well, its like this, accountants (who are on the board of directors at most companies now) have a term that they use for trade skills, they call them "intangable Assets" which means that they are something of value that is otherwise not apparent in the same way that, say,having a pile of cash or a load of prime land would be easily recognised.... kind of like when you need a doctor on Holiday, then it turns out that a UK doctor that speaks English is on Holiday as well and he's next door to you....thats an intangable asset, you sat next to him at the bar for a week and just thought he was a salesman or a cleaner or something as he never let on.....
When an Agency sells your services, the more tickets and trade training/experience you have, the more they can charge the company, they will charge the company more and pay you a rubbish rate, did you know that if a jobs advertised at 12.50 an hour and you go for it, the First Aid certificate you gave to the Agency now makes you the designated first aider on site, which by LAW means you are supposed to get 1.50 extra per hour, and that your 2377 or 2391 usually merits an extra 2.00 per hour as an on site tester? the agency will give the company a load of patter about how you want more because you do testing and have First Aid Qualifications, oh and you have your cherry picker and IPAF, thats more too.......and they wont even crack a light in your direction, there you are working away and they are getting paid a supplimentry amount every hour for your "added value" skills, your intangable assets.....why do you think that they want all of your tickets in colour copy? it ups the Agency profits and makes you more "buyable" as a worker, like getting into the supermarket and seeing a buy one get one free sign, only its you on the shelf...next time you are told you need a first aid ticket to get on site, or a banksman certificate, ask the agency where your extra pennies are...
