The Creative Group

Alexis got me a job, fast.
I signed up and interviewed at TCG 2 years ago, and nothing much came of it. Recently Alexis reached out by phone about an opportunity. I somehow missed the call and voicemail, and noticed it on my phone about a week later. By the time I got back to her, that job had been filled. She quickly found another opportunity that was a great fit. I interviewed and was hired within about a week.
I am now employed in my field. Couldn’t be happier.

I was definitely disappointed by my experience with The Creative Group (TGC). It started out well with a lot of great communication, but it went downhill the minute I walked into the offices. First I was in touch with Carolyn, and she guided me through the process of setting up my online account with TGC and all the paperwork I would need to bring into the meeting. The day of the meeting she called me to touch base and make sure I knew how to get to the office and asked me some preliminary questions before we met.
I got to the office 10 minutes late, thanks to a disabled train, and found out Carolyn had left and I would be meeting with Kassandra. Now, Kassandra had been cc’ed on our e-​mail correspondence so I felt comfortable meeting with her since she was familiar with my experience. I filled out even more paperwork and then sat down with Kassandra to discuss my experience, current salary and what kind of work I was interested in. She made it VERY clear that for permanent placement TGC does not try to place you outside of your experience level, and you will not get a big salary increase. So as a print designer, she would not be able to get me more experience in web design and I would not be getting the bump in salary that I desired, even though she said it was probably what I should be making. I also made sure to make it clear that I do not have a car and can only interview for companies in the metro Boston area. The rest of the meeting went fine and I followed up with thank you e-​mails to both Kassandra and Carolyn.
About a month later Carolyn e-​mailed me a job that she thought I would be perfect for. A senior web design position in Nashua, New Hampshire. I politely explained that my experience does not match what they were looking for and that I could not work outside of the city. She thanked me for looking over the description and said she would send me more opportunities as they came up. I never heard from Carolyn again despite sending her TGC job postings that did interest me and matched my experience.
About a month and half later, I get an e-​mail from William. He says he has the perfect job for me with a high profile client and he wanted me to come in right away to meet with him. I thanked him and inquired for details about the position. He thanked me for responding and then asked me for an MS Word copy of my resume. I obliged and asked again, what is the job?
UX Wireframe Developer at a company I had a Graphic Design internship with in college. He thought I would be perfect for the position because I had worked there before and I do stuff with computers. I politely told him I have no experience in UX wireframe development and he said, «Great, when are you free to come in?» I asked him what the nature of this meeting would be since I had already been in to meet with someone and did’t want to repeat the process for posterities sake.
After that he requested to connect with me on LinkedIn and spammed me with messages about sending him referrals. He is the only person I have ever unconnected with on LinkedIn.
TGC comes off as organized and professional, but really they are a big mess and it seems like there is little to no communication going on amongst their reps as they pass off client’s folders to each other.

I’ve only been dealing with TCG since the end of February. It seemed to start off well enough; a job that I could handle at a pay that was better than I’ve had. Not to mention full time, which was what I was looking for. I was also desperate for a job, since I’m a recent college grad (2013) and like everyone else, I kind of need to make money.
I was called to come in the evening after speaking to Ryan Staab, the guy who called me up first. So I went in the next day, and waited 45 minutes after filling out a pile of paperwork to speak to him for less than 5 minutes, just to (extremely) quickly gloss over some of my experience and make sure that I’d be willing to make the troop out to Melrose (17 or so miles away) by public transportation. Since I was hard up, and the commute wasn’t terrible (though timely), I agreed.
Fast forward nearly a month and a half later, I’m on the bus home and Ryan calls me and tells me, that out of nowhere my contract has been terminated, and that day was my last day. I believe the reason that was given to me wasn’t quite the reason, especially since I’m due to go on a two week vacation next week (which was supposedly OK’d by the client, and also planned/​paid for over a year ago). So, I was left without a job at the drop of a hat.
Now, I have been trying to get in touch with Ryan, since I have belongings I left at the job, because I wasn’t expecting to get axed so suddenly. Oh, he’s promised me that they would get my things back (including my absolute favorite hoodie) within a few days. It’s now been over a week. I have called twice, and left two messages. I have heard nothing.
I was also honest about things that I found strange at the place, how I was told I was ‘expensive’ by the company owner, and other things. Even a former co-​worker who was there, also through TCG, is literally trying to get out of the job I had because she doesn’t like it there.
All the strings attached in signing up for this never settled well with me, but I needed a job. I am now sorely tempted to cut my ties after my vacation and go back to looking for a permanent, full time job myself, especially since no one seems to answer me or help. This isn’t how a company should operate.

I went into TCG looking for full time placement, and usually with other recruiters, that immediately blacklists you and you’re doomed to still only be offered part time positions for eternity… not the case here. I could not be more pleased about my experience with TCG, more specifically Bryan. After the first meeting he already had a couple great potential roles in mind. Throughout the process he was attentive, easy to contact and really left me with the feeling he was truly looking out for me. Fast forward, a week and a half later… with Bryan’s help… I was signing an acceptance letter for an awesome (might even consider it a dream) job! Couldn’t be happier!

