Reply to: Signs of Being Renewed/Signs Not Being Renewed

[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.

[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.

[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.

[zonkkk]

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

[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.

[LondonManc]

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

[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


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

[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.

[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.

[BolshieBastard]

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!

[gables]

I've always started talking with the client when the contract enters it's last month. I start with a reminder that we're in the last month and take it from there. At this point I also update my CV and start looking for next role.

[WTFH]

It's normally fairly clear from the normal weekly project meetings how well something is going, but if you don't have a good relationship with the PM team or aren't in a position to get that kind of relationship, then the next thing is to compare what you've done so far on the project with the statement of work on your contract. Have you delivered everything that was expected in the contract? If no, but you've done an acceptable job, you'll probably get an extension to get the project done.
If you have done everything and the project is finished, then you might get a new contract with them if there is another project that they think you could do for them.

[dsc]

Talk to your client, must be easier than trying to guess budgets, plans etc. Also what's already been mentioned re special skills that no-one else has but which are crucial to project delivery (not a guarantee but increases chances of renewal).

[PCTNN]

From all of your in-depth experience of contracting over the years, what are the signs that you will be renewed? Likewise, what are the signs you will not be renewed?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks

As someone pointed out, look at the project plan. Even a very high level plan can give you an idea. Delays happen everywhere all the time so if you see that the project is going to be needing work from you sometimes after your contract's end date, then that's a good sign you'll be renewed.

Also, frequently the client does not have a specific skill in-house so they bring me in and alongside they recruit for permanent employees. If they manage to find people, that's a sign I won't be renewed.

As a rule of thumb, I make the client aware of my contract's end date 4-6 weeks in advance and I remind them about it again in 3 weeks if I haven't had any updates in the meantime.

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

I arrive in the morning and there isn't an Indian sat at my desk.

Funny cos that's how one of my gigs ended, shipped a bunch of Indians over for 2 weeks 'training' during which time they demonstrated they had no clue wtf they were doing and their skills were garbage (but they all had important nonsense titles like 'senior software architect').

Couple of weeks later, 'we will not be renewing contracts' across the team.

Indians fly back, work remotely from India. Good luck.