Problem with Contractors who Need Recruitment Agencies
Do contractors need recruitment agencies? This was sent to us by a recruiter. Here is what he says.
The problem with all you contractors is that you spend all your spare time moaning about agents and how they rip you off, when you are in a situation where you are looking for work. Guess what? You call an agent or respond to a job that an agent has posted.
There is a little saying about those people who talk about what they are going to do and those people who do it.
Alas, just like you spend your life in what some people would call cyberspace. You also spend a fair proportion of it in cuckoo land, concocting your tales of victory over the menacing agency and how you ‘got one over’ or screwed the agent.
Contractor Fantasies – They Need Recruitment Agencies
No doubt in the same fantasies you see yourself with a gorgeous women at your feet just peeling grapes and telling you are the most handsome man in the entire world, you then dash off to lunch with her majesty a close personal friend, followed by an afternoon with the Swedish bikini waxing team who will be asking for demonstration of your technique on them.
Hardly ha ha.
Fact – most of the big agency players will run a managed service for their clients.
Fees will be around 11% for ltd company about 6% for people who work PAYE.
Of this 11% and 6% out of this profit the agency will have to pay for advertising, sales staff, account managers, ops managers/staff, operate a payroll function for the candidate or their limited company, employ administration staff and overall general costs of running a business.
Cheaper for Client Companies
The reason Clients/companies are ‘outsourcing’ their contract IT recruitment function to the likes of recruitment companies is that it is cheaper for then to go outside than do it themselves.
So, with this in mind, you couldn‘t go direct even if you wanted to.
Of course there are still clients that don‘t operate a managed service which I‘m sure you will now say that you work for (through agents). However, why the hell do you think these companies utilize the services of an agent in the first place?
Works Out Cheaper
I‘ll tell you it is because it still works out cheaper than if they did it themselves.
They may only want the team of contractors for 6 months. However, they would have to spend a fortune on resources just to get contractors recruited and paid!
So in both scenarios we have a client coming to an agent. In one the agent provides the whole packaged service-cheaper than what the client could do it for internally. In the second example (bums on seats) it is still cheaper than what the client could do it for.
Taking Contractors to Court
Contractors trying to go direct after their contract period are and can very easily be taken to court.
The client does not really want the grief associated with legal action and agrees to pay the bill. So, rather than go on and on about getting more money from cutting out the agent on extensions and how clever you are and how stupid us agents are, why not really prove just how wonderful you really are and try and get your own job without the services of an agent.
Try for example IBM, THALES, RBS, NATWEST, VODAFONE and SONY. Then come back on here and tell us all how great you are.
You haven‘t a hope in hell going direct. P*ss pot little companies in the armpit of the country really don‘t count as claims to fame.
Don’t Pay Invoices on Time
Chances are that they don‘t pay their invoices on time anyway. However, mind you, if an agent were to be paying you ‘oh guess what’ you would get paid week in week out regardless of invoices being paid from the Client.
I look forward to your ‘tales’ of fantastic opportunities that all you contractors have secured without the help of us agents.
Notice that I emphasised the word TALES
It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. I wonder if you lot whine, moan and cry about everything in your life. I somehow think that if you were not on here crying then you would be somewhere else doing what you do best – crying.
The fact is contractors need recruitment agencies!
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