Lions and Tigers and Headhunters. Oh my! (Part 1)

Let's talk about a touchy subject - talent hunters - also known as recruiters, headhunters, agents, whatever. Why is this a touchy subject? Perhaps a story will illustrate.
When I first started 32U eSolutions I had just left the relative security of a salaried position with a consulting firm. My first contract as an independent was via a recruiter for a large national talent agency with an office in Denver. She - let's call her Jane (made up) - wanted me to do a web development job in Boulder.
The position was W2 Contract and I wasn't savvy enough yet to know how that would affect me. After I told Jane my hourly rate, she said that was too high for the client to pay and asked if I would accept less? We 'negotiated' and the final agreement was that we would drop our rates together. Her agency would add 25% to a rate of 40$/hour, making the customer's rate $50/hour.
This seemed fair enough to me - agencies generally get 25% to 40% of the take and even more if they are paying you as a W2. Problem was - it was a lie. Jane just wanted to make the sale.
If you've ever taken a W2 "contract" position, you've found out that most talent organizations do not disclose the rate they charge the customer for whom you are working. Worse, they do everything they can to keep you from finding out, including written agreements with the client and with you not to talk about rates. Weird, huh?
After a couple weeks on the job, I got to know the client well enough that, in fact - and the following statement will put me on some agency blacklists - we discussed rates. Much to my consternation, I found out that the client was paying $75/hour to the agency.
I went ballistic. I phoned the agency and demanded that they conform to their original verbal agreement. They wouldn't do it - they preferred to slam the customer rather than meet the verbal obligation - after all, there was nothing in writing that forced our verbal agreement. I was forced to leave the contract - much the wiser.
My recommendations if you are really trying to become an independent: (1) Avoid agencies that do not disclose their rates and percentages right up front. After all, they ask you what your rate is, why can't you ask them what theirs is? (2) Learn how to discern between 'talent body shops' and legitimate talent hunters. (3) Consider working W2 jobs as a last resort after you've attempted to sell the benefits to the employer of the plus side of hiring you as an independent. (4) Read the fine print...what you sign is what you must do. There is a whole hornet's nest of mistakes here - and eventually we'll talk about those on the CI website.
What makes for a good talent hunter? We will discuss this in a future issue of the CI newsletter - because a good talent hunter can help find you the kind of work you are seeking, with terms that are mutually fair. We'll also discuss job boards - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
As you will see in our volunteer section on the home page, we are gearing up to create a list of good talent hunters and agencies. We will never create a list of bad head hunters for the obvious liability reasons.
Comments? Want to write your own editorial for CI? Are you a talent hunter who would like to counter point - after all there are bad apple independents too, right? Do we need to set up a list server yet to vent, etc.? Email me at clint@32u.com.

Regards,

Clint Lewis
CI Founder
32U eSolutions, LLC
clint@32u.com
719 442 0926