Are lots of short-term contracts a liability?

[Another Dodgy Agent]

The solution to that little conumdrum is to remove some of the less illustrious contracts from the middle of your CV, and move the start/end dates out to cover the gaps. Don't change your last contract though. Nobody but the most anal of clients are going to check.

Oh and any particular skillsets you gained in the contracts you have removed - just move them to an adjacent contract you left in.

If J K Rowling can make millions from writing fiction, why can't I?

But naturally contractors would not do this in reality as this would make them liars and effectively make then worse than the scummy agents in terms of professionalism and morality. In theory though it is one of many solutions.

[P1mpAndPr0ud]

It will have an impact without a doubt

In the contractors market if you have multiple 3 months or even 6 months it means you are tulipe - pure and simple - at least to the recruiter / company.

I couldn't disagree more with that. Recruiters AND clients expect to see short-term contracts on the CV of a contractor. It most certainly is not an indicator of the quality of your work.

If (as most of the contractors I deal with would attest to) you do a large amount of project work, it simply goes with the territory.

If you think it will help, make reference on your CV to gigs where you HAVE extended - how long for, number of extensions, etc.

If in doubt, sell yourself to the recruiter on the basis that you have made a lifestyle choice to only accept short-term contracts, but that you are open to negotiation over something more long-term. If you can get their buy-in, they'll do all the hard work with the client for you.

[TheFaQQer]

The one contract on my CV that causes the most questions is the one monther that I did. Once I explain to the agents why it was so short (I was brought in to fix some specific problems after their go-live, and then leave once I'd fixed them), there are no problems. If you can explain the different roles, then it should be OK.

[oracleslave]

It will have an impact without a doubt

In the contractors market if you have multiple 3 months or even 6 months it means you are tulipe - pure and simple - at least to the recruiter / company.

^^^^^
Complete bollux

[pmeswani]

It will have an impact without a doubt

In the contractors market if you have multiple 3 months or even 6 months it means you are tulipe - pure and simple - at least to the recruiter / company.

One could question that if a contractor has a number of contracts on their CV with loads of extensions, that they will be expecting extensions to be offered when none may be available. If you see short term contractors as an issue, you should also see long term contractors (extendable) as being in the same light.

However, in the world of contracting, it doesn't matter how long or short the contract is... it's more about what you can bring to the table.

[the_duderama]

Could you not show the contracting part of your CV as employment as a director of you own company, then list the periods you were working for your clients under that period? Show's you've ran your own succesfull company which i'm sure would impress!

[d000hg]

I'm pretty sure I'd get bored doing the same role for more than a year, unless it was very diverse in what was required. That's one of the main reasons, perhaps more so than money, I don't want to be a permie.

[eyetie]

I'm pretty sure I'd get bored doing the same role for more than a year, unless it was very diverse in what was required. That's one of the main reasons, perhaps more so than money, I don't want to be a permie.

WHS with bells on.

You could either vary the contract length slightly (so a 3 monther could become a 4 monther) which implies at least one extension and/or put some explanation ("Project suspended due to all permies on the team turning into green-eyed zombies. References available.").

[Fred Bloggs]

It has only been mentioned at my current gig. I have a lot of 3 to 6 month jobs by choice. The client commented about them but then I drew attention to the fact I'd had return visits to clients. In his words "that's the saving grace, you must be OK or they'd not have had you back."

[PM-Junkie]

It will have an impact without a doubt

In the contractors market if you have multiple 3 months or even 6 months it means you are tulipe - pure and simple - at least to the recruiter / company.

Utter tripe. My company is engaged to do a specific job for a specific time. When that job is done I/we usually move on to find another victim, I mean customer....unless there is another task that needs doing and it is in my company's interests to do it.

If you think that means people like me are are tulipe, then that says a lot more about you than it does me!