Anyone know of any good UX/UI contract agencies.
My wife is a UI designer with good knowledge of UX principles and would like to get on the books of an agency in London that can provide regular contract work.
Just wondering if anyone had advice or experiences to share on the contract topic.
Thanks
Marcus
Hi there, not sure if I can be helpful here. I’m a UI/UX designer based in the midlands. I don’t work contract I’m afraid so can’t be much help on that front but I have found LinkedIn to be the best for finding jobs. I was approached for my current position through LinkedIn and I know recruiters use this a lot. The only other advice I can give, is applying for as many jobs as possible (even not contract) through different jobsites so that you’re on as many books as possible. That way when a position does come up you’ll be there.
Thanks for the advice much appreciated.
She currently is using LinkedIn to search but often recruitment companies are quite mercenary these days and will happily send candidates on roles that are not suitable or a good match which results in many hours a week lost going to interviews that were not what was laid out in the recruiters initial job brief.
So looking for agencies that have a good reputation and really understand the difference between a UI designer, a front end developer or a user inferface designer can be a challenge to say the least.
I have experienced this issue first hand in the past myself and have been sent to many interviews where they expect you to create the final interface design of the product as a test. This is a pet hate especially in light of being a UX designer as it defeats the purpose of having a UX process. Recruitment really is a mine field these days 
Too true.
I’m not a London UX’er, but I do have experience working with recruiting companies over here in the States. I’m not sure if it’s helpful in your neck of the woods, but the best tactic I’ve found for keeping recruiters honest in their effort to get you into new work is to ask for their supervisor’s name and e-mail address, and to include the supervisor on all e-mail communications.
In some agencies, it won’t make a difference; hopefully those are ones you can avoid completely. In other agencies, however, keeping the recruiter accountable to their manager in their day-to-day conversations and pitches with you helps to temper some of the difficulties you might otherwise have with going on interviews to positions that are not good matches for your skills and talents. It may seem a bit childish to have to take this step, but in the end, if it helps you to get solid, consistent work, then everyone (agency included) is better off for it.
Good luck to you and your wife!
That sounds a like good idea and nothing lost in trying this approach.
Thanks for spending the time in replying, much appreciated.