Reply to: positive spin

[nomadd]

Oh fvcc! Bvtterfingers!

[Ignis Fatuus]

Oh fvcc! Bvtterfingers!

[nomadd]

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to devceive.

[Andy Hallett]

The contract finished early, this happens all the time.

As many others have said, be upfront that the structure changed and now you are available.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Lying to cover it up is the worst thing you can do. A lie can be unravelled. Don't say anything and you haven't lied.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to devceive.

Make your life easier, don't lie.

Grovelling is for permies.

[Bluenose]

I don't see why. It is well documented on here not to provide a client as a reference and an agent is going to do no more than qualify the dates the contractor worked.

I was reffering to the post interview stage where the client want to offer you a contract, not the skull-duggery "i just need two references" bs.

I find that is usually down to the descretion of the client you are trying to get a gig at. Out of my last 5 contracts only this current one really needed a past reference.

If they request it, a good reference from your previous manager sometimes can improve your chances greatly against the competition.

Not having a reference from previous contract may not be a deal breaker in a majority of offers but it might be for that contract you really wanted.

Good luck anyway to the OP, it has/will happen to us all at some stage.

[Ignis Fatuus]

WCS

Some newbie agents get confused as some of my contracts are for odd durations i.e. 2 months, 11 months instead of 3 months or 12 months but I just point out to them that's how long the project lasted.

Sad, sad, that we have to work with people who don't understand that some contracts are not jobs. Like, if the contract is to beef up internal support and help clear the backlog of tickets, it will only last as long as the backlog of tickets. If the contract is for data migration, it will end when the data is migrated. Etc etc.

[SueEllen]

Since I started contracting I have never been asked why I left my last contract, why would they as everyone pretty much takes it that if you were at your last contract for 2 months then it was a 2 month contract, if you were there for 6 months it was a 6 month contract.

WCS

Some newbie agents get confused as some of my contracts are for odd durations i.e. 2 months, 11 months instead of 3 months or 12 months but I just point out to them that's how long the project lasted.

[curtis]

Since I started contracting I have never been asked why I left my last contract, why would they as everyone pretty much takes it that if you were at your last contract for 2 months then it was a 2 month contract, if you were there for 6 months it was a 6 month contract.

[nomadd]

Lying to cover it up is the worst thing you can do. A lie can be unravelled. Don't say anything and you haven't lied.

I only lie as much as agents lie to me.

A fair trade, I think.

[socialworker]

I am in a different sector from you but if it is any help so far (3 contracts_ I have never been asked why I left a previous job. Crap managers are so common these days that people will assume that is the real reason. When I left my permanent job of 15 years I was worried about explaining why (fell out with crap new manager). I decided if anyone asked I would tell them straight, because dressing it up was bound to sound false. It has worked for me so far. I dont go on about how awful it was, just say it didnt suit me any more so time to move. Whatever you say, make it something you mean, then you will sound convincing. Never been much good at bull**** myself.

[northernladuk]

Lying to cover it up is the worst thing you can do. A lie can be unravelled. Don't say anything and you haven't lied.

[nomadd]

How can I best present this to agencies and then to a new client.

"Well, I was on a three month contract... But they liked me so much they asked me to renew for another three months. So it ended up being six months in the end."

"After six months, the project was completed to the client's complete satisfaction. So we parted company very amicably."

"I still play golf with a few of the Directors."

"They have my details on file and say they'll be in touch if any other projects become available in the future."

"They say they always like to stick with people who have delivered for them and that they can trust."

But hey, the above is just me. Still, that kind of BS has kept me in contract work for the last 25 years...

[JoJoGabor]

It was a 12 month project, but as you were so good, you finished it early and under budget.

[psychocandy]

Surely one of the advantages of being a contractor is you dont have to get into this reference/why did you leave bollacks?

Contracts end for a variety of reasons. Clients have various ways of ending it. Some will make up some crap just to make themselves feel better sometimes. Sometimes they will imply its your fault - you cant win that argument. Doesnt matter one jot.