Excellent Black owned business. Started an head up by a Black woman. This was a major selling point fir me! I was enthusiastic about possibly being a part of their team. Working as a remote Customer Service Representative contracted through this agency has been challenging in every good sense of the word. Penda Aiken herself personally responded to my queries when I was having difficulties with the application process. I was very IMPRESSED to know the the Chief Officer was hands on! My seven months of employment have been educational, skills sharpening, and pleasant thatks to the stellar team! read more

I have had a very easy time communicating with Penda Aiken during my first month at SCA. Everyone has been helpful so far.

My recruiter Rachel is responding promptly and puts in effort to assist me with employment. I would recommend this employment agency to people who are looking for a job. read more

I have nothing but good things to say about Penda Aiken. They helped me find employment quickly and even helped with my resume and gave tips on how to ace the interview. I actually transitioned to a permanent position at the job I was placed at fairly quickly. Rachel and Lucia were always super helpful to me. read more

Very unprofessional! Kicked me out of her office during an interview because I was wearing PPE gear and this offended her on April 13th! The job that was offered the day before suddenly changed the next day! They did not follow the 6ft rule as her office was very small. No one wore a mask or gloves. I subsequently emailed her how disappointed I was and she admitted that they don't wear PPE in the office but wash their hands every 20 minutes! As a minority owner I was shocked beyond! I reported her to a Politician whom ignored my texts! Guess they are friends! read more

I am a Recruiter with 14 years experience in both Staffing agencies and Corporate enviroments...Ahem, enough bragging! But in my opinion that makes me extremely knowledgeable about best practices for onboarding, hiring, eeo rights,etc...With that being said, I went for an interview for an INTERNAL opportunity. Notice the big case internal, I need to point that out because it is important later. Assistant greets me upon arrival and give me a "temp packet" which is standard at staffing firms and includes an I9 & W4 for tax purposes. I filled out the packet as a courtesy because I was not applying to be a temp nor would I have accepted a temp offer of employment. Assistant comes back and says that Mrs. Aiken will be in momentarily and I get excited (internal yay!) Interview is about to start! Mrs. Aiken, as in Penda Aiken sole proprietor and owner of the firm comes in, greets me and informs me that since I do not have my Social Security card with me she cannot meet with me for an interview. This is actually a fallacy, you see; since I was NOT applying to be a contractor she indeed DID NOT need my SS card for verification on an I9 because I9 compliance does not need to be met until an emplyee begins working with the firm, which I was not doing. I was there for an INTERNAL position which was advertised as internal and permanent, not temporarary anyway. Well, needless to say I found this a complete waste of time. Mrs Aiken could have as a professional courtesy met with me. Legally she and I both know that I9 documents are not needed until an offer of employment is accepted. Hey I over looked that the place is above a 99 cent store! Why is it that she couldn't give me the professionalism that I deserved? read more

I called Penda Aiken's agency and spoke to a very rude individual. He barely had time to speak to me and kept telling me to just send in my résumé. I was surprised because the previous day, I called and somehow got one of their employees who normally doesn't answer the phones. He was very nice and it was him who instructed me to call back the next day. The other negative thing that happened is that, I registered and a recruiter emailed me. I responded with an email and she NEVER got back to me. Not even to say, thank you for registering but blah, blah, blah. I even sent her a second email. That's really rude. Two rude, unprofessional employees from this microscopic agency located in an outer borough. Really? read more

I registered with this agency in November 2o16. After giving them all my documents and filling out all of their's, including tax forms, I met with Earlene Robinson. She listened to what I wanted and then told me that when something was available I would be contacted. I asked her if I should check in via email and she said yes. I sent weekly check-in emails. I even dropped off my updated photo ID. Finally after 4 weeks I received an email about a potential job. I was asked to re-send my pdf resume in word format. It was sent and I heard nothing further. I continued to send check-in emails only receiving cordial reply but no further opportunities. At the end of February I stopped checking in. Either this agency has too many applicants and not enough opportunities; shame on the sales team for not bringing in new accounts. Or it has opportunities that don't match their applicants; shame on the agents for not honestly screening. Having built relationships with clients and grown accounts I believe there is need to follow-up and follow-through with a client. There are times when the fit isn't right. It requires honesty and directness. Sometimes it requires pointing the client in a direction that will help them knowing you may lose an income opportunity but that you're creating community. This agency needs to re-think it's mission statement and process. read more

Not a good company to work with or for. There are many more successful firms out there, keep looking. This is really just a pretend business

I registered with penda aiken in dec 2006 Im giving this agency 5 stars because my recruiter always called me for assignments ,in march 2007 i had a assignment for 2mnths and it turned out to be a 1 yr 1/2 i was working clerical for ny life insurance company on Lexington ave ..it was a great exprience working temp. i made 11hr full time hrs it was fun, i stopped working in 2008 because my recruiter didnt work there anymore and they never had clerical assignments and work was very slow ..I dont know about the agency now but my experience with penda aiken was wonderful in 2007 lol read more

I have worked for Penda Aiken off and on as a temp for the last 25 years and I have found her to be professional, capable and caring about temps. I am a produced playwright and I utilize temp services from time to time. I have never worked for a temp agency or person who was so concerned about individuals. If you are in the arts, PENDA AIKEN, INC. is a great organization to work for and I highly recommend her. read more

Hello Everyone! During the early 90's I applied with Penda Aiken agency and was very fortunate to had Ms. Aiken. I hold her professionalism to high standards. ALL agencies (my experience from working with many) can throw you a loop. Meaning you can get to an assignment and find out for various reasons this is not what the assignment detailed or most honestly could be a major personality hardship. Not saying who is possibly causing the 'hardship'. I worked as a temporary legal secretary for many top firms and well know boutique high profile firms. With of course very high profile clients. I miss the temping employ...I take care of a parent who needs me more right now...I've since earned a degree while actually caring for them. So, in the very near future even though seems may seem to be in a 'horrific standstill' ...I will undoubtedly return to temping in the future. I read one of the reviews that someone had wrote and that was unfortunate that experience had occurred. Maybe personality and the unseen but very familiar sixth sense was at hand. You know you know when something is not just right...well, seems like that could have been the situation. Which it was what it was. Plain and simple. Ms. Penda Aiken I wish you many more years of great success and as I remembered you as to be a fair, honest and personable toward me. Ms. James New Jersey read more

I've been working with temp agencies and staffing agencies in NYC for over 7 years now, and I have to say that Hannah Hirtzel at Penda Aiken is one of the best Talent Acquisition Specialists that I've ever met. She was highly responsive to my needs whenever I had issues with my contract employees, always got back to me right away when I reached out to her either over the telephone or via email, and when a situation came up with my family, Hannah was great. She was extremely helpful, understanding, and just generally human about the whole thing. Which is more than can be said for most temp agents out there. Unfortunately, most agents, and the agencies that they work for are only looking out for themselves and how much money they can get for the services that we temp workers provide, while our needs are not taken into consideration at all. I understand that this is how business works, but in this particular business, there must be a kind of symbiotic relationship between the agency and the temp. The needs of both should be met, which doesn't normally happen. This was not the case with either Hannah Hirtzel or Penda Aiken in general. I felt extremely well treated both by her and the agency. I am indeed a fan. read more