Is it the agent or the client or just ol'stupid me?!

**adubya** · 22 January 2013, 19:39

Negotiate the rate if you get offered the gig ?

**SAPABAPLeeds** · 22 January 2013, 19:42

Originally posted by adubya View Post

Negotiate the rate if you get offered the gig ?

Thanks for your reply adubya. I was actually wondering if it would be a good idea to speak to the first agent and tell him about the second agent's offer !

**northernladuk** · 22 January 2013, 19:58

You gotta apply a modicum of nouse here. Its just business. Agent gets a cut if you get in. That cut is decided by the agent and then up for negotiation when you get the rate. Some agents offer you more than so you pick them etc.

What will often happen though is the agent will try drop that rate with some half baked excuse or lie when it comes to signing time.

Don't whatever you do try and play two agents off by applying through both. A tulipstorm will start on who got dibs first which will probably end with you getting binned

**h8mmer** · 22 January 2013, 20:04

It could be that the agent you are dealing with is acting in a sub-agent category i.e. advertising the role off the back of the other agent who is working direct with the client and will take a cut of the fee as well.

Or , more likely, you are dealing with a normal agent who tries to maximise their cut (they are in business too!) and its upto you to negotaiate a better rate.
The end client will be paying a rate to the agent that they have negotiated so if you do get the gig and then try to renegotaite you aren't going to create any bad feeling with the end client (and agents only care as long as the current contract is in play AFAIK).
I've worked onsite before and found out the agent was fleecing me so refused to agree a renewal unless I got a much better deal. Only helps if the client lets slip the rate they are paying though

As for going back on the agreement with the first agent I've never done it, I assume you've put something in writing to agree to them putting you forward so it would look bad/un-professional imo. And if the client starts seeing your CV from multiple sources it could look funny (?).

**SAPABAPLeeds** · 22 January 2013, 20:08

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

You gotta apply a modicum of nouse here. Its just business. Agent gets a cut if you get in. That cut is decided by the agent and then up for negotiation when you get the rate. Some agents offer you more than so you pick them etc.

What will often happen though is the agent will try drop that rate with some half baked excuse or lie when it comes to signing time.

Don't whatever you do try and play two agents off by applying through both. A tulipstorm will start on who got dibs first which will probably end with you getting binned

Thanks for your comments NLUK.

Sure, I wont play the double game. Having read a good number of posts about agents on this website, I am probably over cautious with my approach and I tend to doubt every word uttered !

**BolshieBastard** · 22 January 2013, 20:19

Originally posted by SAPABAPLeeds View Post

Hi all,
Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section ( I thought it was closer to "legal")

Being a newbie, I am not sure if I smell something fishy with the agent I am dealing with.

A job was advertised on a website and I called the agent up since I thought that the requirements were an excellent match with my skill set. The agent was satisfied that my CV fits in well with his client’s expectations and he informed me that he is putting my CV forward and also sent me a confirmation. He quoted, let’s say, a daily rate of X.

Everything was fine till I found on the same website the same job advertised by another agency at x+50 to x+100 depending on experience. Interestingly the same job was advertised by the client on their website though no daily rate was mentioned.
Now the questions-
- Am I missing an agent’s trick here or is it just me being a bit sneaky about agencies?
- I did reply to the agent that I am happy for him to represent me. However, do you think I will be “moral” in applying through the second agent for the same position?
- Should I actually try and apply directly on the client’s website? (Now then, I knew the name of the client through the first agent.

)

If I put my "moral" hat on for a moment, it doesn’t look fair on my part to reapply for the same role through other agents after assuring an agent to proceed with my representation. However I am not sure if I am missing something here and I should probably try to be “practical”.

Any one care a cent or two ?...

Thankfully, no one has said 'you knew the rate when you applied and was happy with it..............' etc, etc. Presumably, you'll be submitted for the role by the 'low' agent as you approached them first.

Clearly, at least one agent is taking the piss. You just dont know if the one with the low rate is more accurate than the one offerring the high rate.

There are two ways to play this although you have already prevent one by submitting yourself to the low agent.

I'd say play your cards close to your chest until you get the nod of an offer. Then, tell low agent you know the job was offered at £xxx pd and that's what you want or you wont take the role. Be prepared to stick to your guns and refuse the role at the lower rate since the agent will try everything to batter you down.

Alternatively, what you could have done from the outset is told the first, low agent you'd grant them, say 48 hours to confirm interview with the client and, if this hasnt been secured by the cut off point, the exclusivity would end and free you to allow a second agent to submit you for the role.

When the market is like it is (tight), you need to protect yourself from agents. When you see a job, dont immediately apply for it. Continue searching to see if other agents also have the same role and what rate they are offerring.

The temptation is to apply as soon as you see a job advertised but, the pitfalls of doing so are clear to you now. If you are one of the better candidates, you would still likely be put forward if you applied a few hours later.

**mudskipper** · 22 January 2013, 20:53

It is worth asking the agent to confirm (in writing) that they have passed your CV to the client. If they haven't, then apply via the other agent.

If you do get an interview and an offer, you can say that you like the sound of the job, but cannot accept at the rate on offer.

But some agents do advertise at more than the offered rate to get the candidates in front of the client - so it may be that your agent has the realistic rate.

**Wanderer** · 22 January 2013, 22:26

Originally posted by SAPABAPLeeds View Post

- Am I missing an agent’s trick here or is it just me being a bit sneaky about agencies?
- I did reply to the agent that I am happy for him to represent me. However, do you think I will be “moral” in applying through the second agent for the same position?
- Should I actually try and apply directly on the client’s website? (Now then, I knew the name of the client through the first agent.

)

The advertised rate is simply an invitation to negotiate. I wouldn't read too much into it.

If one agency says £X per day and another says £X+100 then you've got an idea of what range the client is willing to pay. Be aware that agencies will sometimes advertise an attractive rate to get you hooked when the client has no budget to actually engage someone at that rate. Other times an agency might advertise a low rate to try and make a killing on their markup. For this reason, I like to try and discuss the rate with the client directly if possible - some clients are quite open about this others will flatly refuse to discuss it and may get upset so tread carefully on this one.

When you call up the agency, ignore the advertised rate and tell them that you want £rate+10%. They will then offer to put you forward at £rate-10% and you get what you were wanting. At this stage it's just the beginning of the negotiations so don't sweat it too much.

When they tell you your offer to do the contract at £x was accepted you can turn around and say that the job is more involved than you thought and add a bit to your rate. There's no hard feelings about this - it's normal business negotiation.

As for contacting the client direct, this is a difficult one and it can start a big fight if you aren't careful. Once again, tread very carefully.

Agencies often pick up job advertisements and republish them even though they have no relationship with the client. Often the client will only deal with agencies on their preferred suppliers list and it's difficult to know which agencies are on this list. If the agency you are using isn't on the list then the client may refuse to deal with them, in which case the agency will lie to you and say the client is not interested.

If you then go direct to the client and the agency find out, they will start a big fight. Give it a week or so and if the agency don't get you an interview then apply direct but don't say a word to the agency about what you did or change your Linked-in profile or anything.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Is it the agent or the client or just ol'stupid me?!