UNITE Students Employee Reviews

99% of the students and staff were great but training was nonexistent which is scary considering one of our responsibilities is to do wellness checks on students. At one point I thought I was going to walk into an unaliving (thankfully that was not the case).They also forgot to tell me they were terminating my employment so that was fun.Honestly, I think it would be a really good job if the training and staffing were increased/improved. Seems to genuinely be a company issue rather than a management issue for the most part.

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Terrible Atmosphere, toxic work environment and unsociable hours

Student Experience Team Leader (Former Employee) - Manchester - 24 November 2023

Typical day at work Start so early you don't see anyone for a few hours. When you finally do and are able to do your job the day goes relatively okay. Until you need something from management as you have no control in your buildings. Want to put on an event, which is part of your job description? wait 5-7 days before being told they haven't ordered your things that you requested because they're too busy. Then get complained at your event failed. Or late shift, work until 8pm then no one comes into your building for 2 hours. Giving you time to... well you can't call anyone at that time, you can't do H&S checks as your office need to be manned at all times, you can't go into flats. You can answer emails! But so could the person before you working from 7-3 as that is their job as well. Issue with that is most of the time the people that email you want a response that day or they'll call... during the day. All of this together added with the 6 hours of lone working, and it being unlikely you'll see upper management who are "in the city" good look having any social interactions on some days. ManagementIf you've ever imagined what it would be like to be the present during a game of pass the parcel. Work here and have an issue that would cost the company money to fix. Then you'll get passed from Office management, to estates, to city management to the void. Then the students who originally made the complaint will be angry at YOU, because YOU, person sitting in the reception, unable to have a proper break as you have been working alone for the last 4 hours, are responsible. -

Pros

Students can be entertaining

Cons

Unsociable hours, bad management

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Started great, got sticky, progression blocked, overworked, underpaid, moved on.

Student Experience Team Leader (Former Employee) - Birmingham - 19 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Work life balance and team culture when I started was excellent.Benefits package is also very good and has a lot of different offers, particular Medicash and pension.The property I was based in was very close to brand new and this meant it was a popular choice and maintenance requests were more teething troubles rather than significant issues.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Post “consultation” the culture and work life balance was ripped away. Staffing at bare minimum, lots of lone working and whilst the company got rid of a lot of dead wood thanks to this process, it also lost a lot of incredible staff and didn’t know enough to keep them. It left a lot of remaining staff feeling undervalued, overworked and unmotivated.Lone working can lead to not offering the best service to residents regardless of the extended opening hours of reception teams.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Adequate - it is dependent on your Line Manager and their attitude and experience. Team Leaders are expected to do far too much for the salary and have to cultivate work environments they may not necessarily be trained for,My environment was great but other properties in the same area can be prioritised and shown favour whilst others are left behind.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Depends on the shift and property. 7-3 or 2-10 have extremely quiet periods regardless of time of year at 7-10 and 8-10.Depending on times of year it’s mainly sales or debt management -

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ok

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Bristol - 14 November 2023

People are alright. It was boring as work was not interesting. Things take quite a long to get sorted. Benefits could be working from home. My personal experience was ok. Not good not bad.

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Environment

Events Assistant (Former Employee) - Birmingham, West Midlands - 4 November 2023

Friendly environment and costumer focused workplace with good management but hard to be hired without previous experience in events and marketing filed

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Insights into UNITE Students

Based on 127 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Sense of belonging
General feeling of work happiness
Trust in colleagues

