Bite Consulting

**bangface** · 14 August 2007, 09:05

Originally posted by richard-af View Post

So, Dodgy, it's YOU running the Nigerian "Money Locked in an Account" scams... never doubted it.

Dodgy is the Fonejacker!!!

**Darksider** · 26 March 2012, 01:30

Sorry to bring up old threads, but it was because of this one that I completely avoided them.

Being new to contracting, I put my CV out onto a few job sites and dealt with a number of agencies, one of which was Bite. To be honest, the call itself was a dead give away that something wasn't right. Being told that Bite only recruit the very best people and that they head hunted me through 1000's on job sites (keep in mind I'm only in my mid 20's) and that they would love to get me in for a sit down consultancy interview. I was told that my CV needed work and that they could assist in helping me change it. For the last week before hand, I was tweaking my CV and getting feedback from a number of IT firms and managers that I dealt with in the past and was finally happy (after about 20 drafts!) that my CV was finally up to good standard. To be told that it needed a lot of work was quite amusing, not to mention the sales pitch I was given.

So I came here, did a quick search and spent an hour looking through Google. It's not the 15% of pay for the first 60 days that annoyed me (although it is incredibly sneaky), nor the sales pitch trying to get me on board with their consultancy services...it was the website. Any person with basic IT skills can pull any CV off their website just by changing the web address to the following document (123.doc, 124.doc, 125.doc etc) and I was able to pull 10 CV's off the site before I decided to stop. The fact that they had absolutely no security to stop random users downloading client CV's is a deeply scary thought, especially with some details provided on some CV's.

I politely declined their offer of an interview and would urge anyone looking to join their books to be incredibly careful and not mind if your CV ends up plastered all over the internet for anyone to grab hold of.

**Taita** · 26 March 2012, 16:31

Originally posted by BITEconsulting View Post

Message from BITE Consulting,

No, we are not a typical agency – we do a lot more! We are a career management and contractor marketing provider and work together with agencies across the UK.

No, we don’t spam agents or clients with CV’s, our close ties with over 1000 agencies across the UK and some direct client, allow our contractors to quickly secure contracts, because agents have confidence and trust the quality of CV’s that we do pass on. We only send CV’s when a contractor is looking for a new contract – unlike most other companies that merely “harvest” CV’s and store them in a database. Your CV is also sent to clients or agents who regularly call us directly looking for a contractor, if the job matches your skills. No spamming here either, CV’s are always requested, a service which our contractors and agencies are very pleased with.

FEES: 15% = Full managed job search

No job, no fee. Yes, we’re that confident in finding you the right contract, or we won’t sign you up in the first place.

The fee drops after the first 65 working days. You need to discuss the fee structure with a careers advisor during an interview, it’s based on the level of service or support you need. Launch your IT Contracting career in the UK and start earning market rates, anyone can get a contract in the UK, getting the right one is the tough part. Not to mention all the paperwork and legal aspects of contacting, BITE can provide you with as much support as you need.

Have you
read the bit in the Employment Agency regs that says agencies cannot charge a jobseeker for finding them work?

**Spacecadet** · 26 March 2012, 21:18

Originally posted by Taita View Post

Have you
read the bit in the Employment Agency regs that says agencies cannot charge a jobseeker for finding them work?

But they can charge a limited company a fee for finding customers

**Taita** · 27 March 2012, 14:41

Originally posted by Spacecadet View Post

But they can charge a limited company a fee for finding customers

Probably, but that would be breaking the spirit of the law and would definitely be in breach of the regs if they set up the company for the candidate after they had approached or had been approached by the candidate.

Call me old fashioned but I would not want to be represented by anybody who sails that close to the wind. An investigation into the affairs of one of their candidates could quickly lead to a very close look at all their other contractors.

**Wanderer** · 27 March 2012, 21:09

Originally posted by Spacecadet View Post

But they can charge a limited company a fee for finding customers

Do you have a reference for that?

My reading of the agency laws is that a worker incorporated as a LTD company is specifically included in the scope of the legislation.

**Mavzor** · 7 April 2012, 18:18

Originally posted by Darksider View Post

Sorry to bring up old threads, but it was because of this one that I completely avoided them.

Thanks for digging this up again, useful for the UK contract newbie like me.
I'd seen them around, and they sounded all very wonderful as well.

One thing that made me smile was working through the virtual directory listings, and the 20+ drafts

Care to share?

Chris

**pepi** · 4 July 2012, 08:46

The person I met with tried to sell me their "10 step plan" for 15% of my rate. But what I heard next was shocking. They said even if I find a contract by myself, I would still owe them 15% since they would have mentored me and taught me how to do a job search and brushed up my interview skills.

I am reading some posts in the forum, and I am amazed how I have missed it! Instead of giving BITE Consulting the big amount of 15%-30% from the first projects taken, I realized I can do so many things with this money. I can buy a house in Covent Garden, or wait, better in California. Hmm, how about a luxury holiday in Spain?
Well, life could be very simple if it was like that. And let me tell you straight, it is not a matter of taking a contract or two. What matters is your professional carreer in the long run. What are your strengths? How do you see yourself after 5 years? Do you know how to speak with recruiters, how to behave at an interview, how to establish a professional network to help you grow? I doubt you know that. And I am really sorry I have not taken the BITE consulting coaching at least 5 years ago. I would have been much better really.
And no, I am not employed by BITE, I don't bring profit to BITE at this particular moment. I just encourage anyone who is really interested in their career to visit their office and listen to their advices and take their coaching.
It is one of the best assets you will gain, and it will stay with your for life.

**cojak** · 4 July 2012, 10:45