Originally Posted by JuliaW

Alberta is a very special case right now with employment rates - everybody in Eastern Canada seems to be going out there.

That's for sure!

Originally Posted by Rebecka

It may not be for everyone, but it doesn't hurt to talk to them and see what type of deal you could work out. You don't have to accept anything. If nothing else you'll get some experience in negotiating.

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Kate V. Kerans
Kerans Virtual Assistance

I'm curious. If a temp agency pays you $14/$15 an hour to the staff, what do you think they charge the client. We all know why hiring a VA is better, but I've never seen any articles about the costs. I loved when my potential client said, he is willing to pay more than a temp agency due to my vested interest. I'm just curious what those temp agencies charge. Any clue?

I looked into some temp agencies when I was replacing myself at my last job, it was pretty steep. I don't remember the exact amount, but if I hired somebody for $10.00 then the agency charged $15-18 but you had to keep them with the agency for a year. If you hired them on permanent then some of the agencies got a percentage of their gross income upon being hired, some of them were up to 40% of the first year's gross income.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

I used to work for a temp agency on the agency side. They went for a 25 to 30% margin. Depending on what employment expenses they had to pay, CPP, UI, 4% Vacation Pay, I'm not sure how much of that margin they kept. They didn't pay us a ton of money - it was salary, not commission.

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Julia

Hi

I did target temp agencies, but more to help their candidates not necessary to work for them. What I did was offer to help with writing of resumes, cover letters, etc. What I discovered is often these agencies had candidates that came in without a resume or one that was really not the best reflection of the candidate or applicant or perhaps it didn't have their very last job on it, so they could use my services. I did get a lot of work that way.

I believe I charged my regular rate, but gave them a slight discount because they referred so many people to me.

Thanks!

Diana Ennen

If working a temp job helps you to get your VA business revved up then I'm all for it. Get that money you need to survive and work on your business too. Then as you start to take on new clients, reduce the amount of temp work you do until you are 100% working for yourself.

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Kylie Short
Tilda Virtual Services - Making virtual personal