Altis Human Resources

I applied for a job in Indeed which suited my profile. I got call from Altis and I was told that this is a prescreening interview. My husband took a day off and came along with me to drop (as I was completely new to the place).My recruiter took me inside and then I realized that it was not interview. She just asked about my previous experiences. Gave feedback on my resume and promised me to email me with the corrections required. It was complete waste of time. Whatever she wanted to know, was already their in the resume. I was asked to contact her whenever I see similar openings. But till now she has not contacted me or replied to my emails. I don’t understand what was the purpose of whole meeting.(PS: I have 8 years of experience and my resume was already reviewed by reputed Job developers)

I recently had an «interview» with Altis. I applied to a position they were recruiting for and, after receiving a call and completing a phone interview, I was invited to come in and interview for the position. Now I want to specify here that I was called by them, and told that I was a potential candidate for a specific position that they were recruiting for at the time. Arriving at the office was pleasant and I was politely greeted and asked to wait. However, soon after I was brought into Kathryn’s office I realized that I had been misled. While I had been told I would be coming in to interview for a potential position, I was actually just brought in to be interviewed about my past experience and qualifications so that I could be inputed into their system. While I realize that this is part of the process when going through an employment agency, she never once mentioned the position I was initially told I was a candidate for. While I brought up the job several times, she continuously skirted around the topic. Overall was a huge waste of my time and I will not be dealing with them in the future. I feel I was purposely misled in order for them to get me into the office and input me into their system. Had I been informed of the true nature of my meeting that afternoon I wouldn’t have taken time off of work to attend the meeting in the first place. Overall this one encounter completely turned me off of ever dealing with this company again, and I hope in the future they adjust their practices and that individuals such as Kathryn O’C are done away with. I would suggest to anyone dealing with them in the future that you confirm you are in fact an actual candidate for a position, and that you are attending an actual interview. The whole ordeal was very unprofessional and disappointing, and I feel sorry for their clients who are paying for a service from a business that allows employees to conduct themselves this way.

I recently relocated to Toronto and had fond memories of easily fitting into the workplace in 2008 thanks to PD Bureau (sadly the women who founded/​ran that stellar temp agency have retired). I’ve also worked for a few other agencies Manpower, Adecco, Ranstad… always had positive experiences, felt I was valued as an employee/​representative of the agency and felt I was paid fairly for the various jobs at hand.
Perhaps others have had positive experiences at Altis — perhaps I just happened to come in at a time when there were few opportunities or the staff was very busy but I had a completely mediocre experience with this company right from the get go. First off, you have to initially apply online so the process takes much longer to get into their system. Then I did an in-​person interview in both English and then French and after was told the few positions I was interested in were significantly lower paid than I had expected ($ 13.50/hr for medical transcription work? $ 14/​hr for a bilingual receptionist position? These rates are lower than Montréal where rent/​food are roughly half the amount). I did the math/​budgeted and was floored. With inflation in rent, food etc. if I took on one of these positions full time I would BARELY cover my basic expenses at full/​overtime.
I left the office without any prospects but then was called a few days later with an offer for a bilingual receptionist position. I thought it would be at my minimum requested rate of $ 18/​hour (seemed reasonable for a bilingual gvt. job — I made this in Toronto via a temp agency in 2007 so…) and it was only a 2-​week job so I thought I’d lower my standards a bit and «get a foot in the door». But right from the get-​go it was an unprofessional experience and rather degrading. I wasn’t given a contact name so when I arrived at the office I stood outside until one of the upper management let me in. After a rather gruelling first day (NOT the relaxed, easy, boring etc. reception job I was told it would be — at $ 14/​hr it had better be low/​no stress) I phone to speak to my rep. and explain the situation. Normally they call you as soon as you start the job to make sure everything is in order/​you have a clear understanding of the system/​payment etc. I left a message and never heard back.
Then I started getting emails about filling out security forms and then a course in special needs clients — all mandatory before being able to fill out a timesheet and be paid. Basically there were TONS of bureaucratic layers that made this «simple» contract complex and frustrating. I finally spoke to upper management and explained my position and they spoke with my rep who finally called me, explained how the system works (the guy being paid $ 15/​hr in the same company doing filing was in a different «category» so hence the higher pay rate… mmmm…) and offered me a .50 cent raise to $ 14.50 and hour. This was kind of hilarious and at this point enjoyed the people I was working for so I agreed to a few more days and then terminated the contract when I was offered something at liveable rate.
All this to say, I would not recommend this agency. There are many other options in Toronto and I imagine (I hope!) that they are easier to navigate and that the employees are treated with more respect and decorum.