Is a Contract Position Right for You?

People facing obstacles when getting hired at a target company may want to consider offering to work as a contractor during a trial period. Fortunately, contract roles span most industries, and opportunities are on the rise. To land a contract position with a company, research the companies you want to work for, determine the roles you want, optimize your resume and LinkedIn profile to match them, and network.?

By Brandi Fowler

Contract jobs can help you break into an industry or company, boost your income, and provide you with a flexible schedule.

They can also offer an opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills, and work within different departments, said Joan Smith , who is a certified career coach.

“The other advantage is everything in contracting is at will,” Smith said. “If it doesn't work out, the contractor wants to move on or the contracting company says, ‘Yes, I know that we hired you and we said that the contract was five years, but there've been some changes,’ it won’t hurt that contractor's resume.”

Unlike full-time employees, “Independent contractors may be compensated per hour, per project or can even be paid a flat fee after the work is completed,” according to the U.S. Chamber of?

Congress. Independent contractors are also not entitled to employee benefits and are responsible for paying their self-employment taxes.?

Working as a contractor has pros and cons, but now seems like an opportune time to search for freelance work if interested.

“In the past six months, the proportion of paid positions for contract work on LinkedIn grew 26% from the year-earlier period,” reports LinkedIn News . “Those for full-time employment, meanwhile, increased 6%. The contrast was more marked in the technology, information and media industry.”

Ariel Lopez , who is the founder and CEO of Knac and a career coach, said it’s best to approach a contract work search like any other job search.?

“It’s very similar in terms of the process of looking for a full-time position,” Lopez said. “You can continue to use LinkedIn and any of the other popular job boards. The only thing is that you need to specify that you are looking for a contract role. LinkedIn has filters where you can filter by contract positions.”

Brainstorm Before

Reflect on the contract work you want before diving into the contract work market. Research companies and roles you are interested in, and be specific.?

You can search by the industry for contract roles on job search sites and company website job boards for ideas, Smith said.?

Also, it helps to keep a job tracking sheet during your search, Lopez said, adding that Trello, Google Sheets, or Excel are helpful.?

“Organize your search as much as possible,” Lopez said. “Most people don't have a job search strategy when they start looking for jobs. They just apply for anything. But that does not equate to success. It could mean that you end up looking for a job six months out when you really wanted to find something within 30 days.?

“Start with some type of structure for what you want to track [like] the positions that you are interested in and the job titles of the roles.”

She also proposed tracking the links to positions you are interested in so you can easily return to job applications, and keeping a list of recruiters and hiring managers you speak to.?

Optimize Your Profile and Resume

You can attract more hiring managers and recruiters to your LinkedIn profile when it has the appropriate SEO keywords that match the roles you want.?

“I'm a big believer in optimizing your LinkedIn profile as often as you can in every way that you can,” Lopez said. “Make sure that you have the right title or headline on your LinkedIn profile.”

Focus on industry type and location to optimize it further, Lopez said. For example, if you are interested in tech, include tech and the role you want in your headline. Also, post where you want to work/the nearest major city.

Suggesting Contract Work

You can negotiate the details of a contract position, and that means suggesting it as a trial period of employment too.?

You should always ask if that’s what you want, but when you should ask depends on the situation, Smith said.?

“Some people say we’re in a looming recession,” Smith said. “So, a lot of companies are hiring contractors in lieu of full-time employees. [If you want to ask for contract work as a trial period of employment], that would be fine. Maybe [you] want some flexibility or to dip your toes into that particular area.?

“But I would ask. Depending on your relationship with the recruiter or the hiring manager, you can maybe ask on the top end or if the interview process is going well, you can ask somewhere in the interview process. Or if you want to wait until you get in there for a couple of months, then you can ask. It depends on how things go with the interview process and hiring process as to when that person feels comfortable in making that ask.”

(A version of this article first appeared on January 11, 2023, on the Get Ahead by LinkedIn News page . You can read the full article, which was written and reported by Brandi Fowler , by clicking here .)

We will soon be launching our annual #JobsOnTheRise list, featuring in-demand jobs that help point you toward sustainable careers. In conjunction with the list’s release, we will be doing a deep dive of the list on Thursday, January 19 at noon ET on the LinkedIn News page . I’ll be joined by my colleague Juliette Faraut to talk about the list. We’ll also be joined by 沃尔玛 Chief People Officer Donna Morris and MassMutual Chief Information Security Officer Ariel Saldin Weintraub to discuss some of the trends we’re seeing. RSVP for the show by clicking the image below or by clicking here .

• Let you skills guide your job search. (By Brandi Fowler ) Identifying your soft, hard, and transferable skills is just one step during a job search. Leading with those skills to find jobs can boost the process too. Be intentional about the job you want, incorporate your skills into your resume, LinkedIn profile, and cover letter, and mention your skills when you network. Click here to learn more .
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Taking on contract work can be the jump start you need to have an everlasting career. This LinkedIn Learning course highlights reasons why you should consider taking on contract work and how to leverage it in your career. Take the risk, you never know where it can lead you. You can watch the course below or by clicking here .??

(Additional editing by Ciarra Maraj )