Reply to: Had Enough of Agencies??

[Ardesco]

I obviously haven't had enough sleep

[meridian]

Or the cynic in me says that the website owners may create a end client account and send accross messages saying are you qualified for this? You then pony up £300 for a job that doesn't exist and never existed in the first place........

Jeez, you are cynical today!!!

[Ardesco]

Emphatically not true.

What will happen if you sign up is one of these 2:

1. nobody will call. OK, it cost you nothing. It didn't do much either.

2. Agencies will call. You have to pony up 300.00 just to find out whether they've got anything of interest to you (and since it didn't cost them anything to scatter-gun you, you can bet that most of the time they won't), and even if they have, it's just the old agency deal - minus 300.00.

End clients/employers will not call, any more than they do now.

PS why are you targeting contractors but speaking of "employers"? Don't you know how sensitive we are to that word?

Or the cynic in me says that the website owners may create a end client account and send accross messages saying are you qualified for this? You then pony up £300 for a job that doesn't exist and never existed in the first place........

[M@H]

...the client will typically pay 20% fees to the agent... ...fed up of being charged what ever the agent thinks they can get...

Just think that this will eliminate the agency cut that we pay now. Granted we never actually see rate that the client payes, but if the agent wasn't in the loop then surely that's a win-win for us and our clients

I'm Mystified.. Firstly are there still agences charging 20 % !!?? the worst I was offered by an agency lately was 13% and i haggled them down to 12% immediately. Secondly, when you say you don't ever see the rate that the client pays I am confused, I just ask exactly what margin any agency works on at outset, and then you can work it out from there. If they refuse to tell me then I don't deal with them (as it means they are trying to take the piss) not that many refuse, its a different landscape to 5-10 years ago.

[The Farmer]

Don't worry - I've already informed Gordo that we have a disguised employee in our midst.

so have I chicane

big brother is watching you

[chicane]

PS why are you targeting contractors but speaking of "employers"? Don't you know how sensitive we are to that word?

Don't worry - I've already informed Gordo that we have a disguised employee in our midst.

[Euro-commuter]

But seriously, it seems to me that there is no cost to just be there, only if you could get work. And then the cost is less than my girlfriend pays for gym membership. So there is no real downside.

Emphatically not true.

What will happen if you sign up is one of these 2:

1. nobody will call. OK, it cost you nothing. It didn't do much either.

2. Agencies will call. You have to pony up 300.00 just to find out whether they've got anything of interest to you (and since it didn't cost them anything to scatter-gun you, you can bet that most of the time they won't), and even if they have, it's just the old agency deal - minus 300.00.

End clients/employers will not call, any more than they do now.

PS why are you targeting contractors but speaking of "employers"? Don't you know how sensitive we are to that word?

[swboy]

I'm amazed at the knowledge, mental dexterity and depth of thought brought to this forum by newcomers.

But seriously, it seems to me that there is no cost to just be there, only if you could get work. And then the cost is less than my girlfriend pays for gym membership. So there is no real downside.

It's good to see something that could help us have alternatives in the job market.

If I sign up then employers can find me wherever I am, not just if I am are registered with their pet agency.

[chicane]

The orange snowboarder is cool

I'm amazed at the knowledge, mental dexterity and depth of thought brought to this forum by newcomers.

[swboy]

The orange snowboarder is cool

[jdedev]

...the client will typically pay 20% fees to the agent, resulting in a day rate of £360 for contractor B. So it's hard to say how much the client would invest in self sourcing to avoid heavy agency fees of 20%+

Anyway, I don't think it's as clean cut as that, I think it comes down to the question are agencies working well for clients and contractors? I'm sure some do, but the vast majority of people I speak to, both contractors and clients, have had bad experiences and are fed up of being charged what ever the agent thinks they can get...

The problem with sites like jobserve where you can upload a free CV, is generally CVs are out of date and so clients don't search there... If I get called it's from an agent - so I might as well have gone to an agent in the first place.

Not sure if cynanto is going to address this issue though, it's not clear to me how agents can't just use the site to get more people in their own databases... hmmm

There must be a better way to find a gig...

[chicane]

Just think that this will eliminate the agency cut that we pay now.

Optimistic at best, naive at worst. You don't pay the agency cut - the client does. If they have to bear the hassle of sourcing and evaluating potential suppliers (i.e. you), the money to do that has to come from somewhere.

If you don't agree with that, let me put things another way. Imagine you have Contractor A and Contractor B, both with similar skillset and experience, and both accustomed to working for £300/day through agencies. If Contractor A decides to up his rate expectations to £350/day "because he no longer pays the agency cut", which of the two contractors do you think the client will choose for the gig?

[Euro-commuter]

And not only do clients have to p*ss about sifting through CVs littered with words they don't understand, but contractors have to pay £300pa for the "privilege" of getting in touch with said clients.

Stupid idea.

If clients want to go direct to contractors, they can do so already. It's called "advertising on Jobserve".

Quite so.

In practice it will be like Jobserve, or like having your CV on the web and highly visible: if you get any contacts, they will be from agencies, never from clients directly.

I have those already, and they didn't cost me anything.

[Euro-commuter]

Definitely worth a look I'd say - if there's a chance that we could avoid the endless issues that we experience with agencies then it sounds good to me!!

So much so that you joined the board just to tell us that?? Well done!!

[jdedev]

I might be missing something here but they appear to not charge clients anything... at all!! I know my clients deal with a lot of sh!t off agents, and if it were the choice between having a fancy lunch or sourcing direct at zero cost, I know what the answer would be...

Personally I think £300 for a year's contacting is pretty damn good, and that's only if you need it to contact clients apparently - you can be in the database for free. They also claim to give discounts to contractors for referring other contractors, so you could actually contact clients for free if you have 10 colleagues sign up that you've referred.

Just think that this will eliminate the agency cut that we pay now. Granted we never actually see rate that the client payes, but if the agent wasn't in the loop then surely that's a win-win for us and our clients....??

I think this looks worth a punt - wouldn't it be nice if someone were to give the market a shake up?? IMHO it's long, long over due....