"We will never hire a contractor"
Aaron Ward
Talent & Recruitment Nerd 🌍 D&I Champion 🏆 Helping you hit your career goals 🎉
I've been in recruitment for just for over 2 years now and as a rule of thumb your first inquiry around a vacancy is sometimes whether or not it is contract or permanent and would they take either if the right candidate came along.
Since moving to a purely contract driven role I get a lot of clients coming back with " We will never hire a contractor".
There's nothing wrong with this but I've found a lot of this is down to a misunderstanding or mis communication of what a contractor does for your business.
Contractors should be:
- Trained and experienced professionals able to hit the ground running
- Able to provide a high level of ability or niche skill for your vacancy
- Communicative and able to share their views, working easily with you the client
- Trusted with your work and your expectations to work within the guidelines given
- Able to provide a professional and adequate hand over when they leave
The most popular reasons I hear are:
- They are too expensive
What's the cost to the business or your project if it's not delivered on time?
- We want someone to stay with the company
Of course it makes sense if there's long term growth, can you continue searching whilst a contractor picks up the slack?
- What if they leave my project half way through?
Let's be honest this risk is there whether Permanent or Contract, however if you have had some good market advice on rates, length of contract and ultimately good candidates that have been risked and referenced you shouldn't have any problems.
- Why should you start to consider a contractor from this year on wards?
It's no hidden secret that the UK just doesn't have enough talent in IT to keep up with our demand. I've seen crazy offers on the permanent side from clients in my patch from £10,000 to £23,000 counteroffers.
Welcome to 2015 and the market of IT, this is something your recruiter should be advising you on. A lot of recruiters boast their market specialism but I'm quite sure if you offered that one consultant a handful of Perm / Contract / IT / Project Manager / Business analyst etc... They would work every role for you. I don't mean to sound negative but who is the "specialist" working these roles? Is it that one consultant?
By no means am I suggesting that contract is always the solution, it's not a one size fit's all. However it does give you options and if you're looking at a project deadline or worse a direct impact to your business then maybe it's worth a look. It's not as scary as you may think...
If you would like to know more please contact me to discuss further.
Design Leadership and Hope Counselling.
8yWhether a permanent employee or a contractor, it is always about the quality and knowledge of the person being considered.
Business Analyst
8yWorking as a contractor allows you to take the emotion and (the majority) of office politics out of the equations as you are paid to deliver a piece of work in a certain period of time. This gives focus and motivation and above all your reputation as a contractor is on the line if you don't deliver, so why wouldn't you? Referrals from previous clients are a good way to get a view on whether or not that individual will 'fit' your team. A good contractor is not there to rock the boat but merely steer it in the right direction to get to the destination on time, as efficiently possible.
Senior Mobile Developer (Contract)
8yWell said Paul Johnson
Business Consultant at Gray-Cooper Coaching helping entrepreneurs turn their great ideas into great businesses
8yA lot of the objections that are given simply don't add up? Too expensive? Its clearly more expensive to take someone on your payroll, what with auto enrollment pensions, ENI, Holiday pay etc We want someone that will stay with the team? Most contractors are engaged to do a once in a blue moon gig. Once they've put the project to bed you won't need them anymore? What if they don't gel with the team? Hmmmm, they aren't there for the social life, its all about getting the job done and getting out with a happy client. What if they leave mid contract? A true Contractor is a business person in every sense, should they run off and abandon a project you can be sure that word would get out and suddenly they're as popular as a sneeze in a space suit (I re-wrote that last bit 3 times because I know many Linkedin users are easily offended).