How long?

[bluedrop]

How long do you usually take to find a contract? Just curious.

I have 4 weeks to go (to finish my present contract) and I am already very nervous... this was my first contract.

[pmeswani]

How long do you usually take to find a contract? Just curious.

I have 4 weeks to go (to finish my present contract) and I am already very nervous... this was my first contract.

It varies. Anything from 0 days to 12 months. Take your pick.

[v8gaz]

It also depends on whether you are actively looking. I'd start right away, if you haven't already.

You have also asked the client if there is anything else on the go?

[TheFaQQer]

Less than a day (contract found me before the existing one had finished) to seven months.

Normally, I take a break at the end of a contract, though and rarely intend to walk from one straight into another one.

[craig1]

As a general rule, if I intend to go contract to contract with little or no break then I start looking seriously with one month to go. When you're in a contract it magnifies your employability as most agents realise that if you have the nouse to get one contract then you'll have the nouse to get another. If you get out-of-contract then it can stretch a bit...

[norrahe]

With four weeks to go you should have the following on your check list if you are not getting a renewal:

update CV with current skill set and recent work
Load said CV onto Jobserve, cwjobs, techno jobs, jobsite, monster, planet recruit and any other website that may be suitable to your skill set
Send your updated CV to all the agents that you deal with so that they have an update to date CV and are aware of when you will be looking for work
update your linkedin profile with your recent gig (if you haven't done so already)
change your status on linkedin to reflect that your gig finishes in 4 weeks
get involved in groups on Linkedin that are pertinent to your niche industry (it ups your visibility and gets people interested in your profile)

Good luck

[curtis]

I normally update my CV in my 1st/2nd week of my new contract and then tweak it a bit if needed later, that way if I need to I can fire it back out immediately.

When you're in a contract it magnifies your employability as most agents realise that if you have the nouse to get one contract then you'll have the nouse to get another. If you get out-of-contract then it can stretch a bit...

This has not been the case for me, agencies seem to be more worried when I say I'm still in a contract as they think I may be renewed and therefore more of a risk as they may only be able to send so many CV's over and don't want to waste one on me who may stay where I am in the end. When I'm there not working or only have a few days left they seem much more interested.

How long it takes to find a contract..? well that depends its not one of those things that you can ever set a time to it depends on so many factors.

[Scrag Meister]

3 months for the 1st
0 bench for the second
2 months for the third.

So as was said earlier, it varies.

[jmo21]

This has not been the case for me, agencies seem to be more worried when I say I'm still in a contract as they think I may be renewed and therefore more of a risk as they may only be able to send so many CV's over and don't want to waste one on me who may stay where I am in the end. When I'm there not working or only have a few days left they seem much more interested.

Bit of both in my experience, you always do get the "any chance they'll extend you question" - to which the answer is always NO!

[Bod]

Bench Time

After seventeen years, it varies between a few minutes and a few months. I usually enforce a break upon myself, but discounting that I would say 1 - 4 weeks when times are good and 1 - 4 months when times are bad (my max is 6 months from 24 contracts, but this was exceptional - and it was a great Summer)