Ex-employee of 2 years, learn everything you need here

Student Experience Team Member (Former Employee) - Manchester - 2 November 2023

Unite students is the perfect job for you if you wanted to work part time, or only work for a temporary basis. Doing this job you will meet so many amazing people from your colleagues to the students, but as soon as you encounter the management you will quickly discover how toxic the environment truly is. Unite does not care about you. Unite does not care about your development. You are expendable, replaceable and do not have a voice. If you join this company intending to develop then be prepared to get on your knees for the management as only their closest friends are granted those opportunities. They would rather give a promotion to someone completely new to the company instead of someone who had been working the role internally for over 5 years, and then act surprised and disappointed when that person goes and finds the promoted role elsewhere. The CEOs change the functionality of the whole company every other year, this year changing our working hours to 7am-3pm or 2pm-10pm, believe me when I say these hours are not conscious of your life. When challenged about these new hours, a direct quote from the ownership is "the safety of our staff was not in our initial concerns". That sums up their attitude towards staff.The students are incredible and really make up the job, but they are treated like cash cows by management. Students in a property in Manchester spent a whole academic year without functional air conditioning, and the management delayed any compensation to the extent that the students checked out and never received any, they got away with it. The buildings are -

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Over worked, unappreciated

Facilities Assistant (Former Employee) - Birmingham, West Midlands - 15 October 2023

I wouldnt say the company is at fault, the management got to be the worst management in any company. they boost each other up higher and employ there friends, they demand so much out of the staff having no clue how the job role is. time watch jobs like thing's can be done instantly, Birmingham management needs to be changed in order for the city to be healthy and happy, they need to have management that actually care about there staff, instead of being fake to get what they want. I've seen the company go from a life time job to a so many people coming and going within 6months. Also if you do decide to apply and something you don't like happens don't go to HR they're not there for you, they will quickly report what you say to management to make out your the bad one.(Home for students) yet they want the place to run like a hotel, hotel isn't a home #FixupBirminghammanagement

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Easy work load - Managers are all friends

Student Experience Officer (Current Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear - 27 September 2023

The work load is fairly easy for a student experience team member. However the culture inside the company is that of managers vs team. Once told by a manager not to complain about another manager as they were friends.

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Please don't apply for Unite Students

Student Experience (Current Employee) - Anonymous - 26 September 2023

This company is a joke, do not apply unless you to work ridiculous hours, be maintenance housekeeping security and reception all in one!Honestly can't stress this enough

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Not the place to work

Housekeeping Assistant (Former Employee) - Manchester - 21 September 2023

They put to much work on one person alone.Staff have no choice but to be off sick because they are to run down mentally and physically with work meant for several staff members not just one person alone.There is so much stress at this work place.They don’t care about their employeesThey state that they do but that is a complete lie.There is no work life balance.They expect you to work ridiculous hours.They don’t pay you the correct pay at times and get away with it to.Run away a far as you can from this company there are better places to work and believe me this is not one of them.So stay away at all measures otherwise you will regrets it in the long term.So run as fast as you can they are not worth your time or energy.

Pros

None

Cons

Rubbish pay, rubbish hours bad place to work

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Underpaid and lonely place to work

Service and Sales Advisor (Former Employee) - Cardiff, Cardiff - 18 September 2023

I would imagine your experience of Unite would depend largely on the specific property/city you work in. For me, the job itself was enjoyable. The students were lovely, and it was great seeing the same friendly faces every day. However, the management of my property was shockingly poor - maintenance issues left unresolved for weeks on end, a housekeeper who refused to clean, and no direction or support from management. I worked alone most days, which was a little lonely, could be very stressful, and sometimes I felt very unsafe.

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Fun

Housekeeper (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 18 September 2023

Cool company, good pay, good work/life balance. Management a little out of there depth, should listen more to the staff on the frontline and working in the properties more.

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Not supportive to staff

Security Officer (Former Employee) - Cardiff - 17 September 2023

Customer is always right, even when they are abusive. No tools available to manage students such as body cams, yet you'll still be responsible for noise. Students quickly learn that security have 'no teeth' and that they can do almost anything disruptive and antisocial yet never face eviction.

Pros

Low hours

Cons

No body cameras

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Good place to work, very nice people

Emergency contact centre advisor (Former Employee) - Bristol - 15 September 2023

Good place to work, good work-life balance, enjoyed working there while it lasted. Nothing really to complaint about only that doing the night shifts were quite long but doable .

