At Hewett Recruitment, we have specialise in temporary, permanent and contract recruitment solutions. Contracting offers exciting opportunities to work on various projects, expand your skills set and earn a great wage while doing so! Check out these 5 common misconceptions regarding contract employment.
5 myths regarding contract employment
1. Extensive experience is required.
It’s common for first time contractors to question their skills and ask “Am I good enough?” While experience may limit certain roles, it would have the same effect on permanent opportunities. Remember the demand for contractors is driven by the need for flexible labour, you don’t necessarily need to be a ‘guru’ in your field, as long as you’re transparent about your skill set. Contracting offers the opportunity to gain valuable experience working across multiple projects, enriching your skills and opening up future opportunities.
2. Your skills will become redundant
It’s a common concern that skills will become outdated when working as a contractor, due to the lack of workplace training available. Providing you work hard and keep updating your skills, this isn’t an issue to worry about. Permanent employees could also encounter problems regarding ‘redundant’ skills if they don’t actively invest time in self-training and skills progression. “Knowledge is power”- investment in your skills will pay off in the long run, securing higher rates. Take regular training sessions, attend seminars and invest in books. Just make sure you don’t get tempted to embellish your CV with skills you don’t actually have.
3. The income is not much higher than permanent work
Payment often comes down to negotiations, but nine times out of ten, fees earned by contractors exceed those of permanent employees. Professional and on-demand ‘knowledge based workers’ have a higher market value than permanent employees, regardless of the discipline. If you have a high sought after skill set, rates can be boosted further.
4. Contracting gets repetitive and boring
Contracting work varies from job to job, keeping things interesting. While permanent staff may accept less ‘exciting’ jobs as they may feel obliged and are unlikely to leave, contractors have the flexibility to choose their jobs. If you find a job particularly dull, simply don’t apply for the contract.
5. Contracting is a short-term solution
Some people opt to contract in between jobs, using it as a short term solution. As the contractor industry matures, long-term contracting solutions are becoming more commonplace, offering the flexibility of changing contract positions, projects and clients frequently, allowing individuals to build their repertoire of skills- something that would be much harder in a perm position.
How can Hewett help my contracting career?
Our dedicated contract team will support you throughout all stages of your assignment from on boarding to demobilisation, we will guide you through the process, negotiate on your behalf and be the first port of call for any issues that arise, leaving you to do what you do best, deliver your skills and experience to the job at hand.
