Reply to: Agents

[teclo]

PM me.

I notice you left off n0 8 from my list

I thought thats where Agent / Contractor meetings were being held... Did I read it wrong?

[DodgyAgent]

linky please! were do I get one?

PM me.

I notice you left off n0 8 from my list

[DodgyAgent]

DA you've got the job, when should I call??

If you are serious PM me then send me your CV and I will give you a call and talk about the market/your skills and your CV.

[expat]

There is quite a lot that a personal agent could do:

1. Negotiate the rate and terms
2. Appreciate and understand the key skills of the contractor
3. Conduct undercover investigation to verify the authenticity of the job - whether advertised or uncovering why the candidate did not get offered.
4. The service can be wrapped up with the running of the contractors finances. many IFAs are very good at sales and could manage the entire relationship and marketing of a contractor.

linky please! were do I get one?

[teclo]

DA you've got the job, when should I call??

[DodgyAgent]

The key to all this is whether the contractor would be happy to pay an agent even if the agent negotiates a contract through another agency.

To soften the blow the agent could wrap up the financial services aspect of running the contract along with the marketing.

What would the agent actually do?

1. Understand the skills of the contractor
2. Collate and build a knowledge base of potential clients in collusion with the contractor, which would track companies and their genuine preffered suppliers
3. Develop relationships with PSL agencies and share information about potential markets with the contractor.
4. Advise on CVs and be ready to "go to market" with the contractor.
5. Negotiate rates and verify jobs
6. Chuck in a few references to the agents
7. Payroll the contractor and provide tax and financial advice.

Lots of lunches with the contractors.

8. Pi** off to the Bahamas whilst the contractors are hard at work

Sorted

[DodgyAgent]

Number 2 is key for me, I am fed up with agents glancing over the cv and wanting to put me forward for Java jobs because I have very strong "Javascript" skills. Or telling me that it is a strong .net cv because I mention briefly in two small places .net. I don't really know .net and I don't really care to.

I think it really comes down to wanting an agent that really gives a damn about you, but I guess we are all numbers on a spreadsheet.

If they could also give me a hug then all the better.

[teclo]

2. Appreciate and understand the key skills of the contractor

Number 2 is key for me, I am fed up with agents glancing over the cv and wanting to put me forward for Java jobs because I have very strong "Javascript" skills. Or telling me that it is a strong .net cv because I mention briefly in two small places .net. I don't really know .net and I don't really care to.

I think it really comes down to wanting an agent that really gives a damn about you, but I guess we are all numbers on a spreadsheet.

If they could also give me a hug then all the better.

[BrilloPad]

Ah how cool would that be? And if the agent had done his job and managed to whittle it all down to good, high paying jobs all the better.

*sigh*

Once the onshoring starts it will be happy times again!

[DodgyAgent]

A given contract will be available from the agency or agencies that the client has placed it with. If you go through another agency to find your contracts, all they will do is, at best, find one of those agencies that does have the contract, and subcontract you through them. And take a cut, of course. It is not obvious to me what you gain by going this way rather than with one of the agencies chosen directly by the client.

There is quite a lot that a personal agent could do:

1. Negotiate the rate and terms
2. Appreciate and understand the key skills of the contractor
3. Conduct undercover investigation to verify the authenticity of the job - whether advertised or uncovering why the candidate did not get offered.
4. The service can be wrapped up with the running of the contractors finances. many IFAs are very good at sales and could manage the entire relationship and marketing of a contractor.

The fee payable can be determined by whether it was a direct contract and or by the fee that is negotiated. The fee does not need to come in the form of a margin. It can be paid as a lump sum by the contractor and can have contingency terms built in to it.

There would of course need to be a large element of trust between parties that would say limit who the agent worked for and for how many. There would need to be transparency to ensure that the agent is acting entirely in the interests of the contractor.

[teclo]

That was how it worked in Switzerland late 1980s. You had 1 agent who found you 30 jobs.

Nowadays you often need several interviews to get 1 job.

Ah how cool would that be? And if the agent had done his job and managed to whittle it all down to good, high paying jobs all the better.

*sigh*

[BrilloPad]

That's it DA, a personal agent. Someone who knows how these things work, and can work on securing the next contract for you while you work on the current contract.

An agent who isn't just concerned with getting the numbers in and will actually answer the phone when you call.

God I'd love that instead of having to deal with some muppet.

That was how it worked in Switzerland late 1980s. You had 1 agent who found you 30 jobs.

Nowadays you often need several interviews to get 1 job.

[teclo]

That's it DA, a personal agent. Someone who knows how these things work, and can work on securing the next contract for you while you work on the current contract.

An agent who isn't just concerned with getting the numbers in and will actually answer the phone when you call.

God I'd love that instead of having to deal with some muppet.

[expat]

A given contract will be available from the agency or agencies that the client has placed it with. If you go through another agency to find your contracts, all they will do is, at best, find one of those agencies that does have the contract, and subcontract you through them. And take a cut, of course. It is not obvious to me what you gain by going this way rather than with one of the agencies chosen directly by the client.

[malvolio]

Just curious does anyone work with just one agent? Or do you all go through multiple agents depending on the job that you are interested in?

I would like to have one agent to work with as my sole representation. Someone I could trust, who knew what I could do and would actually chase down decent opportunities for me. Kind of like a film & tv agent.

Someone that was actually worth the x%.

Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Entourage recently, but I want an Ari Gold type agent to bust his balls to get me the best deal.

You can't. Outside show business, wh have theiir won rules for some reason (probably due to it being a very long-standing practice) you can't charge a worker for finding them work. Therefore you can't retain your own agent. Another triumph for centralised regualtion, since every agent I know would love to be able to sell the high-value guys directly. Ho hum...