A few months ago, I went to a let's-see-if-you're-presentable-to-my-clients interview with a recruiter for a contract. I wasn't working at the time, so it wasn't as costly as it would be now.<p>The rate quoted to me was absurdly low, so I asked what the bill rate to the client was. Middle-men I've worked with in the past have disclosed this to me (and the margins are lower than what one might expect), so I didn't think much of it. The recruiter told me that I was arrogant and asked me to leave. You can bet that I'll never refer anybody to his firm.<p>The irony was that the guy was an idiot. When asked if the quoted rate (to me) was W2 or 1099, he said, "Well, whatever you'd like" and was perplexed when I remarked that I would surely insist the he take on the payroll taxes if the nominal rate was the same. Very odd for a guy who claimed to have been in the business for years. It's too late for me to give this story much justice, but it was genuinely surreal.