Reply to: Guessing the end Client

[Antman]

Why, what happened ?

Boo

Well, I came up against HR that's what. From the conversation with the pimp he wouldn't put me forward because he found out that I was contracted at the time to another client of his agency (so some internal no poach agreement), I got the company holding name, but there were a few subsidiaries as well, I tried a few direct approaches to what looked like the decision makers in HR but no one had a clue about the role.

The role was also a Portuguese speaking BA, so fairly distinctive I'd have thought but aside from the "Ooh that sounds nice" nothing.

[Boo]

Yep, either way, it's difficult trying to find out who to actually speak to. I tried to do it by going premium on linkedin for a month and then trying HR people at the company. That's when the wheels came off my plan.

Why, what happened ?

Boo

[Contreras]

I've noticed a trend recently: agents always tell me who the client is. Either they trust me not to go direct, or (far more likely) know that the client doesn't deal with contractors directly.

Same here. I think they are more concerned about you leaking the information to other agents than they are about you approaching the client direct. It's not unusual for the agent to ask for the info to be taken in confidence before going into detail.

[Wanderer]

This has happened to me twice in the last few days, usual speculative bumf (via linked in) from some pimp I've never heard of, replied with a ' is this role with company XXX'?. Was right both times! My question is if you can work out the company from the pimps initial waffle do you then apply direct or continue with the original correspondence?

Absolutely apply direct! Hell, if the pimp ever found out what other interviews you had done he would be on the phone like a shot to try and get one of his candidates in there so why not play them at their own game.

It may turn out that the pimp is on a preferred suppliers list with the client and therefore a minimal margin or it could be that you are going to get a better deal approaching the client direct and getting the client to suggest one of their preferred agents.

[kal]

Yep, either way, it's difficult trying to find out who to actually speak to. I tried to do it by going premium on linkedin for a month and then trying HR people at the company. That's when the wheels came off my plan.

Unless you are lucky enough to get to a HR person who knows what they are doing (like the one that I went through via LI to get my current role, she was good, but then again she WAS also a contractor!) You're pretty much pissin' in the wind with that lot.

[Antman]

Or they are the only agent on PSL and know the client won't take direct so their position is secure?

Yep, either way, it's difficult trying to find out who to actually speak to. I tried to do it by going premium on linkedin for a month and then trying HR people at the company. That's when the wheels came off my plan.

[northernladuk]

Or they're a bunch of young grads in a high churn industry who haven't worked out that contractors can go direct?

Or they are the only agent on PSL and know the client won't take direct so their position is secure?

[Antman]

I've noticed a trend recently: agents always tell me who the client is. Either they trust me not to go direct, or (far more likely) know that the client doesn't deal with contractors directly.

Or they're a bunch of young grads in a high churn industry who haven't worked out that contractors can go direct?

[Bill Lumbergh]

I've noticed a trend recently: agents always tell me who the client is. Either they trust me not to go direct, or (far more likely) know that the client doesn't deal with contractors directly.

[Eirikur]

There are two easy ways to find out the end client
1. If the agency sends you a job spec, just look at the properties of the word document and you might find the original author, in about half of all cases it will tell you the name of the person who wrote it and the company he worked for
2. Just google a bit of the job spec, sometimes this will lead you to the original job ad (although this is more for perm jobs) or if you google the bit that describess the company (phrases like we serve 5000 satisfied customers in 40 countries) this may lead you to the home page of the end client

[aoxomoxoa]

Some clients have a policy of not dealing direct, normally on the mistaken belief that they are insulating themselves from employee rights.

True, but even if they won't take you directly, they may well interview and offer, and then ask one of their PSL agents to take you purely for the admin side of things at a much lower %age cut, in which case more of the rate comes to you (in theory).

[DirtyDog]

True its never black and white, I just like playing the guess the client game as I am not looking right now!

It's nice when the phone goes silent because you've managed to guess, despite their best efforts to be secretive

[kal]

Knowing the client doesn't necessarily mean that you will know the right individual there to contact - if the client is after a quick start, then by the time you have worked out who to contact and got your CV in there, they may well have recruited via an agency.

Some clients have a policy of not dealing direct, normally on the mistaken belief that they are insulating themselves from employee rights. If you know (or suspect) that the client takes people on direct, then go for it, but you may find that you are wasting your time and theirs.

True its never black and white, I just like playing the guess the client game as I am not looking right now!

[DirtyDog]

This has happened to me twice in the last few days, usual speculative bumf (via linked in) from some pimp I've never heard of, replied with a ' is this role with company XXX'?. Was right both times! My question is if you can work out the company from the pimps initial waffle do you then apply direct or continue with the original correspondence?

Knowing the client doesn't necessarily mean that you will know the right individual there to contact - if the client is after a quick start, then by the time you have worked out who to contact and got your CV in there, they may well have recruited via an agency.

Some clients have a policy of not dealing direct, normally on the mistaken belief that they are insulating themselves from employee rights. If you know (or suspect) that the client takes people on direct, then go for it, but you may find that you are wasting your time and theirs.

[Old Greg]

That's my policy going forward, to go direct. Pimps have used and abused info I've given them over the years for their own gain. What's sauce for the goose...

You need to be careful what you see in these forums. There are some agents who are pretty good at sniffing out who is who in real life.