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How do we break the current crappy contractor system?

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    #11
    The less obvious true value that agencies bring to the mix is:

    a. From a client point of view there is a middle man doing all the hard work of finding and managing contract resource and that also means the risk of the client being seen to be an employee of contractors is mitigated. Hence why no client takes on self-employed status contractors direct as they'd be at risk of having to pay employer taxes and provide employee benefits such as holidays and sick pay.

    b. From a contractor point of view the second most important thing an agency does (after the most important thing of finding the contract) is invoice factoring. Weekly or fortnightly and even monthly invoice payments can be a damn site quicker than typical client billing cycles. That also reduces the exposure to risk of non-payment. i.e. the shorter the cycle from invoice to payment the better.

    So what's the solution? Ironically the best entity to come up with a working solution to replace agencies is an agency. One that sees the opportunity to disrupt and corner the market by offering something tuned to appeal to both clients and contractors as being a genuinely new better approach to solving what are the perceived problems. Not sure what format it would be, I'm not an agent , but maybe something mostly automated and online to do to contract agencies what PurpleBricks et al are doing to traditional estate agencies.

    For a technological based sector such as IT, which most of us on CUK are involved with, though hi to the farmers and construction workers , it's seems ironic (I'll have to check the definition with Alanis Morissette ) that this hasn't already been solved by better use of technology to modernise the whole process.

    Where's Dodgy Agent when we need him...
    Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

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      #12
      The contractor wants to get rid of the middle man because they take commission. Contractors assume that they would then get the agent's cut, but actually the client would see it differently, they want the agents cut, after all they would have to do all the advertising and sifting of CVs.

      In the end if you try and do it yourself, you'll realise that it's a lot of work and effort building your own client base and then you'll end up using agencies.

      Agencies are there for a reason. If they were superfluous they would have long since been replaced.
      I'm alright Jack

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        #13
        Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
        The contractor wants to get rid of the middle man because they take commission. Contractors assume that they would then get the agent's cut, but actually the client would see it differently, they want the agents cut, after all they would have to do all the advertising and sifting of CVs.

        In the end if you try and do it yourself, you'll realise that it's a lot of work and effort building your own client base and then you'll end up using agencies.

        Agencies are there for a reason. If they were superfluous they would have long since been replaced.
        +1 too all of that. Good point about the commission. A point often misunderstood.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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          #14
          Simple fact is that Agencies don't work for us. The client pays them; they work for the client.

          (First post. Hi everyone. Interesting times )

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            #15
            What you need to do is create some sort of online "Professional Network" of around 750 million employers, contractors and permanent staff.

            Create an online space for everyone to upload their CV's and for companies to create what are effectively marketing pages.

            Allow people to rate each other, comment on their skills and past achievements.

            Make it free to join to allow you to build a critical mass.

            Once you have cornered the "supply-side" of the market then you can then offer premium tools and services to company recruiters, agents and the professionals on your network to assist in job/contract finding. CV sifting ( AI anyone? ), interview scheduling.

            It's then only a small hop from being an effective "match-maker" to replacing the agent by offering contracts, payments and dispute resolutions services and therefore becoming in the worlds single largest agency.

            It would be helpful if you owned the worlds preeminent productivity suite of software, you could then deeply integrate your Professional Network with things like word-processors, spreadsheets, email programs and the like. You know the products? The ones that 95% of managers use 95% of their working day.

            If you also owned the worlds defacto corporate identity and permissions management platform you could integrate it with your Professional Network, thus steering all professionals to create an account on your Professional Network as they'd need an account in order to be able to join their end-clients IT systems. Of course you wouldn't make this mandatory at first, start off by using presenting it as a way of simplifying initial account set-up ( copying in name, mobile number, job titles etc ).

            Once you've done all that you have all the people and all the hirers of the people and all the tools needed to LinkIn.

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              #16
              Originally posted by billybiro View Post
              But they do hold a metaphorical gun to contractors heads to prevent them either going direct with the client or switching to another agency. This is often applied long after the original contract has expired.

              Perhaps if contractors could cut the agent out of the loop once they've been introduced to the client (in other words, acting solely as a "finder") and the client has decided that they would like to hire the services of the contractor, then you might be in a better position to legitimately claim that "all they do is bring the two of you together".
              I have gone direct and that has led to other problems, mainly getting invoices settled.

              They do have their faults (and looking for a contract at the moment I am seeing them!) but they are there for a reason.

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                #17
                Going direct is ok if you only want to work near to home.
                If you wish to lie on the beach and don't care where the next contract will be then you can't beat going via an agent.
                Let the agent look for your work while you do other things.

                Sent from my SM-A320FL using Contractor UK Forum mobile app

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                  #18
                  I'e broached one potential solution with various agencies over the years. Only one was willing to give it a go, but promptly went into liquidation...

                  However, the solution is actually quite simple - we pay the agency, not the client.

                  Think about it. The client saves 15% or so of his contractor costs (As opposed to the new rules adding 25% or so...). The agency is incentivised to keep you in work, at the highest possible rate. Over time agencies will build genuine stables of good people - rather like they say they do now but never, ever actually do so - whose skills and availability they know well. Some may even specialise in certain areas so become the go-to source of the best people.

                  Sounds too simple, probably is.

                  I only recently worked out why it doesn't appeal. The agents' pay is determined by targets that are about things that are actually irrelevant to delivering good contractors to clients and positively discriminate against them spending time with us. My proposed model puts them on a whole other pay basis and requires them actually to do some real work.

                  Heigh ho...
                  Blog? What blog...?

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                    #19
                    Originally posted by malvolio View Post
                    Sounds too simple, probably is
                    I cannot see the incentive for an agent to move from "representing the interests of" (read: maximising profits with respect to ) one large client to many contractors to "representing the interests of" (read: maximising profits with respect to ) many contractors to one large client.

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                      #20
                      Options

                      1. Learn the difference between agents who work on contingency and those who work on margin. Build relationships with the latter.
                      2. Go on a sales course. Learn how to cold call and not fear the phone or rejection. Combine with LinkedIn.
                      3. Reject the keep my head down contractor attitude, and stand out from the crowd by doing it your way - unless you are tulip.
                      4. Blow a couple of mil on cars and beat customers off with a tulipty stick.

                      2,3 + 4 worked for me. 4 is somewhat risky, buy hey YOLO.

                      Start thinking like a ******* business, not just filling out the forms of one.

                      Oh, strangers.

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