Why is it hard to find a contract job?

Apr 6th, 2014
Why is it hard to find a contract job?


Almost every Fortune 1000 company hires contractors, consultants or independent contractors- either to augment their current team with temporary resources (example- to design a new feature or test a new product before launch) or to get some expert advice for an immediate problem (example- advice on how to comply with a new law that is coming into effect, UX improvements to increase conversion of site visitors).  So you’d think they would be really keen to let job-seekers know when they need to find someone for a temporary job. However, it is the complete opposite if you are looking for a contract job. Try checking out any job board, blog or even the company’s site for information about any open contract jobs and you’ll come away empty-handed. Try digging for information on how to get these jobs and you'll spend days on the Internet or on the phone.


The reason for this is large companies never hire contractors directly. They hire contractors either through a staffing agency or through a consulting company. There are many reasons for this.
1.       Large companies don’t want to be involved in searching and screening contractors.
2.       Large companies don’t like it advertised that they are using contractors instead of full-time employees.
3.       Large companies also don’t allow their staffing agencies to advertise their name when advertising the positions
4.       Staffing agencies also like to ‘hold back’ the client name as leverage or sometimes to prevent competitors or even the candidate from taking advantage of this information.
 

So you are left with cryptic jobs postings on job boards like ‘leading client looking for a developer', or having to call friends of friends who work as contractors at these companies or keyword stuff your resume and post your resume on a job board and pray some recruiter that’s recruiting for a desirable company finds you and calls you. In 2014 it is sad that job-seekers are being asked to apply for jobs without even knowing who they will be working for.
 

OnContracting is helping solve this problem by revealing who the approved staffing agencies are for which Fortune 1000 company and connecting job seekers to the most appropriate recruiters directly. Start by seeing which Fortune 1000 companies are hiring skills like yours, check which agencies supply contractors to those companies and connect with the recruiters at those agencies. That is the most efficient way to find a contract job. Stop wasting time applying to jobs on job boards where you never hear back.


image credit: Flickr by Kay Kim

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