Offered role but Agent Wants me to take a Pay Cut...I smell tulip!

[BlasterBates]

It´s a tough market out there. If you are getting lots of interviews it´s best to be hard on your rate, if not then it is better to be more flexible. Depends on your position. It is unusual for rates to be adapted after the interview but then that works both ways and I wouldn´t expect to be tied to a rate if another alternative offer popped up. As a contractor it is a perfectly acceptable strategy to go into several interviews trying it on with higher rates for other contracts, then if a second company had offered you X+10% then you would be perfectly entitled to ring the agency and say "well I like the client but I´ve had a good offer elsewhere, therefore can you now offer me X+10%". What you experienced here was the converse of that. Until the contract has been agreed both parties are free to negotiate with several parties and change their bids....and a client is perfectly entitled to give you one months notice and offer you a new contract at a lower rate. That happens quite frequently. That has happened to me and I consider it "tough" but perfectly fair.

[rurffy]

£250!! No wonder I'm struggling to get any bites. I dont get out of bed for that.
!

Well like i said , long time ago . I am sure during your contracting at some point you took even £150/day....

[GB9]

Hi guy

After sitting on the fence for ages I was offered a contract as of 5 mins ago. When I had initially discussed the contract with the agent I agreed to go in at £400 per day

However, the agent said that the client 'liked me' but they were unsure of my skills and as I would be picking up news skills on the role would I consider taking a 17% cut. My reaction was and I was silent while she rambled on with her spiel...and then I told I would do some calculations and call her back.

Well, I just tried calling her back....and she's busy.

It all sounds like utter tulip and I'm going to call her out on it.

Helpful and constructive suggestions appreciated.

Do you have the client's details and contact and do you think you hit it off at interview?

As the agent has now downed you, there is nothing to stop you approaching the client directly at the rate you were asking for. If they were to take you you might still have to go through the agent but it would be direct rather than found and hence their margin would be much lower. You may well end up coming in overall cheaper than the lower rate candidate.

[NickNick]

The idea that you could be blacklisted by a client or agency simply for touting for business is utterly wrong in my opinion.

Case in point, I was called about a role that I would be "perfect for" yesterday by an agency that threatened me with legal action only a few years back.

[Pogle]

The Agency will tell the client you are "unavailable" and put forward the client's second choice who they can get a better margin on.

Tell them you are going to call the client direct to have a chat and discuss the rate to see if there is anything you can do to fix the situation. Agency will hit the roof because they are playing both you and the client....

This happened to me several years ago. Two candidates interviewed. Client liked me slightly better, Agency dropped rate, I said I'll think about it overnight and by the next morning the client had signed up the other guy as he had dropped his rate and the agency told client co I wasn't interested.
So i called the client and expressed surprise that they had taken on the other guy etc....
10 mins later I got a REALLY REALLY pissed off agent on the phone telling me I should never contact the client direct, they had given him a bollocking. However I lost that contract and chalked it up to experience.

[TheFaQQer]

If you've got a phone number for someone at the client, then I wouldn't hesitate to contact them if you want the role.

Remind them that if they are looking for someone in the future, then they now have your contact details and next time you can bypass the agency and save them some money. Then drop in about the agency changing the rate from what you'd agreed and say "it's a shame we won't be working together, etc."

[Swamp Thing]

If you've got a phone number for someone at the client, then I wouldn't hesitate to contact them if you want the role.

Remind them that if they are looking for someone in the future, then they now have your contact details and next time you can bypass the agency and save them some money. Then drop in about the agency changing the rate from what you'd agreed and say "it's a shame we won't be working together, etc."

+1.
3 yrs ago i almost secured a nice gig at a major bank - Canary Wharf. Day rate was clearly advertised upfront. Interview went well and had a feeling I'd be offered. I was, but pimp said "Erm, the client has asked me to convey to you that since the interview they've got their budgets mixed up, and have to drop your rate by £65 per day". Those were the exact words. I said "What? A bank? Getting its budgets mixed up? I seriously doubt that". It took me 2 days to get hold of the client, by which time the pimp had re-offered to another contractor - he knew I wasn't going to move on rate.

Client was apologetic, said she'd have HR speak to the pimp, sorry to inconvenience me etc etc. I just took the opportunity to tell her no problem, the market is bullish for my skills, and my existing client has just extended me (which was true), let's speak again etc etc.

Re. some of the other posts on here:

- agencies don't operate blacklists; they're too mercenary not to look at you again.
- to hold or not to hold rate: I agree you need to consider market conditions, time on bench, attitude to risk etc etc. But as I've said before, if you drop rate too much, you create/reinforce bad behaviours at the pimp/client. It would be too idealistic to say that if enough contractors took a stand, the pimps would get the message. Reality is that bob contractors will occasionally undercut you. You just have to accept it, recognise that you're behaving like a business, and move on. In the long run, clients will remember quality and re-approach the best contractors.