This post will not provide you with an answer – it is just an idea for an even better way how contractors, agents and clients could work together.

Extras Andy Millman and his agent

When you’re a freelance consultant, one main area of your one-man-enterprise is acquiring new business. Finding your next assignment can be difficult and time consuming. Especially if you’re still finishing off a job for your existing client you don’t want to be spending time on the web or phone to hunt for your next role. Help is offered by the hundreds of job agencies which can be found in almost any developed country these days.

In todays world of work, agencies play an important role, because they bring contract seekers and contract offerers together and ease the flow of information and money throughout the contract. Once the contract is finished, the client can go back to the agent(s) and the whole selection process starts again. If a client is not happy with the work the agent has done, they can simply go and use another recruiter.

Contractors on the other hand, do not necessarily have this option. In fact, in most cases the relationship that was built between recruiter and contractor ends when the contract is terminated. Of course, it might happen that your agent has another position he would like to put you forward for, but during the last 5 years this has never happened to me.

This is where I envy people in the arts, for example. No, not (mainly) because of the work they do (you should see me act!), but because artists have ONE agent that they’re dealing with – usually on a long term basis. This one agent handles all negotiations with potential clients. This is the point I am trying to make here – they build a relationship which actually works well for both of them (in a good case): The contractor gets an agent which gets to know him and his work better and better. Thereby, the agent can increase his ability to market the freelancer even better in the future. Why is this not possible in the “normal” labour market ?

Welcome to the real world of work! This is the world in which (for example) clients are undecided about project staff decisions, agents are trying to compete for client business amongst themselves and contractors are simply too worried about finding the next job and are therefore happy to vagabond from one agent to another.

If anyone has a better answer why consultants can not have long term agents, please let me know !