method that every other staffing firm does. What else? Compensation is well-below market value and the benefits are terrible and expensive. Client/recruiter relationships were pretty terrible and most job orders weren't actually real. They don't disclose their commission plan until you sign the offer letter and start on your first day; it's simply called "competitive." Bring your own snacks/employee engagement skills with you to the job because you definitely won't find them here.

Explore other reviews about Onward Search

5.0
4 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong entrepreneurial mindset with real ownership and autonomy. Leadership encourages initiative, creative problem-solving, and building new ideas from the ground up. Great environment for self-starters who want to make an impact.

Cons

Must be quick on your feet! Priorities may shift quickly, requiring comfort with ambiguity and rapid change.

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Onward Search Response
4mo
We’re thrilled to hear that our entrepreneurial culture and focus on ownership resonate with you. Creating an environment where people feel trusted, supported, and empowered to bring new ideas to life is core to who we are, and your feedback reinforces the importance of that commitment. As a growth‑minded organization, change is often part of the journey—but we remain focused on providing clarity, communication, and support to help our team navigate it successfully. Insights like yours help us continue strengthening that balance. Your encouragement to “keep doing what we're doing” truly means a lot. We're grateful to have you as part of Onward Search and excited to see what you build next.
4.0
18 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Recruiter was really helpful in preparing me for the interviews with the client company. Easy to renew contract and fill out hours.

Cons

Benefits package is not great.

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