Agent suddenly changed the rate

[kevpuk]

Welcome to the shifty world of agent shenanigans......
If you have the time - and it may take some, as my OP was long and there are 6 pages - take a look at how I handled this quite recently

[Boney M]

OP - Assume agent knows your new to contracting? Sounds spot on what NAT is saying. Bunch of greedy twats they are.

I'd be tempted to do what NAT says.

Well considering they would have been screened before hand and seen his CV and asked if permie or contract I think it would be a safe assumption

[northernladuk]

Yep, as the others have said, agency tricks.

The quickest way to confirm this is to say "I'll send Mr John Interviewer a quick email to confirm if this is the case, then I'll make my decision on whether I want to proceed."

You probably won't need to go through with that, but if you do, the email address should be easy enough to guess, FirstName.LastName@companydomain.whatever - there are a few variations it could be of course, plus they might not be the only person of that name, but the thought of you mentioning this to the client should be enough to sort the agent out.

It's not hard to find what format companies use. With big corporates it won't be hard to find someones email on the web somewhere confirming it is <first>.<last> or <initial><last>. You know the format then. Even easier is ringing one of their offices and either asking them outright or for an email for recruitment or facilities or summat and they will give you an email from which you can deduce format as well.

[northernladuk]

To the OP. As has been said before he has probably assumed you are a newbie from scanning your CV but the way you dealt with the agent probably gave him the indication he can bend you over a barrel. Try talking about rates early and ask him questions about if he is on a fixed margin and what his percentage take is. It is unlikely he will actually tell you but it will make him think twice if you show some nouse and make him think you know how it works. There are probably a host of other things he will pick up on but it's a start. I expect you sitting there like a excitable nodding puppy gives it away as well. Set your stall out quite early and be a little dismissive to him, not like you don't care, just like it's another agent chat and you have had plenty. Moan about the rate and the market and other clients/agents and so on to again show him you know your stuff and that you make him think you have other irons in the fire and so on. At that point he may realise he has to work for his money and you aren't going to take any old crap.

It's something that only comes with experience unfortunately but don't treat him like he is doing you a favour and he has the position power. You need him and he needs you. Look desperate and you have had it. Avoid comments about being out of contracting for so long or on the bench or can't get gigs etc You are handing it on a plate to him.

[Eirikur]

+1 to what NAT said.

See if you can find the interviewer on LinkedIn and drop them an email along the lines NAT suggested.

Good Luck

I did exactly that.
end client called the agency, complaining about me directly contacting him. Agency went mental. I just told them to F*@k off and to stop messing around with rates. Was blacklisted by them until they had another role which they thought I was suitable for. (which I wasn't at all)

[jmo21]

I did exactly that.
end client called the agency, complaining about me directly contacting him. Agency went mental. I just told them to F*@k off and to stop messing around with rates. Was blacklisted by them until they had another role which they thought I was suitable for. (which I wasn't at all)

well it's all about when you contact them, and what you say.

The advice here assumes they want you and offered you the role. The agent has then tried to get your rate down.

The email would be along the lines of "Thanks for the opportunity. I was keen to accept your contract role, but I was disappointed when the agent told me of the reduced rate. I agreed £x before interview, he said you wanted to drop to £x - £50, and I cannot accept that".

[kal]

well it's all about when you contact them, and what you say.

The advice here assumes they want you and offered you the role. The agent has then tried to get your rate down.

The email would be along the lines of "Thanks for the opportunity. I was keen to accept your contract role, but I was disappointed when the agent told me of the reduced rate. I agreed £x before interview, he wanted to drop to £x - £50, and I cannot accept that".

Exactly, that email is what I would send if in this situation.

[kevpuk]

Exactly as above - it is when you have the firm offer that you consider contacting the Client directly if the agents are up to no good.

In my case, Agent was trying to drop my rate by £50, whilst also trying to get Client to up theirs by approximately the same amount - the idea, seemingly, was that one of us (or both!) would cave in and they would be up to £100/day better off. Unsurprisingly, when hiring guy at Client found out, all the tulip hit the fan for the Agency resulting in them being suspended for 3 months.......shows where greed got them, as they had a guaranteed £50/day with all parties content, but ended up losing the lot

[kal]

Exactly as above - it is when you have the firm offer that you consider contacting the Client directly if the agents are up to no good.

In my case, Agent was trying to drop my rate by £50, whilst also trying to get Client to up theirs by approximately the same amount - the idea, seemingly, was that one of us (or both!) would cave in and they would be up to £100/day better off. Unsurprisingly, when hiring guy at Client found out, all the tulip hit the fan for the Agency resulting in them being suspended for 3 months.......shows where greed got them, as they had a guaranteed £50/day with all parties content, but ended up losing the lot

Suspended for only 3 months! I am surprised the client didn't bin the agency all together, its not as if there is a shortage of recruitment sweat shops these days

[Sausage Surprise]

Where's the OP? I want to know what happened.