Just overheard two permies

[TheFaQQer]

If you can do 3-6 months, wtf can't you do 12?

1) You get bored and leave

2) The project comes to an end when you have delivered what you are meant to deliver.

[unixman]

Aren't renewals at the same client more significant than outright time.? If a client renewed you, it proves they were satisfied. I mention renewals on the old CV, eg 18 months (4 renewals).

[northernladuk]

Have they been stung by the mercenary types giving no notice and buggering off? My client has but I'm certain it hasn't affected the interview process like this.

[BlasterBates]

it's a buyers market so the can

[eek]

it's a buyers market so the can

Is it? That's not the case in my field....

[vwdan]

it's a buyers market so the can

Buyers market or not, it doesn't make it a good idea. Selecting contractors based on a completely arbitrary metric like that adds absolutely no value to the process. Taking it to a sort of logical conclusion - how many of the superstar freelancers in your industry (The people who are invited to talk at vendor conferences, the people who always appear in search results, the people whose scripts/utilities you may use) will hang around at a client indefinitely?

[rootsnall]

Aren't renewals at the same client more significant than outright time.? If a client renewed you, it proves they were satisfied. I mention renewals on the old CV, eg 18 months (4 renewals).

That's how I have got round lots of short contracts on my CV, I get the words such as 'returning', 'for the 3rd time', etc in as quick as possible. Pretty sure it does put some clients off ( and a killer if you ever contemplate Perm ).

[SpontaneousOrder]

Buyers market or not, it doesn't make it a good idea. Selecting contractors based on a completely arbitrary metric like that adds absolutely no value to the process. Taking it to a sort of logical conclusion - how many of the superstar freelancers in your industry (The people who are invited to talk at vendor conferences, the people who always appear in search results, the people whose scripts/utilities you may use) will hang around at a client indefinitely?

My current client are very suspicious of lots of shot contracts like this, and I agree with you that it's not a good measure.

My current client also doesn't really indertsnad the difference between a contractor & permie. They don't undertsand why someone wouldn't want to stay indefinitely.

With that being said - you do get contractors that manage to survuce because they just keep moving on after doing a tulip job. How do you filter these out?

[vwdan]

My current client are very suspicious of lots of shot contracts like this, and I agree with you that it's not a good measure.

My current client also doesn't really indertsnad the difference between a contractor & permie. They don't undertsand why someone wouldn't want to stay indefinitely.

With that being said - you do get contractors that manage to survuce because they just keep moving on after doing a tulip job. How do you filter these out?

Million dollar question, I guess. For exactly this reason, when I turned my CV into a project-focussed one I wound up having to squeeze in:

[End Client] ([Systems Integrator] via [Small Consultancy])

Because if I left out the "Via" bit, it looks like I'm never asked back and if I miss out the Systems Integrator I have to leave off big names in the industry.

I also wound up simply leaving off some of the smaller projects, or the ones I managed to interleave together. I tried explaining I'd been working on two projects at once to an agent and he thought I meant doing one on the weekend and couldn't really grasp that sometimes you don't need to be on-site for 40 hours a week.

[NotAllThere]

I got my first contract because the hiring manager assumed that the two permie jobs I'd had just before, which lasted less than a year each, must have been contracts, so I must be a seasoned contractor.