Working with a genuine agent: a way for trainers to earn more and companies to pay less

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YorickJenkins	Working with a genuine agent: a way for trainers to earn more and companies to pay less	Lead	[-]
Posts: 129 (Tue, Dec 30, 2008 11:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : agent, commission, pay There were several attempts this year to gather information about different language providers and there have been complaints for as long as there have been language trainers about poor rates and exploitative schools etc. Strangely it seems to me, there has been little talk about trainers working on commission. The difference as I see it, between working on commission and working for an Auftraggeber, is that in the former case, the trainer is really his/her own boss, even down to deciding how much to charge the end customer. If a school/individual whoever has found the work for the trainer then the trainer pays an agreed commission as a percentage of the monthly invoice. This has the following advantages: 1) The commission which the trainer pays still leaves the trainer better off than the traditional method of being paid by a school or Auftraggeber 2) The end customer will be paying less, because the traienr can afford to earn more than he/she gets from a school and charge less than a school charges 3) The end customer has some security-a dud or disappointing trainer will lead to the end customer complaining to the person getting the commission, and that person may be able to supply someone else, thus providing the security against disappointing trainers which is otherwise the only advantage for a company that a school offers compared to an individual trainer I am doing this successfully in two cases and see no reason why more people are not doing it. I should be very happy to help anyone in the Cologne-Bonn_Dusseldorf area find a job on this basis, anyone who is good that is! The person getting the commission has his/her own reputation at stake, in the same way that a school has. I should also be very interested in hearing from anyone who has given or been given work on this basis and how it has worked out. I have been charging 35-38 (38 when it is 2 hours and 35 when there is a back to back) euros an hour and paying 10% commission on it. That earns me more than I get from an average Auftraggeber (happy trainer) that ensures the person who made the contact for me has a regular income of 3,50 for every hour I teach with minimum effort on their part (very happy business partner) and the company is paying a good deal less than usual for its in house language training (happy HR department). I should also be very interested in hearing from anyone who 1) has given or been given work on this basis and how it has worked out for them. 2) would be interested in working with me in the Cologne-Bonn Dusseldorf area on this basis-in which case please contact me via anjaschulzeboving@yahoo.de I wish a prosperous 2009 to all worthy trainers! Yorick
donnieA		#1	[-]
Posts: 3 (Mon, Feb 2, 2009 19:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Yorick, How is your system of commission based contracting going? Are you still in search of qualified trainers? I am planning on moving to Germany in the coming months and am interested in this type of a set-up. Looking forward to hearing from you, Donnie
YorickJenkins	Working on commisson	#2	[-]
Posts: 130 (Tue, Jun 30, 2009 19:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Donnie In answer to your question: I am training regularly at one company, two Einzelunterricht a week. The "agent" who found me this company gets 10% of my invoice sum. I put him in BCC with every invoice which I send. He is happy (as the months go by, the 40 euros or whatever which he receives for doing nothing any more must be looking more and more agreeable to him! If he gets about 20 deals like that he's in clover 1000 euros a month for almost no work whatsoever.) but I am happy too since of course I calculated the cost of commission into the fee I charge the end customer. I suspect that this system is more usual with translation commissions; when I do translation it is most likely that. In the case of translation work, the agent has an important extra function, namely he/she carries the legal responsibility of the translation, a significant relief to any translator. When I do translations, it is mostly through a commission agent. This is the professional way of going about things instead of "working for" "language schools" which are not much more than glorified permanent agents in any case, whatever they may chose to call themselves. Language schools generally take a MUCH bigger commission than 10%. The one I mentioned is so far the only one arrangement I have as a language trainer (as opposed to translator) but I am keen to get more. Donnie, let us know how you are getting on and whether you have succeeded in setting up this kind of agreement.
YorickJenkins	Working on commisson	#3	[-]
Posts: 130 (Tue, Jun 30, 2009 19:28) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Donnie In answer to your question: I am training regularly at one company, two Einzelunterricht a week. The "agent" who found me this company gets 10% of my invoice sum. I put him in BCC with every invoice which I send. He is happy (as the months go by, the 40 euros or whatever which he receives for doing nothing any more must be looking more and more agreeable to him! If he gets about 20 deals like that he's in clover 1000 euros a month for almost no work whatsoever.) but I am happy too since of course I calculated the cost of commission into the fee I charge the end customer. I suspect that this system is more usual with translation commissions; when I do translation it is most likely that. In the case of translation work, the agent has an important extra function, namely he/she carries the legal responsibility of the translation, a significant relief to any translator. When I do translations, it is mostly through a commission agent. This is the professional way of going about things instead of "working for" "language schools" which are not much more than glorified permanent agents in any case, whatever they may chose to call themselves. Language schools generally take a MUCH bigger commission than 10%. The one I mentioned is so far the only one arrangement I have as a language trainer (as opposed to translator) but I am keen to get more. Donnie, let us know how you are getting on and whether you have succeeded in setting up this kind of agreement.
gertski	Hows this done?	#4	[-]
Posts: 2 (Wed, Sep 30, 2009 07:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi there i'm an english instructor here in Berlin for 10 years now and I have been wanting to work directly with companies independantly no middle guy can you get back to me thanks!!