Signs of Being Renewed/Signs Not Being Renewed

[sal]

I have been working mainly on projects, in such cases it's obvious what the project schedule is and projects are usually costed and funded in advance.

Some times it's dicier, like my previous project, ClienCo was in cost savings mode and projects where funded month by month, despite working towards delivering £100'000s in savings, but the PM was on the ball and kept us in the loop.

In any case, if I haven't heard about extension at the point when my last month starts, I tend to ask around, starting with the person signing my time sheets. All while passively looking at the market.

If I don't hear anything back in a couple of days, I assume no news = bad news and start actively looking.

If I get verbal confirmation of extension, I still keep passively looking until I have it signed.

One of the sings that a project funding (ergo your extension) is in jeopardy is when the scope gets dramatically reduced mid-flight.

[ruasonid]

I always found the two strongest indicators for extension were:

When your permie colleagues ask you for a deposit for the Christmas party
OR
When the tottie in HR who you give your signed timesheets to, still smiles and has a little chat with you.

Conversely, when the team manager \ senior project people stop talking to you or avoid eye contact, then you know the game is up!

Yes, I can concur with this. ClientCo staff averting their eyes and postponing meetings is a clear signal that you are going.

[GhostofTarbera]

Yes, I can concur with this. ClientCo staff averting their eyes and postponing meetings is a clear signal that you are going.

At this point you put a frozen fish above a ceiling tile, you should get a few weeks before the smell is unbearable in the office


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[LondonManc]

That they’ve not asked you to start documenting what you’ve done.

[oliverson]

Sometimes the client will have a chat with you, sometimes they just tell the agent to extend and, like the comments above, it just turns up in your inbox. Other times I've gotten to the last day of the gig and received a renewal at 4.30pm.

For the most part, I've been told by the client they're not extending and I would always assume the gig ends on the contract end date unless I hear otherwise.

This ^^^^^

My short-term contract with previous client came to an end and at 16:30 on the final Friday, 225 miles away from home, this big guy and his second, came marching down the corridor and in my direction. They were in a bit of a pickle as the previous contractor had been fired for whatever reason and to say the were in a hole would be an almighty understatement. So, we agreed in about 30 mins that I'd join that team and we'd reboot the project. It was a hard but satisfying contract with lots of billable overtime but in the 15+ years I've been contracting I can honestly say it's the best project I've worked on. None of this SCRUM rubbish. No daily stand-ups. Just a decent spec. created by an expert in his field and a vision and passion for his product. A very worthwhile 2 years of my life. So, if anybody is out there looking for somebody to deliver on something similar, drop me a pm.

[zonkkk]

I just ask 4 weeks before renewal if they want to renew or not.
If they are not sure, I start looking.

[LondonManc]

I've had everything from a renewal offer 8 weeks in advance to having to check the hiring manager wants me in "tomorrow" to put that thing live despite me being out of contract. Instruction to agent to extend, cc'd to me, followed two minutes later!

Generally it's more critical if I'm working away as I need time to book accommodation/travel at better prices, so I ask with 3 or 4 weeks to go. I'm then on the market until the renewal arrives.

[ruasonid]

At this point you put a frozen fish above a ceiling tile, you should get a few weeks before the smell is unbearable in the office


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They might find it sooner. Averted eyes often seem to be looking up at a ceiling tile.

[PerfectStorm]

Remember that words, of clients and agents mean nothing. I don't count a renewal as 'in the bag' until I'm sat there on day one.

No matter how much of a cert it is, start looking a month before, and tell your agents you're available. There's nothing worse than finding out at the 11th hour that it's not happening, and losing a month of jobseeking.