I'm shocked to realize that I am apparently the only (or one of a select few) developers here that has an agent very similar to the ideal discussed.
He's a matchmaker that works at the C-level, placing interesting developers in qualified situations. In fact, the client isn't encouraged to pay their invoice for his one-off fee unless they are happy with me.
It's all relationship driven networking, no acronyms or resumes involved. And we both are very happy with how this works.
In closing, I assure you that having an agent is possible, you just have to have a personality to match your coding chops.
Not at all. I am the product, and I have to close the deal. I do that by being both a great coder and a great communicator.
It doesn't change the fact that it makes excellent sense for me to delegate the job of finding suitable clients that are looking for someone with my background.
I was contacted initially after he was referred by a former colleague to me. We had a great Skype meet and greet, became friends and he recommended me to his client. It was a great fit.
He's a matchmaker that works at the C-level, placing interesting developers in qualified situations. In fact, the client isn't encouraged to pay their invoice for his one-off fee unless they are happy with me.
It's all relationship driven networking, no acronyms or resumes involved. And we both are very happy with how this works.
In closing, I assure you that having an agent is possible, you just have to have a personality to match your coding chops.