Job Hunting

pallys · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:06

When Job hunting via Agency's, is it safe to tell a fib about your currently salary in order to fetch a better prospective salary?

Just wondering if its likely to get found out, and do they actually check what your currently earning and how ? Because I refused to tell one agency what I was on, but he was adament I tell and got it out of me...they all seem to ask this question.

Times are hard etc.

Morte · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:13

Chances are it'll be on your previous P45. Why lie to a prospective employer?

West · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:15

As above I think it's on your P45

dowie · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:18

I don't think your agent has any way of finding out (aside from you or your employer telling him) however I believe your future employer will have a rough idea/could derive it from how much tax you've paid so far as they'll presumably be paying you via PAYE (assuming you're not going to be contracting). I'd say you'd probably get away with a small exaggeration but don't go OTT.

Scam · 26 Apr 2008 at 12:21

Why not play it safe and say you took a pay cut for your current job and as such will expecting a lot higher in your next job.

EternityEight · 26 Apr 2008 at 17:01

AFAIK agencies are paid as a % of the salary they negotiate for you, its the best reason to go through an agency because they will go out of there way to get you the best deal. I wouldnt worry about it.

Mr^B · 26 Apr 2008 at 19:14

EternityEight said:
AFAIK agencies are paid as a % of the salary they negotiate for you, its the best reason to go through an agency because they will go out of there way to get you the best deal. I wouldnt worry about it.

No they don't.

Do they make more money spending 10 hours on one deal, or 1 hour each on 10 deals?

They are the same as estate agents - the more people they place, the more money they make. They aren't going to chase a company for long for an extra £2k, because that's probably only an extra £50 on their commission, whereas in the same time and for less effort, they could place someone else and make ten times that.

Mr^B · 26 Apr 2008 at 19:15

Oh, and as before it'll be on your P45, and your references will tell them anyway, so don't tell porkies.

[DOD]Asprilla · 26 Apr 2008 at 20:36

Mr^B said:
No they don't.

Do they make more money spending 10 hours on one deal, or 1 hour each on 10 deals?

They are the same as estate agents - the more people they place, the more money they make. They aren't going to chase a company for long for an extra £2k, because that's probably only an extra £50 on their commission, whereas in the same time and for less effort, they could place someone else and make ten times that.

Depends what sort of job you are going for.

My agents make a percentage of what I earn, usually around 15%. So they negotiate a total fee with their client and then they either try to get me to accept as little of that as possible to offer me as much as possible to get me to take the role.

For perm roles though they can either get a fixed fee or a percentage of first year salary.

I always boost my salary to agents, but then they never get to see any of my tax forms.

Mr^B · 26 Apr 2008 at 20:58

As he was talking about salary I assume that he was using an employment agency to search for a permanent role. In which case the usual employment bonus is a percentage of the salary. Which means the agency are far more worried about numbers of people placed, rather than the salary of each one.

Either way, with a fixed fee, or a small percentage, it's the numbers they are interested in.

Mickey · 26 Apr 2008 at 23:24

Mr^B said:
As he was talking about salary I assume that he was using an employment agency to search for a permanent role. In which case the usual employment bonus is a percentage of the salary. Which means the agency are far more worried about numbers of people placed, rather than the salary of each one.

Either way, with a fixed fee, or a small percentage, it's the numbers they are interested in.

It all depends on the type of job and type of recruitment agency.

Someone I know owns an agency operating in a quite specialised field, the people working for him will spend weeks of effort spread out over a couple of months finding the right person for a specific role, as a result they will put a lot of effort into getting the best salary (and as a result, best comission) for each job.

A company I work with does a lot of work for recruitment agencies, in skilled professional jobs, it's quite normal for agents to have to spend a couple of weeks effort to place someone in a job, then the agent themselves will take around 10% of their starting salary, so again, they'll put some effort into getting a good salary.

Your experience must be of agencies working with low skilled candidates, being placed in low paying jobs, I've worked with one of the biggest agencies in the UK for these types of jobs and they certainly work that way.

Mick.