Ask the agent. The Good, the bad and the ugly

[Bunk]

Contractor wants £325 of that - perfectly reasonable. But agent can get another contractor for £300. Which one is the agent going to push at the client?

Whichever one is more likely to get the gig. What would you rather have, £25 or £0? If both are equal in ability then of course you go with the cheaper option, that's a free market.

[d000hg]

I wish government would pass a law which stipulated that the lower contract between agent and contractor should include a definition of the markup which the agent is using. But normally that's a closely guarded secret which you don't have sight of (until you arrive on site and get insider information, by which time it's too late).

On that logic, Tesco should include on every product the amount it cost them for the ingredients, and restaurants should tell you how much they paid for the wine on their wine-list.

[The Agents View]

I wish government would pass a law which stipulated that the lower contract between agent and contractor should include a definition of the markup which the agent is using. But normally that's a closely guarded secret which you don't have sight of (until you arrive on site and get insider information, by which time it's too late).



You can think about this all you like - but the only way to put that through, is to have it as an employment right. I'm sure the taxman would be very interested to hear about that.

the Agent and the contractor have NO agreement.

The agency, has a BUSINESS TO BUSINESS arrangement with the Limited company which happens to be owned by a contractor. As with any reselling channel, we can charge whatever we like on top, because it's a BUSINESS TO BUSINESS contract, therefore has no human rights.

[Wanderer]

On that logic, Tesco should include on every product the amount it cost them for the ingredients, and restaurants should tell you how much they paid for the wine on their wine-list.

The trouble is that supermarkets sell stuff with a known price. If your spuds are too expensive at Tesco then you can go to Morrisons or where ever. Contractors are often working in niche markets and they are open to exploitation. That said, I don't think more regulation is any sort of answer. As TAV says, it's a free market and you are supposed to be running a business here.

It's worth finding out how much your client is paying (often they will tell you straight up) and you can negotiate.

Quite aside from that, how many permies get upset that they are being charged out at 2,000 a day by the big consultancies and only take home a few hundred of that?

[QueenElizabeth]

And what is the agreement between the agent and the agency? Of the 15% on top of my rate that the agency gets, what of that goes to the agent? Do agents work on salary or commission?

How many actively working contractors would an agent have going at one time?

Just trying to figure out how much agents are making relative to the type of contractors they place.

[The Agents View]

And what is the agreement between the agent and the agency? Of the 15% on top of my rate that the agency gets, what of that goes to the agent? Do agents work on salary or commission?

How many actively working contractors would an agent have going at one time?

Just trying to figure out how much agents are making relative to the type of contractors they place.

I'll tell you how my personal commission scheme works, but they vary wildly dependent on the focus of the agency.

So.

My scheme is worked out on the amount of billings I generate.

Boundaries are as follows:

Monthly:

0-£4000 = 0 (if you bill less than 4000 you get zilch.)
0-£10,000 = 10% = £1000
10-£20,000 = 15% = £1500
20 - £30,000 = 20% = £2000
30 - £35,000 = 25% = £1250
35 + = 32% = Headless.

An average consultant can expect to have 15-20 people out at any one time - perhaps a few more. A decent consultant should be billing between 20 and 30k per month.

So on that basis, if I was to bill 30,000 in a month, I would be paid - £4500 + basic. If you can do that consistently, you can make an £80,000 living roughly.

It's like anything in sales though - if you're unbelieveably good, you can make alot more - figures of £250,000 PA for extremely successful billers are not that uncommon - you're probably talking about generating £800,000 of income for that though.

We do all work on commission (generally speaking) but we do also have a basic salary (although you couldn't live on it).

Bear in mind, these things fluctuate wildly - 2 years ago, with my previous employer, my annual billings came to a total of £270,000. Of that, my TOTAL earnings (including basic) came to £48k. If I generate that here, I would be looking at earning closer to £90k.

It's worth bearing in mind though, that the £25 squeeze that you might be feeling at the moment, makes a grand total of £2.50 per day difference to the agent. Think about that - I know if it was me, I'd rather have the £7.50 per day in my pocket by taking a lower margin, than risk it for the sake of getting the other £2.50 and upsetting the contractor - we really do (most of us, normally anyway) only negotiate when it's forced upon us.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
TAV

[The Agents View]

I'll tell you how my personal commission scheme works, but they vary wildly dependent on the focus of the agency.

So.

My scheme is worked out on the amount of billings I generate.

Boundaries are as follows:

Monthly:

0-£4000 = 0 (if you bill less than 4000 you get zilch.)
0-£10,000 = 10% = £1000
10-£20,000 = 15% = £1500
20 - £30,000 = 20% = £2000
30 - £35,000 = 25% = £1250
35 + = 32% = Headless.

An average consultant can expect to have 15-20 people out at any one time - perhaps a few more. A decent consultant should be billing between 20 and 30k per month.

So on that basis, if I was to bill 30,000 in a month, I would be paid - £4500 + basic. If you can do that consistently, you can make an £80,000 living roughly.

It's like anything in sales though - if you're unbelieveably good, you can make alot more - figures of £250,000 PA for extremely successful billers are not that uncommon - you're probably talking about generating £800,000 of income for that though.

We do all work on commission (generally speaking) but we do also have a basic salary (although you couldn't live on it).

Bear in mind, these things fluctuate wildly - 2 years ago, with my previous employer, my annual billings came to a total of £270,000. Of that, my TOTAL earnings (including basic) came to £48k. If I generate that here, I would be looking at earning closer to £90k.

It's worth bearing in mind though, that the £25 squeeze that you might be feeling at the moment, makes a grand total of £2.50 per day difference to the agent. Think about that - I know if it was me, I'd rather have the £7.50 per day in my pocket by taking a lower margin, than risk it for the sake of getting the other £2.50 and upsetting the contractor - we really do (most of us, normally anyway) only negotiate when it's forced upon us.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
TAV

Oh and by the way - that £80k living, involves regular (like at least 3 times a week) 14 hour days, a complete mauling by your boss at least once a week, moaning contractors, moaning clients, cold calling, people telling you to £u<k off, contractors telling you to do the same because you want to check their references.....etc etc....so whilst it has its rewards, it's also pretty tough going.

Oh and you have a period of about 6-9 months when you join that means you live on basic salary - once you've built that platform up, it's alot easier to control and plan!

TAV

[gingerjedi]

Just a quickie.

Nobody likes bad news but at the same time it's much easier to move on if you get a definitive answer, agents of the world... just tell it how it is, we can take it!!

It's only mid morning and I'm already dreading starting the weekend not knowing, it's feckin' purgatory.

[The Agents View]

Just a quickie.

Nobody likes bad news but at the same time it's much easier to move on if you get a definitive answer, agents of the world... just tell it how it is, we can take it!!

It's only mid morning and I'm already dreading starting the weekend not knowing, it's feckin' purgatory.

This is about the most common complaint in recruitment.

It's caused by the fact that nobody likes giving bad news.

I have had to reject two people this morning, who I thought were shoo ins. Maybe I'm at an advantage having been on the other side of the fence, but there is one thing you should consider.

If we don't know, we can't tell you - so whilst yes, it is our job to chase it, there's only so much chasing that is possible before people get really hacked off.

If the client has not told us anything at all, we're hanging on a thread as much as you are - afterall, it impacts us as well.

I do agree that negative feedback should be a high priority though - how can you improve and keep up with latest interview techniques, if nobody tells you the bits you could have done differently.

[Boo]

once you've built that platform up, it's alot easier to control and plan!

Does the platform go with you when you move companies ? </Just curious>

Boo