Perhaps unsurprisingly, pay remains the single biggest individual consideration when temporary and interim professionals choose between assignments. Good people generally know their market value, whether they're providing transactional accounting support, qualified finance expertise, specialist audit or tax knowledge or senior interim leadership.

But the more interesting finding sits behind that 31%. You see, this means that 69% put something other than money first. Flexibility, interesting work, commute, security and the people involved collectively matter considerably more than rate alone.

For employers, that's useful intelligence. If your budget doesn't allow you to be the highest payer in the market, you're not necessarily out of the race. A sensible hybrid arrangement, interesting assignment, manageable commute and clear brief can all strengthen the proposition. You don't always have to outbid the competition if you can out-think them.