"What rate shall I put you forward at?"

[Ardesco]

When I have been sifting through CV's to pick who to interview before I have interviewed people who were £25-£50 a day more than the budget (depending on the budget) to see what they are like. My thought process has been that you can always give them an offer at budget level if they are OK but not perfect, or if you can find somebody really special go back to the person with the budget and see if there is any wriggle room. If there is no wriggle room, again you can offer them a role at budget rate, they may well have been trying to talk their rate up and may well be happy with the max rate you can offer.

Basically I would suspect that going in over the odds will not automatically rule you out unless you're being silly about it (of course this depends upon the agents, some may cross you off the list before you get to the client).

Unfortunately my experience so far has been that the people who make the outlandish rate requests are normally blaggers with little to back up their demands, probably works well if they talk to a know nothing HR bod I guess...

[strawberrysmoothie]

Always a bit of a dance this one isn't it. I recommend you bone up on negotiating tactics before you begin, maybe write a crib sheet to have in front of you so you can counter his 'well I do have another contractor who ticks all the boxes and will work for less' with some of your own. Here is a couple to get you started.

1. What is the maximum your client is prepared to pay to get the right person?
2. What is the minimum commission you will take to place me?
3. How much of your commission will you cede to me for every renewal I secure?
4. I have another offer I am considering so you will have to move quick

and of course after the interview and you've been offered the job.

5. I am sorry, the job is much more involved than you described. I'll be needing another X a day for this kind of role.

I totally agree. A negotiation skills course and a cheat sheet of things to say to an agent is vital especially for newbie contractors.

I speak from experience it will get you out of a lot a trouble and even out the playing field.

A thing I always say to agents 'I don't know how to answer your question....because asking me about the rate at the this stage is like asking me to put an offer on a house without viewing it...what are you offering?

[moorfield]

itjobswatch has reasonably accurate market stats for my area so usually I have quoted the top of that bell(ish) curve and taken it from there.

Always at the back of my mind is the fact that I am competing against other specialists in my area (many of whom invariably I know/worked with before), cheaps bobs and consultancies staffing grads for the gig. So normally I'm happy to let that rate drift to the top of that bell(ish) curve - theoretically the market average.

Malvolio is spot on with the idea of starting from what you need to live on comfortably working 7 months/year as a minimum. In fact I would be quite happy if I could get myself into that routine for the next 5-10 years or so but I can't see it happening realistically.

[mmarotta]

If you are professional about your contracting, you should know the going rates. Also, your own situation is yours. If you can be happy with £200 a day, and the job would have paid £225, where is the change in your life? You might as well agonize over the lotto numbers you did not play. More money is always better, of course, and better in your pocket than theirs, true enough, but in the long run, we all learn by doing.

Next time, bargain better.

And I agree with all of the better bargaining advice here so far. Myself, I am nonchalant and conversational on the phone. "If I said £45 per hour, would that be hard on your client?" Realize how that is phrased.