Hi Teammates! It is September 7th and I know some of you reading this are still at home and have become increasingly frustrated. Whether it is your agent’s fault or not remains to be seen, but of course, it is the agent’s job to find you a job. If you are still home at this point, I can understand where the brunt of your ire will be directed…your agent.
As I said in one of my previous blog posts, your agent cannot do magic, especially for those of you with weaker profiles or little to no experience. The good ones are trying their best behind the scenes, and even the bad ones will give their best because their motivation is usually linked to money. If they find you no job, they get no money. Simple right?
Some of you may be thinking about firing your agent right now. Here is my advice…pump your breaks on that for the moment. There are a few reasons why, and I will explain them now.
- You hired your agent for a reason…because you believed in them. Well, now let them do their job. Show them some faith in the face of your impatience. You will not know HALF of the things agents do on behalf of trying to get clients jobs. So give them room to breathe without texting and calling every other day.
- I talked with one of my agent friends and she helped me realize that the “Replacement Job Market” is possibly even more lucrative than the Main Market. The Replacement Job Market is the time such as now through January when teams fire players and sometimes players get injured. This I knew, but what I did not realize is that sometimes salaries can be more lucrative because the competition level for jobs is diminished. The number of players on the market is far less. She told me she has even told a client to wait specifically for that market and stay home because the salaries will be higher for some players…usually those with a strong profile.
When is the best time to change? It is a good idea to do it in between those two time periods while still giving your new agent time to get your portfolio ready and get your name out, so you are set when the new Main Market begins.
Somewhere between January and March is probably a good time. April may be too late. There are even some teams that can sign players very late because of injuries depending on the league rules and stipulations.
What are some things to consider if you decide to fire your agent?
- You better have a backup plan. Having another agent willing to sign you is a MUST! My mother would say, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” Do not make emotional decisions about your future. Honestly, sometimes, you have to be happy to have ANY agent rather than NO agent!
- Don’t forget to give 30 days’ notice to your old agent. If I were any of you, I would probably send that notice of termination early…like in January. That way, both of you know, by the end of January, the contract is finished, and you still have enough time for your new agent to market you during the current season. Maybe you get lucky and get picked up. If not, then the agent has plenty of time to get your name out there for the following season. It will also give your old agent enough time to take you off of their roster so that they can concentrate on the other players without a job. If you do not have another agent, you will have time to search for one.
And to end this blog post, the reason why the Job Replacement Market flies a little under the radar is that usually, players do not post on social media that they have just been fired and only sometimes if they are injured. Of course, those players need to be replaced…hopefully by one of you reading this without a job!