Reply to: Newbie

[jmo21]

One agent has actually told me clients won't touch me because I have no contractor experience!

What he actually means is that they, the agent, see you as a high risk applicant as your are exiting permie land.

They think you may get cold feet going for a contract and accept a permie role, thus being a waste of a spot on their list they sent to the client.

ANYTHING that makes you high risk will see you not submitted to the end client.

When there are a lot of people applying, they are happy to use anything to whittle the list down.

[Earthrunner]

I've been trying to get contract work since early October now and had a defined end date to my perm employment. This has now passed so I'm available immediately but still struggling to get responses from agencies regarding contracts I've applied for. I'm chasing them regularly and searching a lot of job sites to find contracts. I've dumbed down my CV to fit the roles I'm applying for since I have been an IT department head for some time and despite being very hands-on and technically skilled I'm aware a department head title might put clients off, hence referring to myself as an infrastructure technical lead at most. Each application has a tailored CV and covering letter.

One agent has actually told me clients won't touch me because I have no contractor experience! How does one get such experience if one cannot secure a contract? Every agent tells me my CV is really good, but never get me interviews! It is a real pain but I can only advise to persevere and keep applying/calling agents. Today I actually secured my first contract role interview, it's not an ideal location but the fact I've secured it is critical and positive.

Hang in there!

[VillageContractor]

I'm currently looking and have found converting calls from agents and being put forward for roles into interviews and offers difficult.

Definitely apply for all roles, early in the morning seems to work well, I've found telling agents I'm a contractor helps with regards notice and rate and I've also got in touch with a lot of recruiters on LinkedIn.

For the things I've been put forward for it seems to take time to see any traction. It feels as though the market is quiet, but considering I've never done this looking for contracts I wouldn't read too much into that

Good luck

[Avalonia]

A lot of pimps are illiterate

[kamran]

Thanks for your input and I will keep trying. For the criticism I admit the spelling and grammar is not to the highest standard but this is expected when using an Android phone 10:30 in the evening

[BolshieBastard]

Safari spell checker not me, honest! And your reply is wrong too!

Damn keyboard!

[steve80]

Drop me a message. I know of a few

[stek]

Well that knocks stek out then!

Safari spell checker not me, honest! And your reply is wrong too!

[kaiser78]

For OP - as and when you enter the world of contracting, you are in effect working for yourself. And so it is vitally important to project yourself in a professional manner in terms of behaviour, attitude, appearance and also being able to speak and write properly.

If your CV is as poorly presented as your original post then you are really restricting your options for moving into contracting, as in most cases the first thing an agent will get to know about you is when they first pick up your CV.

[TykeMerc]

Other comments to one side, your post suggests you've only sent a few role applications in. That's no basis to even hint at it being easy or hard for you to get a contract role.

Experienced contractors, with contractor oriented CV's (odds are yours is permy aligned) send off many CV's to get a hit due to loads of reasons:-

Roles are fake on job boards
Roles aren't confirmed and never hire anyone
Roles get pulled just before hiring
Roles are poorly defined and the CV's they get aren't suitable
They want to get people in on a visa so the role is advertised as a covering scam
Role is real, but has been put off for a while
The agent already has the max number to put forwards
Role is filled internally or by someone's mate

Those are just a few of the reasons it can look hard, in addition to the many others that you do actually have some control over.

[BolshieBastard]

It may be that they are looking for professionals with good grammar and spelling.

Well that knock stek out then!

[Batcher]

It may be that they are looking for professionals with good grammar and spelling.

[Eirikur]

As others have said you need to be available on short term, so if you're serious about contracting you will have to hand in notice and start applying about 4 weeks before you have fully served your notice. Also just lie to agents when they ask you when you're available, always say in two weeks (or less)

[stek]

Also someone new to contracted after being permit for a while isn't a good bet for the honest agent seeking someone he feels will see the role out. What would you do, forward the experienced trusted contractor or the noob who might bail after two weeks because he doesn't like it...?

[BolshieBastard]

Hello everyone, i am currently in a permi 3rd line technical lead role with over 10 years IT experience, i have broad experience of different technologies (vmware/blade/networking/windows/exchange/citrix/juniper/emc/3par). I wanted to test the contracting world so i applied for several 3rd line/infrastructure roles in various locations and i only received one response.

Why is it so difficult for permanent staff to grt into contracting? Also i am keen to here about other peoples experience, when the agency advertises 6 months contacts do they mean 6 months or can this b3 shorter?

Many thanks

Why is it so hard? Stupid agents and clients is the answer. Why is it so hard for permies to go contracting and contractors to go permie? Simply answer is agents \ clients are reluctant to take on something that doesnt fit their requirements even if the skills match.

When I started contracting (here he goes again!) I had two contract interviews. It didnt bother either client that I was permie and had a 4 week notice period. Didnt get the first one although client said they would short list me again for future roles while the second I got and the client waited the 4 weeks notice.

So, no doubt some want an immediate start which in reality tends to be 2 weeks while a few may still wait 3 or 4 weeks. Other than that, its a numbers game, apply for a lot and get more nibbles.