Speaker 1: If you're in a job search and you're not having much luck, you might be starting to wonder if going down the contract route is the right decision for you. Well, stick around because in this video, we're gonna talk about the pros and the cons of contract versus full-time work. Hey, everybody, it's Brian from A Life After Layoff, and today I wanna talk to you about the concept of contracting versus full-time. Now, if you've been doing this for a long time, you're probably familiar with the term full-time. It's a term that's used by a lot of people to describe a person who's been in a job search for a long time. It's a term that's used by a lot of people to describe a person who's been in a job search for a long time. Now, if you've been doing any level of job search, you may notice that there are a lot of contract positions doing similar work to what you used to do. And for a lot of us, we avoid those type of jobs because we think they're lower quality. And let's face it, there's a stigma about working a contract position. On some level, it still feels like you don't have a full-time position and it's just temporary. Now, in a corporate recruiter with over 20 years of experience, interviewing and hiring thousands of people into some of the world's most well-known companies, I wanna share with you how recruiters look at contracting, and then also from a career coach perspective, how you should view the contract role versus the full-time job. If you find value in videos directly from a recruiter talking about how to get you through the hiring process and make you a more desirable candidate and employee, make sure you hit the subscribe button. And again, if you're in a long, drawn-out job search, probably have gotten to the point where maybe you're frustrated and you're looking at these contract positions that keep on popping up and you maybe avoided them over the last few months trying to really focus on that full-time position. But at what point in time do you wave the white flag and you say, okay, let's look at contract positions a little bit more seriously? Let's talk about the pros and the cons of each one. So the first major pro is going to be that contract positions are going to be more readily available. It's just kind of how the market is, especially in an uncertain market. And as I record this, we're in the middle of a pandemic and there's been a lot of economic uncertainty. And companies kind of, they still need the work to be done, but they're apprehensive about adding headcount, which can be kind of frustrating because at one point, contracts were always a thing, but I think they're more prevalent now. So on a good side, or I should say on a bad side, there's a lot more contracts available. On the good side, there's a lot more work available, at least if you're willing to look at a contract position. So that would be the first thing, is that you have a higher likelihood of being considered for a contract position just because there's more of them. And contracts are also a chance for you to demonstrate your skills. So if you've got an employer who is maybe apprehensive, maybe they look at you as being a little bit of a stretch, a contract position offers less risk for them and it gives you a chance to prove that you can actually do the position and do it well. Now, from an employer's perspective, this is a very real thought process. So I've actually been in conversations with hiring managers and TA teams, and they've really looked at that as a strategy of if we are struggling to fill a particular type of role, maybe it's just a really niche skillset, or we're gonna have to flex on some skills that somebody's just not gonna have everything, there's not a unicorn out there. They may look at contracting routes to take away some of the risk for the hiring manager because hiring managers tend to be pretty risk adverse because usually they have to live with the headcount. And so if they make a hiring decision that ends up being poor, hiring managers are really nervous about doing that because then now they're stuck with somebody that they've got to develop. You know, in a lot of cases, managers just wanna be able to plug and go and keep on moving. So there's a lot of apprehension. So you'll find that in particular positions in particular companies, that hiring managers will be even more particular about who they interview, and they'll just keep on saying no to every candidate that we submit. So if it's in that case, one of the strategies that we suggest is, well, would you consider a contract? That way they can come in, if you're kind of unsure about their skillset, maybe they can come in and prove themselves. And then if they work out and you actually end up contributing really well, then we can convert them over to full-time. Now, I'm not saying that every contract position is like this, and that every company making a decision to add a contract headcount is going to be with that mindset. In some cases, companies just have a temporary need for something. And once that position, or once that job is done, they're on to the next one. But in a lot of cases, those contract positions are a chance for you to kind of demonstrate your aptitude to take away some of the risk from the hiring manager. So if you walk into your contract position, I mean, that might be something to ask them, is there a likelihood that this could convert? And if the hiring manager says, yeah, there's actually a decent chance that it could convert, then you probably know that that's a situation where they have created a contract role to take away some of the risk so that the hiring manager can be a little bit less picky, so to speak. So something to keep in mind when you're looking at contract positions and when you're interviewing for them, it's a good question to ask. Now, another great thing about contracts is you can potentially pivot into a new industry or a new job type, or even gain a new skillset that you didn't have by working a contract position. So if you're looking at a lot of the jobs in your area and they are requiring a certain software skill, or maybe it's just a, here in Nashville, where I live, there are a lot of hospitals, I think retail hospitals, like the medical field. Those are the major industries here. There's some tech that's coming in as well, but in general, those are the dominating, I'd say those are the two dominating industries. So if you come in with a manufacturing background or maybe a finance background or something like that, where it's just not as relevant to, the industry is kind of a gap, you can actually look at a contract position as a chance to kind of pivot your resume so that you can get experience in that new field. And now you can say, hey, I've got experience in healthcare or whatever. So by working that contract position, you get your foot in the door in that regard. Same thing goes for skills that you might be gapping on. Definitely worth looking at contract positions if you think that you can fill the gaps. In fact, that's a very strategic way of getting some skills filled on your resume or some gaps filled on your resume. I talk a lot about that in my resume training course, of how to fill those gaps so that we can adequately or more effectively sell ourselves. Contracting is a great way to do that. So something to think about if you're interested in more information about the resume training, it's called Resume Rocket Fuel. I will leave a link below for that. Now, another great thing about contracts is it offers you a chance to continue your income while you're looking for a full-time position. As you apply and you get into a contracting position, a usual job search is gonna take you six to nine months, maybe longer. I mean, in this market, you're probably looking at even potentially up to a year, and most people, unemployment runs out, most people don't have that kind of money just sitting