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How do I fire my recruitment agent?

by chris_dcosta on 5/8/13, 9:52 AM with 15 comments

It is accepted industry norm that a recruitment agent takes 15% give or take a few %age points. Last 20 years I've never had an issue, and I got to see all the rates my agents were paid. Until now.

I just found out my current one has been taking 52% and they negotiated down my price "due to market conditions" after the job offer.

These scumbags don't do freelancers any justice, and sure enough if the client had asked for a drop in rate they'd be on the phone asking you to suck it up.

  • by tptacek on 5/8/13, 4:33 PM

    You just stop working with them (which you should probably have done many years ago, given the market).

    Incidentally, what your employer paid your recruiter is their problem, not yours: if you're underpaid, demand a raise or leave.

  • by aashaykumar92 on 5/8/13, 2:53 PM

    I wanted to learn more about how this works so sorry I'm not responding to your question, but when one has an agent, does the agent take 15% (or in this case, a mind blowing 52%) of the workers salary or that's just how much the hiring company pays the agent? Basically, is anything being deducted from the workers salary?

    And there are mentions of a contract. What would this type of contract consist of?

    The job candidate-agent relationship...is it like sports where agents can represent multiple job seekers but a job seeker usually only has one agent? And is there a legal side to this?

    Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn!

  • by terrykohla on 5/8/13, 2:32 PM

    It seems more like you just discovered your "real" market value. Welcome to reality!

    The reason some people make more money than others is mainly because they posses key information that others don't have and this is part of the game.

    Don't fire you're recruiter because YOU didn't know your true market value. Instead, use this "new information" to negotiate yourself a substantial raise next time you sit at the negotiation table.

    The recruiter's markup is not disclosed to the contractor in my industry and it's not really important to me. What matters is "are you happy with what you're making?".

    Fire your recruiter if he is incompetent, not if he's doing well.

  • by gadders on 5/9/13, 9:17 AM

    It depends whether you are mid-contract or not, I'd have thought.

    If it's the end of the contract, that's easy - don't accept their calls, don't go on any interviews they arrange etc.

    If it's mid-contract, then it's trickier. You could either:

    1) Leave and find a new role 2) Tell your agent that you know what their % is, and you want a raise or you will leave 3) Explain to the company that they are being over-charged, and see if their legal department will fight the agency to buy you out so you can contract directly or via a better agency.

    Not sure that any of these guarantee success...

  • by adamccc on 5/8/13, 11:07 AM

    I guess the only way to fire them is stay completely clear of them and id that's not enough maybe write a blog post exposing this behaviour.

  • by orangethirty on 5/8/13, 11:54 AM

    Depends on the contract.

  • by lifeisstillgood on 5/8/13, 12:10 PM

    Holy cow. I cannot imagine how desperate the hiring company must have been to pay 52%. That is an indicator of very bad things I suspect.

    Unless you have a contract with your agent (highly unlikely - people like 10x are starting this idea) then just do not use them.

    An agency who is getting 50% out of a client company has photos of the CEO and two shameful-looking-sheep somewhere.