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No Work Life Balance

Receptionist/Administrator (Former Employee) - Sheffield - 14 September 2023

The fire alarms will slowly make become deaf due to how they can be set up and therefore how easy they can be triggered (usually by accident). No work life balance either

Pros

Great if your social

Cons

Work Life Balance

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the management expect you to drop everything

Service and safety Officer (Current Employee) - Manchester - 9 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?days off and personal interaction with the general managerWhat is the most stressful part about working at the company?personal interaction with the general managerWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?the general manager wants you to bend over backwardsWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?overtime inspecting the show flats usually late at night

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Friendly and fun workplace

Student Experience Team Member (Former Employee) - Newcastle upon Tyne - 9 September 2023

Working on reception was always fun and enjoyable. From fires in rooms to flooding in bathrooms you never knew what you were going to experience in a day but I loved every minute. The staff were the friendliest I have ever met and part time hours meant I could do my masters degree on top.

Pros

Friendly & fun xmas party

Cons

Can get mundane

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Give it a go if you dare

Housekeeping (Former Employee) - Portsmouth, Hampshire - 29 August 2023

Claim to care but only care about their pay check. No recognition for staff at all, unless you’re mates with them outside of work.Housekeeper - Portsmouth, HampshireWorked for Unite for nearly 4 years, first year and a half was great.I then realised that all the overtime, staying late, helping out where I could, working on reception some days despite being a housekeeper, and putting the students and company first was a massive mistake. My attitude then changed and I only done the jobs that I was being paid to do, the only problem is that then all of a sudden you’re “not doing enough”, staff that work hard for one day get recognised and praised yet staff that do it all the time every day are forgotten about.Colleagues have meetings with one another behind your back including management, and when enquiring about this you get lied to your face. New staff arrive and are allowed to dictate and take over in every aspect, e.g. what the halls run like, the Summer turnaround, the dress code, (the uniform is a polo / t shirt, all black, yet some staff would turn up to work and look like they’ve either come straight from a night out or been on the farm herding sheep). Some staff are treated completely different to others, no trust, no loyalty yet you’re expected to jump hurdles for management for next to no reward.Managers also lie about their “favourite” members of staff being off sick to cover their backs, allowing not so favourite members of staff to pick up the pieces, you’ve got no chance of being treated equally. Incompetent, lying, two faced and just all round liars.

Pros

Close to home

Cons

Read above

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Lack of support from senior management with embedded cultural issues

Operations Administrator (Former Employee) - Bristol - 27 August 2023

What could be a vibrant and interesting place to work is severely let down by the complete lack of support and encouragement from senior business leaders. This may not be typical of the business as a whole, but from an operational and Bristol head office perspective there is a company that may be FTSE 100 but very much has the approach and management style of a much smaller and immature business. Some senior leaders exhibit insecurities and their lack of experience that is reflected wholly in the way they treat people working under them. A typical "my way or the highway" attitude. Good staff members soon move on and do not stay for long. If your face fits and you are subservient - you will do well. If you are experienced and have ideas how things should run - stay away. The issues come very much from the top down and things wont change.

Pros

Some wonderful people trying to do their best. Good benefits.

Cons

Senior managers, lack of resource and support & cultural issues.

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Dreadful place to work

Undisclosed (Former Employee) - Undisclosed - 25 August 2023

Clickey toxic culture at the top. HR department is law to itself - doesn't need to follow any procedures. People fired for not having the right face or challenging poor practices with made up accusations as base for dismissal. And that even at director level and in senior leadership.Read your contract carefully - you can be deemed unsuitable at any point- based on someone's feelings and rather than your work capacity, integrity, performance, results or anything professional. There are many good people but none of them have any power or influence or are in leadership.

Pros

None

Cons

Useless clueless leadership, toxic culture

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No Support

Duty Manager (Former Employee) - United Kingdom - 25 August 2023

There is a lot expected of you but no proper training given, you will work EVERY weekend even if you are told you won', they dont care if you have a life outside of work and its grind day in and out, people are nice, management dont care

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