Twenty years of flying blind
For more than two decades, I worked as an independent contractor. I was good at my work, I showed up on time, and I delivered. But there was one thing that nagged at me through every single engagement: I had no idea what the client was actually paying for me.
The agency would place me, collect its fee, and then largely disappear — resurfacing only when my contract was up for renewal or when they had another role to pitch. In the meantime, the spread between my rate and what the client paid remained a carefully guarded secret.
Then one day I found out. An agency was keeping 30 cents of every dollar the client paid. Nearly a third of my labor value — and in exchange for what? A few emails, one interview, and a handshake. I was never coached, never debriefed, never developed. The relationship ended the moment I was placed.
When job boards stopped being about jobs
The staffing opacity was bad enough. But as I started looking at my options for finding the next role myself, I ran into a different problem: the platforms built to help people find work had quietly turned into something else.
The dominant professional network used to be genuinely useful. Over time, it became a social network where the loudest voices were "thought leaders" posting motivational content while listing themselves as open to work. Scrolling through influencer videos and engagement-bait articles to find a legitimate job posting felt like searching for a needle in a haystack made of noise.
When I'm looking for work, I don't want a feed. I want a clear view of real opportunities, real compensation, and real terms — so I can make an informed decision without a recruiter acting as the sole gatekeeper of that information.
Why is hiring the one profession that hides its fee?
Think about every other industry built on connecting buyers and sellers. A real estate agent discloses their commission. A talent agent discloses their percentage. A financial advisor is legally required to disclose their fees.
Employment agencies are the rare exception. The spread is treated as proprietary — something the worker has no right to know, even though it comes directly out of the value they create. That asymmetry isn't just uncomfortable; it's a structural power imbalance that has persisted for decades because no one was motivated to change it.
bothsidez is the platform that changes it.