Hi,
I was wondering what people thought about this. And, please note, this is where we ignore the rogue agents and rogue contractors (If any of either exist
)
I have been working as a contractor for many years and also spent many years where I am in the position of the client, where I need staff.
Now, when recruiting through an agency, I have found that Agencies will put in a tremendous effort to ensure that they know exactly how much the client is willing to spend. In fact, when I have said "Just send me some CV's and I'll decide what I want to spend" the agency has refused the business. I fully understand and appreciate this, as it is not in their interest to perform a hard recruitment job where they have no commitment to a sale. So, I am a believer that there is never a time when an agency does not have a firm commitment of the amount that will be charged to the client (subject to a very few pounds negotiated if the match is not exact.)
So, I am a believer that the agency always knows exactly what the rate for the job is. They also know what commision they will be expecting.
I also believe that in the majority of instances, the client will know if the CV being received has the correct skills for the price quoted(assuming a this time the CV is telling the truth - which would be probably be found out in an interview anyway).
I've always found that (and yes contractors do discuss this) that I always seem to be on the same as a similar contractor working in a similar role in the same company as me, so I would think that my rate is generally market rate.
As a contractor, I am always asked to quote 'my rate', without knowing what the amount the agency is expecting. Now, this is awkward, because, If I quote too high, or too low I may miss out on an opportunity, without knowing why. I also find it awkward, because, like most businesses, I don't actually want to have a fixed rate, I may need to adjust for travel, working hours, industry type, specialist areas etc. I also know that, should I quote too low in the initial questioning, no increase, when I know the facts about the role will be accepted by the agency.
As previously mentioned, ignoring the rogues, there are vast number of agents that are subject to PSL's and fixed margins, and there are many that just have a standard mark up, so they know what will be paid by the client to them and from them to the contractor - so I don't see the point of them asking me my rate, and not just telling me what the job pays.
What do you think?
I was wondering what people thought about this. And, please note, this is where we ignore the rogue agents and rogue contractors (If any of either exist
)I have been working as a contractor for many years and also spent many years where I am in the position of the client, where I need staff.
Now, when recruiting through an agency, I have found that Agencies will put in a tremendous effort to ensure that they know exactly how much the client is willing to spend. In fact, when I have said "Just send me some CV's and I'll decide what I want to spend" the agency has refused the business. I fully understand and appreciate this, as it is not in their interest to perform a hard recruitment job where they have no commitment to a sale. So, I am a believer that there is never a time when an agency does not have a firm commitment of the amount that will be charged to the client (subject to a very few pounds negotiated if the match is not exact.)
So, I am a believer that the agency always knows exactly what the rate for the job is. They also know what commision they will be expecting.
I also believe that in the majority of instances, the client will know if the CV being received has the correct skills for the price quoted(assuming a this time the CV is telling the truth - which would be probably be found out in an interview anyway).
I've always found that (and yes contractors do discuss this) that I always seem to be on the same as a similar contractor working in a similar role in the same company as me, so I would think that my rate is generally market rate.
As a contractor, I am always asked to quote 'my rate', without knowing what the amount the agency is expecting. Now, this is awkward, because, If I quote too high, or too low I may miss out on an opportunity, without knowing why. I also find it awkward, because, like most businesses, I don't actually want to have a fixed rate, I may need to adjust for travel, working hours, industry type, specialist areas etc. I also know that, should I quote too low in the initial questioning, no increase, when I know the facts about the role will be accepted by the agency.
As previously mentioned, ignoring the rogues, there are vast number of agents that are subject to PSL's and fixed margins, and there are many that just have a standard mark up, so they know what will be paid by the client to them and from them to the contractor - so I don't see the point of them asking me my rate, and not just telling me what the job pays.
What do you think?
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