Day Rate Negotiation?

[BlasterBates]

No, he absolutely is on £700. I have seen the invoices myself. He's not a dick wagger either so I'd have no reason to doubt him.

Ultimately, I'm a simple bloke with low outgoings. You wouldn't see me in a Q8 any day. I'm happy to go lower but at the same time I would hate to think I was a soft touch and missed out on that extra £100 a day because the recruiter took me for a mug.

Apply for a similar role at that rate and see what happens.

[billybiro]

You hit the nail on the head, you put in for a high rate and risk losing the gig. That's the decision you have to take.

I'm not entirely convinced that this is always a bad strategy.

If the agent has already seen your CV, has some idea of who you are, what you've done and what skills you possess, then never underestimate the agent's desire to flex his salesman's muscle and try to coax you down from your lofty position. Even more so if he thinks that the client would also be impressed by your credentials.

It's all part of the game, and the agent will often see it as a challenge to try to get you to take a lower rate than the one you first quote, even though the rate you end up on might well be a very good rate anyway (if you'd cockily high-balled it in the first place).

Doesn't always work of course and YMMV, but doesn't always fail either.

[PerfectStorm]

Sometimes winning a gig for a little bit less than the ideal is better than going in too high, getting nothing, and spending 6 months looking.

Eventually charging days at a lesser rate earns you more than holding out for big ones, as every day lost is a day you could've earned

[WTFH]

If I'm contacted by an agent who knows me, they will know roughly how much I'm on and won't even bother contacting me if they don't think it's worth my time.
If I'm contacted by an agent who doesn't know me, I'll tell them the top end of my rate card. If they baulk at that, I'll ask them what they think they'd get for me, and that will tell me how well they know my market.

But if I'm contacting an agent I don't know about a role that has been advertised, the first thing I do is try to work out who the client is, then contact one of my agents to see why they didn't think it was suitable for me.

[Bluenose]

Just place ‘Terraform expert’ on your CV and voila, no need to get out of bed for less than £800pd.

[northernladuk]

Just place ‘Terraform expert’ on your CV and voila, no need to get out of bed for less than £800pd.

Well that might get you a gig with Starfleet.