Freelancers - How to shoot yourself in the foot

Well I was shocked to find out what the mark up was on personnel when I was asking the clients directly .

It reminds me of a UK estate agent called Bairstow Eves all they were interested in was a fast turn round and to all ways have a large data base of suitable Property's .But I think many agency's have lost the plot as all they seem to think about are rates plus they need a well stocked data base of personnel .

The first think agency's want to know is " Whats Your Rate "

How can someone give there rates without knowing job details :-

What are you hiring me as : Superintendent / Supervisor / Pilot.Tec

Location : Rates are not the same all over the world .

What vehicle : Work Class or Inspection

How Long : Few weeks a month or more

A agency does provide you with some security when getting paid when working for company's that have a bad history of late payments or no payments , However I see no reason to use a agency if its for a well known company .

Yes I know there is the odd screw up but if you have every thing in writing you can call on that for future reference .

Cheers

Raptor