1 job, 2 agents
Discussion
What's the etiquette among contractors when you get more than one agency wanting to put you in for the same job?
I've done work for this customer before, when I was a full time employee of another company and charged out at £500/day. I'm now a self employed contractor and asking for £350/day for what looks to be a follow on to the work I did for them last year, so I'm pretty confident I should win it. So far I've been aproached by 2 companies, both of whom have thier own staff but also have associate contractors, who want to put me in for the role as an associate of thier firm. Should I let anyone that wants to put me in for the job and let the customer decide who's the best deal, or does that tend to look bad both with the agents and the customer? This will be my first job since setting up my own company so I really don't want to mess it up. Presumably if I was aproached by a small agency thier markup would probably be less which might improve my chances of getting the job? Unfortunatly can't deal directly with the customer as it's all about preferred suppliers.
As it's only 4 months work do I need to worry about contract wording with regards to IR35, as I guess that could be different between different companies.
I've done work for this customer before, when I was a full time employee of another company and charged out at £500/day. I'm now a self employed contractor and asking for £350/day for what looks to be a follow on to the work I did for them last year, so I'm pretty confident I should win it. So far I've been aproached by 2 companies, both of whom have thier own staff but also have associate contractors, who want to put me in for the role as an associate of thier firm. Should I let anyone that wants to put me in for the job and let the customer decide who's the best deal, or does that tend to look bad both with the agents and the customer? This will be my first job since setting up my own company so I really don't want to mess it up. Presumably if I was aproached by a small agency thier markup would probably be less which might improve my chances of getting the job? Unfortunatly can't deal directly with the customer as it's all about preferred suppliers.
As it's only 4 months work do I need to worry about contract wording with regards to IR35, as I guess that could be different between different companies.
RizzoTheRat said:
What's the etiquette among contractors when you get more than one agency wanting to put you in for the same job?
I've done work for this customer before, when I was a full time employee of another company and charged out at £500/day. I'm now a self employed contractor and asking for £350/day for what looks to be a follow on to the work I did for them last year, so I'm pretty confident I should win it. So far I've been aproached by 2 companies, both of whom have thier own staff but also have associate contractors, who want to put me in for the role as an associate of thier firm. Should I let anyone that wants to put me in for the job and let the customer decide who's the best deal, or does that tend to look bad both with the agents and the customer? This will be my first job since setting up my own company so I really don't want to mess it up. Presumably if I was aproached by a small agency thier markup would probably be less which might improve my chances of getting the job? Unfortunatly can't deal directly with the customer as it's all about preferred suppliers.
As it's only 4 months work do I need to worry about contract wording with regards to IR35, as I guess that could be different between different companies.
If 2 or more agencies send your CV to the same job, you run the risk of the employer thinking its a spam CV and simply binning it... so you lose!!I've done work for this customer before, when I was a full time employee of another company and charged out at £500/day. I'm now a self employed contractor and asking for £350/day for what looks to be a follow on to the work I did for them last year, so I'm pretty confident I should win it. So far I've been aproached by 2 companies, both of whom have thier own staff but also have associate contractors, who want to put me in for the role as an associate of thier firm. Should I let anyone that wants to put me in for the job and let the customer decide who's the best deal, or does that tend to look bad both with the agents and the customer? This will be my first job since setting up my own company so I really don't want to mess it up. Presumably if I was aproached by a small agency thier markup would probably be less which might improve my chances of getting the job? Unfortunatly can't deal directly with the customer as it's all about preferred suppliers.
As it's only 4 months work do I need to worry about contract wording with regards to IR35, as I guess that could be different between different companies.
I would ask just the one you want, whether it was the first one, the more trusted one or the one that has relations with the company in question.
Yeah, be careful.
I've been down that road a few times even while trying to be as dilligent as possible it still happens.
At best, if you're successful you'll end up with a cat fight between the agents over who gets your 'coin', at worst you're not successful but the whole s
tstorm will blow over.
Either way, it'll leave a bad taste in the mouth of all concerned including the employer so tread carefully.
I've been down that road a few times even while trying to be as dilligent as possible it still happens.
At best, if you're successful you'll end up with a cat fight between the agents over who gets your 'coin', at worst you're not successful but the whole s
tstorm will blow over.Either way, it'll leave a bad taste in the mouth of all concerned including the employer so tread carefully.
Just had an e-mail from a third agent. Reckon you folks are talking sense, I already told the first one that phoned to put me in for it so I'll be honest with the others. My ex-boss is now thier programme manager and a couple of former colleagues are working for them so if I do this job through them there's a good chance they'll remember me in future.
Regards to IR35 it really depends on the structure of the contract. I assume your company would be a subcontractor of this third party. One point that catches some people is the lack of a substitution clause: if you personally will complete the work and cannot send in someone else instead, you might fall foul of IR35 because it is not your company doing the work - it is you. I would be very careful if I were you because you are sounding like the exact kind of company IR35 is designed to cover. By this I mean you are referring to "I" rather than "my company".
Other stuff to look out for is where you physically work, do you have set hours, who provides the equipment, do you get paid holidays, stuff like that. Is this your only contract? Depending on the nature of the third party, it may be considered a Personal Services company.
There is some good info online about IR35.
Other stuff to look out for is where you physically work, do you have set hours, who provides the equipment, do you get paid holidays, stuff like that. Is this your only contract? Depending on the nature of the third party, it may be considered a Personal Services company.
There is some good info online about IR35.
I'm certainly close to the kind of business that IR35 want's to clobber. Won't get paid holiday or have fixed working hours, but will have to work on customer site using thier equipment due to the nature of the work. My accountants fees include a couple of IR35 contract reviews per year so I';ll get it checked over. Just wasn't sure if short term stuff like this counts for it. If I'm lucky I think might have another contract in the offing which is only a couple of days a month which presumably would help a lot.
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