Re: A lurker delurks: Agencies

["Molis, Debbie" <Debbie_Molis -at- FREDDIEMAC -dot- COM>]

Hi again. I was asked to forward this to the list from Jane Torpie, who was
having some problems posting:

Chris (and Bonnie),

I work in the Boston area, and have been placed more than once by the same
agency. After the second placement, I asked the person who placed me if he
could give me a range of the percentage of my salary that his agency charged
as
a fee.  At that time, for a senior writer, his agency charged about 15%.  I
don't know if this has changed since then, or if it is representative of
other
agencies in this industry, area, economy, etc.  Later, I asked a hiring
manager
for his impressions of various agencies' service, industry contacts, and
commission prices. It was very instructive.

In any case, for most hiring companies that commission is a significant
expense.
More recently, I worked for a small company that had a policy of not using
agencies for any positions other than executives.  Instead, they relied on
employee referrals. At $500 or $1000 per hire, it was a relative bargain.

If you want to know what agencies charge in your area, pull out your
networking
list and ask a friendly hiring manager about their experience with agencies
from the hiring side. You can also get a sense of what the hiring manager
expects from an agency, and how he/she chooses to use (or not use) an
agency's
services.  In fact, it's perfectly reasonable to ask what agencies he/she
likes, and why.  Although agencies overlap in fields and contacts, they also
have specialties.

Like writers, placement agencies are selling their time, services, and
expertise.
 You can choose to work with or without them at various times in your
career.
And as in writing, doing your research will help you make a better choice.

Just as you exchange information your salaries, contracting rates, company
benefits, cost of classes, and prices of software with people in your
network,
you can exchange similar information about agency practices, performance,
and
fees.  It's not a secret, but asking the right people will get you better
information more readily.

As far as that clause about not working for a company for a year after your
placement there as a contractor ... the company is free to hire you, and you
are free to work there.  The clause isn't about the right to work somewhere
(that's usually called a "non-compete clause", and covers close industry
competition), but rather about the agency fee involved.  Debbie's right: if
the
company hires you within that period, someone is obligated to pay the agency
a
commission.  In most parts of the country, this is the hiring company.

Feel free to ask the placement agency about this.  Sometimes the price is
negotiable (for example, if you've worked as a contractor through the agency
for 10 months and they've taken a contracting commission that entire time,
it's
reasonable for whoever pays the commission to at least ask them to pro-rate
the
commission because they've already made a healthy profit).  The worst they
can
do is refuse to negotiate.  They're more likely to negotiate with a company,
because they want to have that company as a client in the future.

Good luck!
Jane
jstorpie -at- ma -dot- ultranet -dot- com

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