around that they can spend while they're waiting for their, from their savings account, waiting for a full-time job to come around. Contract position's a great way to bridge the gap. So if you take that contract position, it's essentially gonna buy you more time in order to still look for that perfect full-time job. So another great reason for contracting is that continuation of your income. And another thing is, is that just like a company can test drive you, you can actually test drive the company. So if you are going into a situation where you are temporary and hoping to convert, if you go in and you just absolutely hate the work environment, you hate the kind of work you're doing, you don't like the coworkers, or maybe you have a boss that you just can't stand, it's a good chance to just check it out, try it out, and then you can cut bait just as easily as the company kind of can cut bait with you. So another advantage for contracting is that sense of being able to dip your toe in the water. Now, if you're here because you got laid off, that layoff or that adverse employment decision can really impact your mentality. Your confidence can really kind of throw you on tilt. So as you're doing your healing from it, the contract position can help kind of boost your confidence again, get you back into the workforce, get you back into a routine, it can really kind of set you up, and it's a whole lot easier to find a job or look for a job when you've already got a steady income coming in. So that's another great reason to consider doing a contract position, especially if you're in a layoff situation and you're really looking for that next perfect opportunity for you. And in a lot of cases, but not always, contract positions can actually pay you more per hour. If you actually were to extrapolate your hourly rate over the course of a year, in a lot of cases you can find yourself making a significant amount more than you would if you worked a full-time position. Now, that comes with a lack of benefits and a lack of all of that other stuff, the security of a full-time position, but you can actually, I know some people that they make so much in their contract positions that they can essentially take a two or three month break each year and still be whole because they've made so much during the period of time where they're actually working. Now, it is a tough life to live when you've always gotta look for a new position after every few months, but if you do it correctly, some people make a good living doing it. So now that we've talked about some of the pros of being a contractor, let's look at the flip side. What are some of the negatives? And when you look at full-time positions versus the contract, why some people maybe wanna opt to just keep looking for that full-time position. The first thing is is if you get into a habit of taking too many contract positions, you're gonna start to look like you have a hopping resume. And that's one of the big issues that a career contractor has when they're looking at trying to apply for full-time positions. In fact, that's actually one of the things that my hiring managers repeatedly tell me is this person's only worked six months here, eight months here, nine months there, a year here. You know, and if they have a long resume of that, they very actively tell me this consistently. It doesn't even matter which corporation I'm recruiting for. It's almost a universal thing. If they don't have commitment to a long-term project to see it through and go through the step change and the process improvement, they're not gonna be successful in my group. I want somebody that has buy-in to that stuff and has buy-in to the projects that they're working in and can build those relationships. And the fact of the matter is is if you're a short-term contract employee, you're just not gonna have those long-term relationships that somebody that would be there full-time would be. And it's just a, it is what it is kind of a thing. So it is something to think about if you are starting to find yourself gravitating toward contract position after contract position. Now, for some of you in your career, maybe you're at the twilight of your career and that's the best option for you. Probably wouldn't worry about that as much. But if you're somebody that's relatively young in your career and you start getting into a kind of a hopping resume, if you start getting into a career contracting too early in your career, it could start to look like a hopping resume and you might have to fight that bias or that perception or misconception about your resume. And as I mentioned a few minutes ago, there is no benefits associated with contracts in most cases. Now, if you're working through an agency that has placed you, they may have benefits that they offer. Almost every case, a large corporation that you're working for is gonna have a better benefits package for their full-time employees and you're gonna be missing out if you're a contractor. And if you're on a contract, it can feel like you're in a sense of limbo as far as your life kind of being put on pause, especially if you're somebody that's worked full-time positions, you get laid off and then you take a contract position. It's really, there's not a sense of relief in that. You still have to be looking for positions. You still have to plan for what's next after the contract is over. Especially if you don't get converted. And if you've got plans to buy houses, have kids, all these major life events that you would really need to have that stable income coming in, it can be something to think about and something that could really weigh pretty heavily on you. And I think another thing to point out about contracting is that you kind of know in the back of your mind that the employer is not fully committed to you. There's no career opportunities that you're working toward maybe other than if you get converted. But in general, if you're walking into a contracting position and it's just a straight-up contracting position, there's no real sense of loyalty and commitment on the employer's part. And that can kind of weigh on you. And to take it a step further, there's a sense of you not belonging to the team. So in the back of your mind, you're thinking like, yeah, I'm temporary. They might be talking about things that are gonna happen in the future or forward thinking or next year we forecast this and there's some cool things we're gonna get involved with. And in the back of your mind, you're thinking, yeah, that's great, but I'm probably not gonna be here to see it. So there's that sense of not feeling part of a team. And again, if you've worked full-time, that's something that you maybe didn't think about. So as you go through the process of considering whether a contract position or a full-time position is right for you, I think you really need to weigh the pros and the cons. Now, for a lot of us, contracting actually makes a lot of sense. On the flip side, there are some negatives that you need to take into account as well. And it really just depends on your personal preference, what the state of the market is in your local area and honestly, how often your phone is ringing. So if you want your phone to ring more often, that's actually what I specialize in. I have a website called alifeafterlayoff.com. It is loaded with tips and tricks on how to get that recruiter to start noticing you, how to get your phone ringing and ultimately how to get through the interviewing process. And I have a free five-day job seeker bootcamp. Make sure you check it out. It is loaded with free insider information all directly from a recruiter. If you're in a job search that's particularly difficult, really think about that contract position. It could actually help you in the long run. Hey, I appreciate you stopping by. Make sure you give me a thumbs up on the way out and I will see you on the next one.