Should I bypass the agent???

[MarillionFan]

To be honest. This has happened to me twice in my career.

Agents are like a dog with a bone. Neither one will back down and they'd rather **** you over and lose the contract than let the other have it.

In both cases, the client eventually said, enough is enough and just went with a different candidate who wasn't being chewed by two dogs.

So advice is, start looking elsewhere, if you get it good! But experience says you are now screwed. Does sound like the agent who is crying over his rate though is a right shyster!

Good luck though.

[memyselfandi]

I agree that I have probably lost the position. I personally thought the same, which is why I have gone down the route of contacting them directly.

This is a route which I would never usually persue as it is extreemly unprofessional, but still wanted to let the client know what Agent A and Agent B were up to.

[rootsnall]

To be honest. This has happened to me twice in my career.

You are lucky ! On the .Net gravy train of the 90s it was like a feeding frenzy and happened all the time. On one particular site an agent was paying a contractor to intercept faxed CVs sent in by other agencies. It was fun !

[rootsnall]

I agree that I have probably lost the position. I personally thought the same, which is why I have gone down the route of contacting them directly.

This is a route which I would never usually persue as it is extreemly unprofessional, but still wanted to let the client know what Agent A and Agent B were up to.

You never know. If it's the type of client who is watching his budget tightly and it makes you cheaper then you might be quids in.

[MarillionFan]

You are lucky ! On the .Net gravy train of the 90s it was like a feeding frenzy and happened all the time. On one particular site an agent was paying a contractor to intercept faxed CVs sent in by other agencies. It was fun !

It must have been. But as .NET wasn't officially released until 2002, I think you may be mistaken.

[rootsnall]

It must have been. But as .NET wasn't officially released until 2002, I think you may be mistaken.

.Net isn't the same as .Net, know what I mean

[MarillionFan]

.Net isn't the same as .Net, know what I mean

I know what you mean. You mean VB!

[escapeUK]

The plot thickens.
He has now asked me to send him an email stating that I am unhappy with "Agent A", and am happy for "Agent B" to now represent me.
(

Surely the e-mail should say, I am unhappy with Agent A and am now representing myself and offering a better deal for both contractor and client?

[Stan.goodvibes]

OK I'm confused. As soon as you get a chance to go direct to the client you go direct to the client. Golden rule for me is to remove the agent at the earliest possible convenience.

As for breaking contracts with the Agency - meh, they do it all the time.

And that bit about damaging your reputation with the agency, that was a joke surely?

[memyselfandi]

Latest:

Emailed client yesterday. They didn't want to reply directly to a candidate apparently.

So asked Agent B to represent me.

Agent B now spoken to client who have now spoken to Agent A.

Agent A called me two minutes ago saying that a deal could still be done (even though they said a deal could not be done last week).

More negotiations over the next couple of days. I hope something comes out of it.

I would normally tell them all to piss off, but need the work, and it is very scarce at the moment.