Reply to: Who knows about agency named Progressive

[NotAllThere]

Ah, the eternal argument. While it is true that you should be just happy with your rate, the margin does have its effects. You're on £250, they're charging £350. Your colleague is getting £275, his agency are charging £325. The client expects you to be £25 a day better than your colleague. When there's only enough work for one, they get rid of the expensive one.

On the plus side, the higher the margin, the better the financial stability and cashflow of the agency should be, so perhaps you have lower risk.

All S3 companies are on my blacklist. I don't use them for hiring or to find work. Full stop.

[jim2406]

I am currently placed in a contract through progressive.

I have no complaints. They got me the interview, was offered gig, now I'm here, it was explained how invoices are paid a month after being issued and that's fine with me.

I don't know or care what their markup is as I'm happy with the rate.

:-)

[DodgyAgent]

out of all the agencies we contacted, the progressive was 22.5%, the next highest was 15% and the next 3 were 12% and the other 2 10%

so 22.5% seems obscene to me

An agency can quote what it likes, but unless it delivers (I hate that word ) it does'nt matter.

[engineer]

It came like expected: I complained about the behaviour of one of their recruiters and they stopped conversation. No phone no mail anymore.

[TheVoice]

This bunch also have total contempt for the Data Protection Act, well at least for Section 7, as they have ignored repeated requests to release information under the provisions of the act!

Needless to say, they probably wont ignore it once the ICO become more involved.

W***ers the whole bunch of 'em

[Churchill]

I've never had a problem with Progressive, either working through, or hiring from(staff or perm).

[NotAllThere]

...They have 28 Days payement term from the Date of Invoice ...Payment was always on time

Back in the late 90s, they paid 3-4 days after invoice. But it was always on time.

[engineer]

Depends, all of my jobs so far, had been developping new hardware and / or software so far. But you are somehow right: most of the projects, offered to me, are "repair-what-went-wrong" - projects, too.

[tim123]

"superb project in automotive" which finally is nothing else than basic testing of devices, other engineers have developed. I allways shun such projects, since these engineers working in the "I-like-developping-and-pass-away-testing-down-to-others" - mood, mostly produce too much bull, I have to deal with afterwards.

Referring you to my other answer, most of the jobs that come my way, even the ones in Europe are like that.

Getting a role with a new client, which isn't much more junior than you think you can do, seems to be very rare in the current market.

tim

[Wilmslow]

I got a gig through progressive - rate was terrible, but, needed work, and needed it quick - and it was commutable. They used Tactical for payments as they owned Tactical, hence, two cuts.

Did not help that the client had a huge chip on shoulder about them paying a load more than the permies were getting, all in, the best recipe for a disastrous project, before we look at how incompetent the PM was.....

Ah, fun memories!

[engineer]

Well, this answers my question.

More than 20% for a "permy" (a permanent employment is meant, I guess) ist incredibly much! I expect the percentage typically to be lower when earning over a longer period.

Well I can say, that the % for agencies do range from 15% down to 8%. These figures are real values and checked be myself, because, when doing also the project management whitin a project, bills of agencies show up in the monthly cost reports like all the other bills, and if I myself am the only one in a project coming from a particulay agency, I know the hourly price my customer pays to them

Sometimes it is unbeliveable, how much money these guys get for nearly no work. In other cases I'd also though about collecting money for them, when they had (otherwise they had had nothing) to sign contracts where less than 1000,- could be earned

Back to "progressive" : In the german mails, the come with sentences like these

"superb project in automotive" which finally is nothing else than basic testing of devices, other engineers have developed. I allways shun such projects, since these engineers working in the "I-like-developping-and-pass-away-testing-down-to-others" - mood, mostly produce too much bull, I have to deal with afterwards.

What I also read in their mails : "You will gain a project with high potential at a very famous customer's who's name will bring glance to your CV, as if we experienced engineers did not know about the fact, that the large companies allways have big chaos, only give away standard work out of house and having had a project there, means nothing a all.

They also pretend to arrange a contract between customer and consultant every 7 minutes. I wonder, who works for such companies ...

And I wonder, who asks them for engineers ...

[pat25]

I have worked through Progressive recently, initially they had problem with doing contract with Ltd company if I am not the director of the company but once that got sorted, I did not have any issues. They have 28 Days payement term from the Date of Invoice and had to chase them couple of times to send me back the copy of the signed contract for my record.

Payment was always on time (though it will come only right on 28th Day)

I think they took around 18% commission

[blacjac]

out of all the agencies we contacted, the progressive was 22.5%, the next highest was 15% and the next 3 were 12% and the other 2 10%

so 22.5% seems obscene to me

[Magic]

Rate

we recently contacted them looking to hire a permy due to expansion.

very pushy, refused to send any CV's until they had a face to face meeting with us (both directors & cosec), but they did mention their rate for hiring permies - 22.5%

The rate seems to be about right, 20 to 25% for permies. I would have made them change their conditions in backlash against them being a pain in the ar$e. For example tell them they have higher percentage than other agencies and for that I would want the claw back clause to be for 12 months at 100% otherwise there is the door!

They may walk anyway but you get the satisfaction of dictating the terms, after all you should remind them you are the client and they are just one of a long line of agencies trying to kick the door down.

[blacjac]

we recently contacted them looking to hire a permy due to expansion.

very pushy, refused to send any CV's until they had a face to face meeting with us (both directors & cosec), but they did mention their rate for hiring permies - 22.5%