"Exclusive representation" + other misc. questions

[AndrewR]

Hi All,
Have been contacted by an agency regarding putting me forward for a long term contract role. The role is advertised with a number of agencies and the current agency are asking me to send them an email granting them "exclusive representation" rights to the client. I understand that they do not want me playing the agencies off against each other but from my POV it weakens my position w.r.t. the rate the agency will pay me? Has anyone come across these types of clause before? are they legal? any advice gratefully accepted..

I'm new to the UK contracting market and as such do not know what my rate should be...can anyone advise on where I could find "market rates" for roles or technologies etc. I have no problem with agencies taking a slice but from previous experience I know they like to maximise their margin

As mentioned above the role is of quite a long duration and I am looking for advice on how to structure the contract e.g. should I request that the role be reviewed every 3 months, 6 months etc., what would be an acceptable interval? Is this something to discuss with the client, or the agency?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.....

A

[d000hg]

Someone's going to be cynical and suggest they only want you to promise not to go through other agents, because they don't actually plan to put you forward and want to reduce competition. I don't know how much this really happens, and how much it is something bitter contractors say when they don't get the work.

You can ask the agency if they work a fixed percentage margin, I guess. Although I don't know how professional it is to ask about that kind of thing... if you were an actor you'd negotiate the agent's percentage, but on the other hand if my client asks me how much margin I make on my subcontractors I consider that a rude question.

[Not So Wise]

"Exclusive representation" = "We want something for nothing"

You could not even be sure they would put you forward nor that they actually have the role themselves (many agencies take existing advertisements by other agencies and recycle them, so basically you end up with agency 1 sending your CV to agency 2 who might or might not send it to the client)

Whenever an agency has asked me for this i always just respond with "what do i get for granting you this?", this normally shuts them up

I'm new to the UK contracting market and as such do not know what my rate should be...can anyone advise on where I could find "market rates" for roles or technologies etc.

Job Stats, but take it with a pinch of salt, rates are all over the place atm. You will have to judge what you yourself are worth

As mentioned above the role is of quite a long duration and I am looking for advice on how to structure the contract e.g. should I request that the role be reviewed every 3 months, 6 months etc., what would be an acceptable interval? Is this something to discuss with the client, or the agency?

All discussions like this you have with the agency (same for rate/contract discussions at least until you get to know the client personally, aka worked there for a while), but simple fact is in most cases renewals/contract length are up to the client, you either take it or leave it

[VectraMan]

IT Jobs Watch is another one.

If it's long term, they'll probably try to use that to get you to take a lower rate. But remember the length of the contract is no guarantee it'll last that long,

[northernladuk]

All discussions like this you have with the agency (same for rate/contract discussions at least until you get to know the client personally, aka worked there for a while), but simple fact is in most cases renewals/contract length are up to the client, you either take it or leave it

Amen to that. I haven't come across a agency yet that has budged from the contract they offered (probably pretty standard and checked) but have learnt a raft of new excuses not to do something from them.

I understand that they do not want me playing the agencies off against each other but from my POV it weakens my position w.r.t. the rate the agency will pay me? Has anyone come across these types of clause before? are they legal? any advice gratefully accepted..

To be honest for the reasons linked to the comment above I don't think it weakens your position regarding rates or anything. Every agent will try and get you to sign up to this and they are not legally binding. They are just to stop you representing yourself to another agency who might be the preferred supplier and nick you from them. Purely a selfish caveat to cover the agencies ass. They could threaten you with not putting you forward if you refuse. If they don't tell you who the client is (which they wont until interview in most cases) just play dumb and say you wern't told who it was which is true. Even if they do, sod em, get yourself represented twice and when they ring up in a fuss saying 'oops, sorry'. if there are 4 CV's put forward and 2 of em are yours you just cut the compeition by a 1/4 straight off. Agent might get shirty but it depends how cut throat your willing to be.