Creative Group (a subsidiary of Robert Half) exemplifies the worst attributes of staffing agencies. Like another reviewer below, they insisted on undercutting my rate to «make me sell better» to employers. The rare occasion where they would email me about an opportunity, they provide almost no information, it’d always be a super last minute interview, and then didn’t respond to any questions I had. And then when I asked them to remove me from their databases, they STILL continue to email me.
Creative Group makes the job hunting experience so much more demeaning and miserable than it needs to be by treating candidates like cheap cattle. Just don’t bother with them.

Appallingly bad — even worse than the infamous PSG (who has actually given me some occasional freelance assignments).
I initially met with Ryan back in autumn 2012. He was late (great sign), and spoke like a sleazy car salesman, trying to make me feel like a piece of garbage about my chosen salary range (which was… around the same figure I’d been earning over the past year). So after throwing you off by showing up late, this guy likes to jab at you and try to disarm you by outright stating that you’re not worth your current salary (and that you’d be lucky to accept less).
Of course, I heard nothing after our initial meeting. But I kept getting emails from him and his cohorts Amanda and Lyndsey, and, shortly after that, another Ryan. All four of these guys expected me to drop what I was doing and call them at a specified time, only I’d never, ever hear back from them.
Just today I responded to an email from William about a potential job interview for TOMORROW (he’d sent the email very late last night). We agreed to speak on the phone at 1.30pm today. So I called and got his voice mail. Left a message. And an email. Did I mention this interview tomorrow would have been FOUR HOURS LONG?
I told him I now had 1.5hr phone meeting. He finally says «let’s shoot for 3.30». Yeah, because it’s not like I’m remotely important or anything. I call at 3.30. Voicemail. AGAIN.
I understand that recruiting is sales, and sales, by its very nature, is callous and short-​sighted, with warped views on time management, client satisfaction and personal goal-​setting, but if you are discussing a job with a potential candidate, you don’t treat said candidate like a piece of crap. Avoid this place like the plague unless you want your time wasted. How the fuck are these morons still in business?

I have been working with Sarah Pak at TCG since June 2013 and have been very happy with her service! My past impressions of placement agencies have never been good. They usually over promise and under deliver every time, while trying to persuade someone in taking a job that they have absolutely no interest in. Only so they can make their money.
Since day one, Sarah took the time in assessing my skills and actually listened to what positions/​industries I was interested in. She pays attention to detail and is always very prompt in following up with me. I am proud and happy to say that I am going to start another temp position immediately after my current one ends, having no down time in between assignments! The only thing holding me back from giving 5 stars is the fact that I have not gained permanent employment at a company. But once I do, I will update my rating!

I had an interview the other day, it was a waste on MY time, I’ve been in advertising for over 15 years. She said she saw my portfolio on line, no interest said nothing about it. Brought my portfolio in, thought they might want to take a closer look, didn’t even bother to look at my book. Person seemed disinterested, tried to show other examples of my work that WASN’T in my online portfolio, wasn’t even interested. That was one of the worst interviews i ever had. The salary per hour is back in the dark ages, I was making that type of money back in the 1980’s probably so that they can make a killing off you when they overcharge their clients. I WOULD NOT recommend them.

I tried giving these guys another chance recently, and spoke with the head honcho so they knew what happened in the past. Supposedly someone would call me later so I really would give them another chance but the regular agents just don’t do their work. I even called the head honcho back to let him know I hadn’t heard from the agent, and he said the agent would call the next week. That was three weeks ago. Ahem.
I am signed up with a number of local creative staffing agencies and this is one of the worst, in my experience. Maybe they do better work for low-​end contracts.

Wow, I’m sad to see only negative reviews for The Creative Group.
Granted, I went in knowing I was only looking for temporary work while I continued my own broader job search (gotta pay the bills somehow!). But when I feared I’d have to swallow my pride and do some kind of secretarial job, my TCG coordinator (Kristen LaCivita, in case you’re curious) found me an appropriate job in my field within a day of visiting her office. She helped me through every step of the way, and even followed up a week or two after I started the job to make sure I was satisfied.
I enjoyed the position she found for me, and wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for the unavoidable pitfalls of temp work (low wages, no benefits, etc).
I think if you’re relying on TCG to find you the job of your dreams, you need a reality check. But if you’re looking for a temporary job to get your foot in the door and beef up your resume — as an enhancement to your own personal job search — The Creative Group could be a good match for you.

I’d give negative 10 stars if I could. I went in for an initial interview and the receptionist never mentioned that I was there. I waited for 2 hours after which I interviewed with an alternative who was a total biyatch and basically read my resume out loud in front of me — totally worthless.
I also know a friend that had a similar negative experience.