Advice required on negotiating starting salary and agencies

D0554 said:
If this drags on would it be a good idea to contact the employer myself? Or does the employer and agency have an agreement regarding this?

not a good idea. the agency won't be happy with you or the employer if you negotiate in this way, and the employer might not like being contacted direct. the reason employers go to agencies is to save them hassle and inconvenience, as well as finding the right person for the post. it's probably in the terms and conditions you signed to agree to with the agency, and likewise those the employer has signed. you know the small print you never read cuz you just want to get a job and would sell your granny for the right salary?

the trick is to be patient. the agency may get annoyed if you keep calling about the job every day. if you are waiting on news of a post, keep in touch once a week at least, but every day or two can be a bit annoying as the agency will get in touch with people as soon as the job is confirmed so they snag the employee and bag the fee before you get a job elsewhere. this would also annoy the employer as they would need to start looking again
 
I shan't be doing that then!

Just been speaking to my sis who works for an agency but not as a consultant, she basically said hang on in there, but query why they put you forward for what you asked and then came in with an offer that was far lower!

Was planning on calling them today but I think ill hold tight until I hear back from them!

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice on this thread, its been a great help! :thumbsup: Im sure others have been in a similar situation!
 
I remember waiting for 2 weeks to get an answer from the agency to see if i had actually got my current job, before any of the salary hassles, etc
 
2 weeks!!!:eek:

Well I had two interviews, a technical and then the standard HR, they would have been done much sooner, but I had other things happening at the time.

The last of the two interviews was last Thursday, was offered the job on Tuesday!

Still waiting to tell my current work lot until I have officially signed and accepted! It doesnt help that somene else has also recently left the team! Dont think that will go down too well!!!:rolleyes:
 
Despite being told not to call the agency I went ahead and done it anyway, reason being I had a few questions which I needed answering BEFORE the offer came in!

The consultant was great, the same one I have been talking to, the job spec I found was for the same job but working for another company on the same project! Its a long story!

Anyway she was very understanding and said that I will find out for sure tomorrow what their new offer is!

Roll on tmw I say!:)
 
You wouldn't believe how slow clients can be at responding.

If a client says they will pay £25k for the role, the consultant will be trained to say something along the lines "Is there any flexibility in this? If we found you an excellent candidate with all the right skills and experience, but was on £27k wouldn't you want to consider them?"

This can mean that the agency is advertising the job at higher salary than the client would ideally like to pay, hence the delays.

This may seem wrong or unfair, but clients often have a ridiculous expectation of what the market rate is for a role or habitually underpay their staff.

You'd often hear "Well, the last person in the role was only on £xxxxx" to which you'd love to reply "Well, why do you think they've just left?" but you can't!

The agency will be very keen for the deal to go through as they won't get paid otherwise. So you can be sure that they are on the case for you as there's no money for them (and therefore no commission for the recruiter) if they're not.

Regarding the P45, don't worry about it. We're nearly half way through the tax year and all it shows is your YTD earnings. You could easily have had a pay rise recently. If it's month 1, you're busted but after about month 3 you're in the clear.

Good luck!
 
Latest update is that they called back (the agency) and said that the employer is NOT willing to budge on the original offer!

Taking all things into consideration I still stand to gain more in the long run than lose if I were to take the job.

The agency has said that they can have it drawn into the contract that I have a pay review in X months time? What do yu guys think? From past experience is this worth doing? Is there anything else I can get drawn into the contract which will benefit me?

I have said that I will need to think long and hard about it and will get back to them on Tuesday...
 
D0554 said:
Latest update is that they called back (the agency) and said that the employer is NOT willing to budge on the original offer!

Taking all things into consideration I still stand to gain more in the long run than lose if I were to take the job.

The agency has said that they can have it drawn into the contract that I have a pay review in X months time? What do yu guys think? From past experience is this worth doing? Is there anything else I can get drawn into the contract which will benefit me?

I have said that I will need to think long and hard about it and will get back to them on Tuesday...

i dunno what your current salary is, or the salary of the new post, but you suggest you spend a lot of money on travel and you won't need to do that again. factor in the savings when thinking of the salary, and remember £80 in your hand is about £100 gross if you are paying 22% tax and 11% NI, or about £160 if you are paying 40% tax and 11% NI. not only that, but think of the time spent travelling and how much that would be worth if you were being paid to work it

if they aren't going to budge on salary, even if you have a wage review, it doesn't necesarily mean they will give you more money. not all wage reviews result in a pay increase. even if you do really well, budget restrictions may prevent you being paid more, so don't take the job thinking you will be paid the money you want in X months time, take it based on what you are being offered now. most companies will have standard contracts, so won't write in special requirements. as they delayed so long in getting back to you, i would suggest you take what you are offered (if you are happy with that) and ask for a review in x months. of course you will need to perform well before the review, and probably do better after the review to justify the increase, particularly within the first years contract (and it sounds like you are being contracted to complete a project, which is usually a fixed term thing, so if you push your luck too much and don't live up to expectations you may not get kept on for new projects)

personally i hate travelling, and the costs of commuting, so i'd rather take a slightly lower paid job than spend hours travelling each day/week, and spending most of the extra money to get there, so i'd probably take the job if i was you
 
I was planning on taking the post all along but would have liked it to be more than what I am on - for some reason a drop in salary to me kind of suggests a step back! But there are other things I need to take into account like the time Ill save on travelling, etc!

Again thanks for the advice it has been most helpful...

I think Ill close this chapter of my life now, thanks again everyone! :thumbsup:
 

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