I recently had a very poor candidate experience with a recruiter from Apex Systems. The communication throughout the process was inconsistent and unprofessional from the start. The recruiter initially emailed me a job description that appeared to match my skills closely. I tailored my CV and sent it across, only to later discover that during a phone call, the role was actually a senior-level position. This crucial information about years of experience was completely missing from the job description, which resulted in a significant waste of my time.
What followed highlighted even deeper communication issues. The recruiter repeatedly called me without leaving any voicemail or follow-up email, making it unclear who was trying to reach me. When I returned the calls, he didn’t answer, and when I emailed to arrange a time to speak, I received no response. Yet he continued calling without context or explanation.
When we finally spoke, I was abruptly told that my CV wouldn’t be progressed because I wasn’t senior enough. I accepted that outcome, but when I later called back to ask a few clarifying questions, the confusion and lack of attentiveness were obvious. The recruiter mixed up what I was asking, repeatedly returning to a role we had already moved past, and didn’t seem to follow the conversation.
I gave reasonable and constructive feedback: that rejection updates can be sent by email instead of unexpected calls, and that job descriptions should include required years of experience to avoid wasting candidates’ time. Rather than acknowledging this, the recruiter’s tone became noticeably cold. He then brought up the employment gaps on my CV in a way that felt unnecessary and judgmental, especially since they had no relevance to why I wasn’t a fit for the role.
The call ended in an unprofessional and dismissive way. After I calmly explained my perspective, the recruiter abruptly said, “Okay, what I will do is that I will not contact you again,” and ended the conversation.
This interaction showed a lack of basic communication standards, insufficient transparency in the job description, and an inability to handle simple feedback professionally.
Would I recommend this agency?
Unfortunately not. The communication issues and unprofessional behaviour made this a very poor candidate experience.
