Contract-to-Hire for Career and Coins

This job market, y'all.

Referrals are no longer the secret key to the kingdom they once were.

ATS and overburdened recruiters are rejecting candidates en masse because there are just too many applicants or the hiring managers seek a unicorn that shoots glitter out both ends.

Team managers who have gone through zero interview training demand unpaid, performative projects and tasks before they'll even consider speaking to a qualified candidate.

If you're reading this and you're still out of work because of these contributing factors, and perhaps more (feel free to add more below), you're probably wondering — deep breath here:

"HOW IN THE WORLD DO I GET SOMEONE - ANYONE - TO REALIZE I'M WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR?"

I hear you, my brother and sister and other in career.

What I'm about to say isn't going to cure all of the above ills. But a notion has been percolating in my brain for months and I'm even seeing it play out, anecdotally, in my own experience.

If you're open to it, minimize the tab where you're ChatGPTing your next custom cover letter or reviewing the 974th applicant for one of your job reqs, and consider this:

Contract-to-Hire might be the new path to permanent employment

Before my beloved job seekers cry foul and start howling, which is totally understandable because those reactions to this job market are completely appropriate, hear me out a bit.

Let's look at what contract-to-hire can mean to someone who faces week after week — scratch that — month after month of no inbound income and plenty of inbound bills.

1. Contract-to-hire brings in the currency. The posts we're all seeing (or even posting ourselves) to the feeds about how real people are facing homelessness, bankruptcy, interruption in vital health benefits, and a myriad of other challenges resulting from not having income, are heartbreaking. While there is the option of unemployment benefits — at least, for those who weren't a victim of fraud during COVID and now can't access those because your state labor department can't get their crap together to sort you out and start paying you (yet another personal anecdote) — which might preclude you from starting contract work, you may want to consider contracting as a way to exert more control over your potential income, your schedule, and ultimately your professional destiny.
2. Contract-to-hire proves skill. Fie upon the trend where employers require an unpaid project by candidates which in no way guarantee forward momentum toward ultimate I-got-hired nirvana! This practice is such an abuse and a gross power play by hiring managers to demand unpaid labor while everyone on the company's side are getting paid for every moment they spend on the interview process, yet a desperate job seeker will acquiesce to participate so they can give themselves every chance to land that role. Compare that to contract work, where you can quickly jump into the very work your resume promises you are capable of and bill for your time. The company gets to see your value to the business while you realize the value of getting paid for your work once again.
3. Contract-to-hire is an easier path. OK, mixed bag here, because I in no way want to insinuate that working as a contractor is easier on a person than being a permanent employee. The former has to create your own invoices, provide your hardware and software to perform work, establish your own health benefits (if you're a United States citizen, anyway), and be your own company. The latter can rely on the company to take care of all of those aspects for you, from paycheck to insurance cards. However, I submit that becoming a contractor for a company is far easier than enduring a five-six-seven-eight-step interview gauntlet: you're likely working with one or two people at most to get started as a contractor (especially if the contract work comes by way of a referral); you can start working and invoicing immediately; you have more control over the business relationship between provider and payor.

Rachel, you've way over-simplified this take.

Maybe. Probably.

There are all kinds of caveats and considerations that make contract-to-hire a tougher prospect for someone than seeking permanent employment. And I'll fully acknowledge that a 16-year career in marketing, and all the connections and network potential I've built in that time, has absolutely made it possible for me to see contracting as far more attractive than constantly hoping random recruiters and hiring managers give a damn about a piece of paper that promises I can deliver what they need.

Employers are still demanding 5+ rounds of interviews.

Applicants are still required to perform hours of free work with no promise of a payoff.

Job posts are still receiving over 500 applicants within two hours of when they go up.

Companies still need to get shit done. Job seekers still want to do shit and get paid for it.

We still need to consider that contract-to-hire might be the trend that's on track to become the new way of landing permanent employment.