Recruitment Agencies for Contractors
Most UK contractors get most of their contracts through Reruitment agencies or recruitment companies, as they are sometimes called.
The agency has a relationship wih the client company and hears about contract opportunities from them.
The client tells the agency about the requirement and the skills needed.
The recruitment agency matches those skills against contractors on their database and picks out the best matches to the contract opportunity.
If they are short of contractors with those skills they may advertise the contract on a jobs board to get more candidates.
Agency Margins
Agencies take anywhere between 10% and 30% of what they get from the client for the contractor. 15% to 20% is looked upon as OK.
Less than 15% and the contractor is doing well. Over 20% and the contractor would consider that he, or she, is being ripped off.
Some unscrupulous agents have been found to be taking 50% of the money they get from the client company for the contractors.
When this happens it is usually to first time contractors who don’t know their market worth or who think that the agent is ‘their agent’ and will look after their interests.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
