Recruiter demanded that our interview be recorded

[GigiBronz]

In the majority of my 16 years of trading, I have been approached because of either being previously known to a client or known to someone already engaged with the client. Therefore, my position has mostly been one of getting what I want and the agency is only there as a payment processor. As long as I get what I want, within whatever limits the client has, I don't give a flying fig about the agent which is why they don't feature much in my response.

I think we were bickering about agents, not clients. Also it depends what relationship you have with the client. If you are a programmer, you are the workhorse. Depends on how it went previously but you might have had too much from them so no longer considering the role (hear it a lot). They'll want to get the most out of you and get the delivery on time.

For another market and different skillset it might work in a different way.

If you're not using every contract as an opportunity to build a network of contacts then you're doing yourself a disservice and will forever be reliant on the agents you despise so much. You're essentially creating yourself a self fulling prophesy and blaming us for it because we have worked our way out of it.

I am a bit of an odd one, I was contracting in a different industry that I no longer want to engage with. Most of my skills align but still there is some reticence to engage. Network is not transferrable.

Network is important indeed, despite the number of clients that are out there it tends to be a small place and people know each other.
But agents do not come at play in the network. They are just connecting people.

[Paralytic]

General advice is to keep away from meeting them, they are just doing it to read you out, learn how to control you better.
or pointless exercise to spend company expenses.
there is no loyalty in this business and we always choose to go to the highest paying role.
They’ll pick the shmuck that goes for the lowest rate and has the best chance to get approved by the client.

maybe I am wrong and hope the more seasoned people can show me the right way.

1. Rubbish.

You could have stopped there.

[northernladuk]

You could have stopped there.

Gigibronz - Banned would have been better.

[GigiBronz]

well I think there is still value in what I said. We either provide useful information for people to be able to stand for themselves and think of the relationship as a business. Or turn this in something else...

Or encourage the same 'happy go lucky' mindset, be trustful of everyone and see everything turn to pieces because the pimps and corporate world will abuse and push contractors around until they all fall in line. The permi line.

IR35 was never about taxes, it is about controlling people and putting them into a position where they do not have options. wagecuks, happy to work hard for the company and wait for their dismal pension.
the more we realise that and learn how to spread the contractor mindset the more we will prosper.

HTH

[GigiBronz]

Gigibronz - Banned would have been better.

I am genuinely questioning the reasons some people post in here.
Helping out other people to fill the shoes of a contractor doesn’t seem to be the agenda.
Is anyone paying the mods or the frequent posters? If yes, who?


The more prevalent is the advice for the usual crowd that make good corporate stooges.
but that is very different from being business minded.

[lecyclist]

What I was suggesting is that for the type of relationship that it is with the agent, there is no need for in person contact. Still stand by the above.

You are describing purely transactional relationships. There are good and bad agents/ agencies. The good ones are worth searching for. It stands to reason that they will apply the same logic in reverse, seeking out "good" contractors.

[lecyclist]

Keep up the posts GigiBronz. I actually agree with the sentiment of many of your posts, that to me suggests a more nuanced approach to work-life balance.

But ultimately our lives are determined by factors as simple as where we were born, and who our parents were. There is no need to overthink things. We can just do the best we can with the choices available to us at any time. I also think you are more likely to annoy people in Professional (where people are looking more for facts than Marxist philosophy) than General.

One of my favourite quotes is from Greg Lemond, who was famously the first American to win the Tour de France. He was asked what the secret of his success was, and he replied "You should choose your parents carefully".

[Paralytic]

One of my favourite quotes is from Greg Lemond, who was famously the first American to win the Tour de France. He was asked what the secret of his success was, and he replied "You should choose your parents carefully".

In a world where people can can self-identify their gender, why not allow this too?

[LondonManc]

well I think there is still value in what I said. We either provide useful information for people to be able to stand for themselves and think of the relationship as a business. Or turn this in something else...

Or encourage the same 'happy go lucky' mindset, be trustful of everyone and see everything turn to pieces because the pimps and corporate world will abuse and push contractors around until they all fall in line. The permi line.

IR35 was never about taxes, it is about controlling people and putting them into a position where they do not have options. wagecuks, happy to work hard for the company and wait for their dismal pension.
the more we realise that and learn how to spread the contractor mindset the more we will prosper.

HTH

Interesting. Who do you feel is encouraging a "happy go lucky mindset"?

[GigiBronz]

Keep up the posts GigiBronz. I actually agree with the sentiment of many of your posts, that to me suggests a more nuanced approach to work-life balance.

But ultimately our lives are determined by factors as simple as where we were born, and who our parents were. There is no need to overthink things. We can just do the best we can with the choices available to us at any time. I also think you are more likely to annoy people in Professional (where people are looking more for facts than Marxist philosophy) than General.

One of my favourite quotes is from Greg Lemond, who was famously the first American to win the Tour de France. He was asked what the secret of his success was, and he replied "You should choose your parents carefully".

thanks, I think people should stand for themselves more.
the purpose it not to retire early but be able to save a significant amount to afford to be able to have some time off between gigs.
to be able to afford a holiday home in a sunny place. nice car. as I said in a different post, £100k in London is dog sh**, people should break it down and let that sink in.

it is demanding work that requires specialised skillsets, why shouldn't we afford that?

it is true about the parents, a lot of our education comes from them whether we realise it or not and not all of it is learned information. Our brain is similarly hardwired to theirs, we just have a newer better revision but all the significant evolutionary traits are passed on.

Interesting. Who do you feel is encouraging a "happy go lucky mindset"?

because you do not encourage people to have a very skeptical attitude about agents, market and clients. everything is up for question and contracting is a business relationship. we should be able to push the equilibrium towards our advantage and demand better terms.

as I see it, there are two team, one of them benefiting from asymmetrical power. they have the agents on their side, practices and experience. as I see it it is a ideological warfare, it can be analysed from the interactions between the parties. A lot of the communication is deliberately confusing, misleading to be able to set a ground for them to take advantage of the situation. And they have the economical side on their side, we have limited resources in comparison and one way or another have to engage with them.

Another example is how many of the job adverts are fake, many of the recruiters call without having a role to fill. Some of them are as a result of how their market works but I believe it is also deliberate to bring more awareness to the contractor. Put them in their place. If you have 10 recruiters telling you 70k is your salary, you tend to believe them. It doesn't matter that they had no role to fill only acting out of office exercies.

You will have/ or already have kids and they will grow up one day to be like daddy, because that's what they will be. They will do what are told, get good grades, get a specialised domain knowledge. Then they realise that they are no longer able to get permanent jobs because by that point HR has become very good at picking up on entrepreneurial spirit and independent mindset so they will put them at the back of the queue. Contractors do not make good employees and without this market there are limited ways that you could earn a leaving in this word.

It might be slightly pushed but still believe close to the truth.
HTH