New Contractor Portal - Sourcing new contracts - What do you want?

[DodgyAgent]

You are saying two things here, firstly:

If the agent is losing out by not picking you ahead of others then something is wrong with the relationship between you and the client

This, obviously makes no sense. Secondly:

If the client is losing out by not picking you ahead of others then something is wrong with the relationship between you and the client

Difficult if a pimp cannot sort the wheat from the chaff in the first place.

I am trying to get malvolio to accept the responsibility for not being able to find a job on himself rather than blaming others. So Malvolio's problem is that he is not getting in front of the client. The problem may lie in his CV, his relationship with the agent or a host of other reasons.I obviously have not managed to convey this clearly.

If Malvolio is failing to get banking jobs because he has no banking exp, yet feels that it should make no difference, he would be wise in trying to find out why this barrier exists rather than assume that it is down to ignorance of the client.

[ratewhore]

I think he is saying that, if you put him in front of a client then he will sell himself. It's the pimps who tick the checkboxes that he has an issue with.

Apologies Mal if I got that wrong. That's my understanding.

[malvolio]

I think he is saying that, if you put him in front of a client then he will sell himself. It's the pimps who tick the checkboxes that he has an issue with.

Apologies Mal if I got that wrong. That's my understanding.

Precisely - I know my skills a lot better than an agent who has merely read my CV (which is not that bad actuallly) and am more than capable of selling them to the client, whree I can dicuss the business requirement properly. But it's like the Court of St James - the people who control the market are the ones who control the access to it, and it ain't the clients.

[DodgyAgent]

I think he is saying that, if you put him in front of a client then he will sell himself. It's the pimps who tick the checkboxes that he has an issue with.

.

They/you all say that. The pimps do whatever is necessary to get someone in the job and to optimise their profit. We are simple things really which should make it easy for you guys to deal with us. However you rarely bother to think along positive lines choosing instead to whine and moan and blame everyone else.

[DodgyAgent]

Precisely - I know my skills a lot better than an agent who has merely read my CV (which is not that bad actuallly) and am more than capable of selling them to the client, whree I can dicuss the business requirement properly. But it's like the Court of St James - the people who control the market are the ones who control the access to it, and it ain't the clients.

If you cant communicate with an agent in a way that gets him to do what you want then what hope have you of being effective in front of a client. You are not thinking, you are moaning.

[chicane]

I think DA is bringing up an important point here though ... as contractors we seem to become so preoccuiped with dealing with the various "tricks" employed by agents that our interactions with them become highly prescribed and one-dimensional.

From what I can understand, DA is suggesting that Mal simply asks the agent why he couldn't be put forward for banking roles - thinking about it there's no reason why Mal couldn't have done so. I've had similar problems in the past but at no point have I thought to ask the agent "Why?". Sure, the agent may well come out with a load of bull in the form of yet another trick, but they may also come out with insightful feedback that may help Mal tailor his approach/CV/whatever.

But then what would I know - I've never managed to score an agency contract in my life despite having successful relationships with several direct clients...

[ratewhore]

Come on DA, you know perfectly well there are the effective agents and the cockney barrow-boy types.

The present agent I am using is very effective and as an added measure takes me out for beer and curry but that relationship building is far from the norm. I have him looking for something new for me now and he is on the phone to his contacts today.

As for whatever is necessary, I think whatever is easiest is more like it. The database trawl emails proves this as I continue to receive loads of them which bear no resemblance to my skills and experience and to top it all have the statement asking me to pass it on to my contacts if it is not suitable for me. Cheeky feckers!!

[DodgyAgent]

I think DA is bringing up an important point here though ... as contractors we seem to become so preoccuiped with dealing with the various "tricks" employed by agents that our interactions with them become highly prescribed and one-dimensional.

From what I can understand, DA is suggesting that Mal simply asks the agent why he couldn't be put forward for banking roles - thinking about it there's no reason why Mal couldn't have done so. I've had similar problems in the past but at no point have I thought to ask the agent "Why?". Sure, the agent may well come out with a load of bull in the form of yet another trick, but they may also come out with insightful feedback that may help Mal tailor his approach/CV/whatever.

But then what would I know - I've never managed to score an agency contract in my life despite having successful relationships with several direct clients...

Thank you chicane. I have never understood why more of you contractors do not play agencies at their own game. If they have a plumb job, why not get try and get your reference to call them? Or make them think that if they get your CV in front of the client then you may give them some leads. We are greedy bastards and none too bright, this type of tactic will, believe me, work.

[DodgyAgent]

Come on DA, you know perfectly well there are the effective agents and the cockney barrow-boy types.

The present agent I am using is very effective and as an added measure takes me out for beer and curry but that relationship building is far from the norm. I have him looking for something new for me now and he is on the phone to his contacts today.

As for whatever is necessary, I think whatever is easiest is more like it. The database trawl emails proves this as I continue to receive loads of them which bear no resemblance to my skills and experience and to top it all have the statement asking me to pass it on to my contacts if it is not suitable for me. Cheeky feckers!!

There you are then!

[malvolio]

I have asked, actually. A selection of recent answers have been "You're not cleared" (I am, actually), "They will only take people with (insert industry here) experience", "You are too experienced" (and that's a bad thing?) and "You won't take the rate on offer". As for asking many of the agencies, that's not even an option. If they deign to post a contact number you will never, ever get to talk to them. There was a call out recently for senior consultants in my arena with around 10 years, wide-ranging experience. That's me, so CV goes in to a Jobserve mailbox (again, no contact name or number quoted), and after a week or so not even a hint of a reply - so how the f*** do I find out why?

I have a decent relationship with several agents, to be honest, and I'm really not struggling for work right now anyway. I'm merely pointing out the disconnect between Ideal World and Real World. Many of the problems are at our end, but not all of them, by a very long way.