Negotiating salary via recruitment agency

[grahamr88]

I have an interview in a couple of weeks time, which I got through a recruitment agency.
They sent me an email with some general interview guidance, and one thing that stood out to me was that they suggested that I don't give a figure for my salary expectation, but instead leave that to them (the agent) as it's in their financial interest to negotiate the best salary for me.

I'm not sure whether to follow this advice or not; a recruitment agent will be far more experienced than me at negotiating a salary, however they don't really have any leverage - they're not going to turn down the job on my behalf if the salary is too low.
They can of course suggest to the employer that I'm unlikely to accept a salary below a certain threshold, and they do have the benefit of knowing the realistic salary expectation based on others that they have placed.

I'd be interested to hear anyone else's experiences of having salaries negotiated for them - was the offer towards the top of the salary range quoted for the job?

[944fan]

I have been told this by agents in the past. Generally they will be on a % of salary commission so it is kind of in their interests to get you a higher salary. However, what they really want to ensure is that a candidate they put forward gets the job. Unless they are working exclusively with the company there is the risk that someone might negotiate too hard and the jobs goes elsewhere.

Remember this, whilst the agent needs you, they work for the company doing the hiring. Not you.

I would always negotiate the salary myself. It gives you the control and opportunity to show why you deserve the salary you want. Its your on-going livelihood versus their commission.

[BJG1]

Negotiate it yourself. The extra few hundred in commission is worth less to them than making sure one of their candidates gets the job.

[StevieBee]

As an employer, I have found it very bad form when candidates start to negotiate salary through the recruitment agency.

[grahamr88]

Thanks, that pretty much echoes my thoughts on the matter, I shall do it myself.

[bad company]

grahamr88 said:

Thanks, that pretty much echoes my thoughts on the matter, I shall do it myself.

I owned & ran an agency for over 20 years.

I would say that you're jumping the gun here. If the employer wants to make you an offer after interview they will either make the offer to you direct or through the agency. If its thru the agent they will be doing the negotiating. Don't let them bully you tho.

Good luck.

[okgo]

I've always let my recruiter negotiate the offer, I would consider it a bit odd if he suddenly said, right, over to you now. Obviously they know what you want and they want to get as much as possible for their own bonus, and generally they know exactly how to leverage the situation if they have worked with that company for any length of time and can cite previous st candidates as reasons for paying a good one more etc etc.

[conanius]

Just my 2 pence.

Know what package you want. Do the interview, do no raise anything about financials unless the interviewer does.

When the company come back and say 'congratulations, we'd like to recruit you' you then tell them what you want.

Until that point it's largely irrelevant.

[PorkInsider]

bad company said:

grahamr88 said:

Thanks, that pretty much echoes my thoughts on the matter, I shall do it myself.

I owned & ran an agency for over 20 years.

I would say that you're jumping the gun here. If the employer wants to make you an offer after interview they will either make the offer to you direct or through the agency. If its thru the agent they will be doing the negotiating. Don't let them bully you tho.

Good luck.

Definitely this ^^^

If the agency is your contact with the potential employer and its they who come back to you with the offer then you will be negotiating through them.

If the agency has put you in touch with the employer and then left you to it, then that's a different scenario.

I think there are perhaps some assumptions being made in this thread around exact circumstances of how, and by whom, the offer might be being made.

[okgo]

conanius said:

Just my 2 pence.

Know what package you want. Do the interview, do no raise anything about financials unless the interviewer does.

When the company come back and say 'congratulations, we'd like to recruit you' you then tell them what you want.

Until that point it's largely irrelevant.

Certainly possible to be way wide of the mark doing this. Jobs in what I do have salary swings of tens of thousands for essentially same role.

[blippo1984]

It completely depends.
I have been in situations where there are four parties - me, agent, employer's recruitment team, potential new boss at employer - and it has literally gone around in circles as the salary offered was significantly less than I expected.

My agent was an experienced guy who I trust. Some agents are absolutely useless. I would make your decision based on how much you trust the individual.

My gut feel on the steps are

A) get offered job and package
B) either accept if it is acceptable or reject if it is not appropriate.
C) employer will either make a better offer or say the offer is the offer

My view is that its worth being tough and pushing for everything you can get as you will

A) forgo bonus at current job
B) not be offered a payrise for at least a year in new role
C) will have a low bonus in new role
D) will not have an opportunity to negotiate a big rise whilst wmployed by new business (typically)

[grahamr88]

Thanks for the contrasting viewpoints, it seems it's not as clear cut as I thought.

The scenario I was envisaging was the interviewer asking me what my salary expectation was, and I'll need to know whether to negotiate it then, or leave until later/the agent.

I think I'll play it by ear; I know the sort of figure I'm after, and I also know the advertised salary range for the job, and I'd be happy even with the bottom end of that. I'd be even happier with more, of course.

This is my first experience with this agent, so I don't know how much I trust him yet. I'll give him a call tomorrow to have a chat about it, if he can convince me to let him negotiate my salary, then I guess that will prove his worth!

[bad company]

grahamr88 said:

Thanks for the contrasting viewpoints, it seems it's not as clear cut as I thought.

The scenario I was envisaging was the interviewer asking me what my salary expectation was, and I'll need to know whether to negotiate it then, or leave until later/the agent.

I think I'll play it by ear; I know the sort of figure I'm after, and I also know the advertised salary range for the job, and I'd be happy even with the bottom end of that. I'd be even happier with more, of course.

This is my first experience with this agent, so I don't know how much I trust him yet. I'll give him a call tomorrow to have a chat about it, if he can convince me to let him negotiate my salary, then I guess that will prove his worth!

Seriously your job at the interview is to leave the interviewer knowing that you are without doubt the very best person for the job.

Get that right and everything else will fall into place.

GOOD LUCK !!!

[conanius]

okgo said:

Certainly possible to be way wide of the mark doing this. Jobs in what I do have salary swings of tens of thousands for essentially same role.

Fair one. I should have added there was an assumption that you'd be in the ballpark. Obviously if you expect £75k and get told nothing by the recruiter and find out its £25k then thats a gap too big to bridge

[Bullett]

I won't even discuss a role if the salary range isn't right, "Industry rates" are meaningless to me.
In my experience the only time package is discussed is in the "what are you on" manner. Now, I've normally assumed this is a test question as it's what I've told the recruiter already so there should be no surprise here.

I'd always ask for the top of the range.

[bad company]

Bullett said:

I won't even discuss a role if the salary range isn't right, "Industry rates" are meaningless to me.
In my experience the only time package is discussed is in the "what are you on" manner. Now, I've normally assumed this is a test question as it's what I've told the recruiter already so there should be no surprise here.

I'd always ask for the top of the range.

That does sound a bit arrogant. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to be in a position totake that line but I get the impression that does not have much interview experience yet.

[blippo1984]

Bullett said:

I won't even discuss a role if the salary range isn't right, "Industry rates" are meaningless to me.
In my experience the only time package is discussed is in the "what are you on" manner. Now, I've normally assumed this is a test question as it's what I've told the recruiter already so there should be no surprise here.

I'd always ask for the top of the range.

+1

Unless there is a good reason why you can't (for example they are clearly taking a punt on you as you are less experienced than job spec)