This is Why Contracting is a Great Idea

I’ve been an independent worker (contractor, consultant and freelancer) for several years, and I can tell you with certainty, contract work can be highly rewarding. Over the years, I’ve been given the opportunity to help more organizations and add value to their business by coming in on contract. It has been a great strategy during transition periods, and it has created better flexibility and balance in my work life.

Contract work grows in tough economic times when employers are uncertain about the economy. Labour market reports from the U.S., Japan and Canada, all show spikes in part-time and contract work after major recessions. Given these trends, we can most likely expect to see short-term employee contracts plus a growth in the demand for independent workers as we move into the future.

Whether we are graduating from post-secondary, are mid-career or are highly experienced individuals, during tough economic times, employers are tentative about making permanent promises. Job seekers must then adjust their expectations so we can connect with the expectations of employers and the opportunities they have.

Here are some of reasons why taking a contract is a great idea.

Get Our Foot in the Door

When I first graduated from university with a teaching degree, there was very little full-time permanent positions available for the hundreds of graduates. In order to get our foot in the door, we had to take a short-term contract. Typically, the contracts were anywhere from 4 months to one year. The benefit of contract work is that the company gets to test drive us and we get to test drive them. It’s kind of like dating and finding out whether or not you are a good fit for one another. If it’s a good match and the company needs more help down the road, contractors who are independent workers can be called back in on a regular basis so it’s possible to create a continued stream of income.

Build Experience and References

If we are a new graduate or we are entering a new occupation, new industry or even a new field within an industry, taking a short contract is an excellent way to share our talents, build some experience and get a reference to add to our resume. Job seekers are often very focused on the long game of getting a permanent, full-time position and I always have to remind them that the people in those positions are may have taken a short contract and landed that permanent role because they got experience with the organization, had a reference from inside the building or from within the industry.

Learn Different Processes and Systems

Contracting to different companies also gives us the opportunity to see how things are done differently from one company to the next. This can be highly advantageous in terms of really understanding the industry, how it functions, and how each company has a place within the economy of the industry. It starts to give us a bigger, broader picture which is extremely helpful in terms of giving us perspective on the challenges and the gaps in service. This makes for great opportunity in the future to help out by becoming a consultant, or to solve problems or fill in gaps by starting our own business.

Opportunity to Collaborate with Different People

This past year, I had three contracts and I LOVED all of them because the people were so great to work with. I really like working with others and if I can get a contract that allows me the opportunity to collaborate, it’s even better. What I especially liked about these contracts was that they were all very different and the way in which we worked together was very different in each contract. This builds collaboration skills in us that we may not otherwise use in one job with one organization. In addition, having the opportunity to work with people from other disciplines helps us grow and build rich knowledge transfer opportunities that we may not get in one job.

Opportunity to Build our Network

We have to KNOW someone to get a job. It doesn’t matter if we apply online or we have a warm lead for a job. In order to get work, we have to know someone, talk to someone and build a relationship either through meeting in a formal interview or in a networking situation. When we take a short-term contract, we have the opportunity to meet people. Contract work helps us build our network because we have the opportunity to use our talents, experience and skills to help a company, work with others and build relationships. We have the opportunity to get inside the building and add value to a business.

Provides a Broader Perspective of the Industry

Contracting to different companies also gives us the opportunity to see how things are done differently from one company to the next. Depending on our industry, we may be able to hold multiple contracts simultaneously. In other cases, it may not be possible to have multiple contracts with competing companies in the same industry. However, depending on our goals for taking a contract, it gives us the opportunity to understand how things are done. This can be highly advantageous in terms of really understanding the industry, how it functions, and how each company has a place within the economy of the industry. It starts to give us a bigger picture and a broader perspective on the challenges and the gaps in service. This makes for great opportunity in the future to become a consultant rather than an independent contractor, and it can also lead to some independent contractors taking the leap into becoming entrepreneurs and hiring people to help fill in gaps or solve problems in their industry.

Contract work can be more flexible

Flexibility has been highly important to me and my family over the last 10 years. I have found that contract work has created the work/life balance that many people dream about but have a hard time creating with a permanent, full-time position. In my design contracts, I have been able to work from home or a co-working space. With my facilitation contracts, I’ve been able to organize my facilitation days around challenging family schedules. As a result, we have rarely needed childcare which has not only saved us thousands of dollars over the years, but it has allowed me to do what I love - be present for my family. I’ve also been able to set my hours with some of my onsite workplace training contracts. This flexibility has been AMAZING, has created balance for us and has given me the opportunity to grow my career by continuing to help organizations but keep the balance that I’ve wanted.

These are 7 reasons why I have included contract work into my career strategy.

If you want to learn more about career management in a changing world of work, hop into Career Corner Toolkit on my home page. It’s FREE. Every month, we cover topics that will add long-term career management tips and strategy that help you build an agile and resilient career.

How to Create a Portfolio Career You Love

Maureen McCann has a pragmatic and fearless approach to her unique career. Currently living in Victoria, BC, Canada, she has a career consulting boutique business called Promotion Career Solutions, owns and operates a vacation rental property with her husband and is a landlord for a property she owns in Ottawa. Her wise management of money, and her understanding of real estate has helped Maureen design a work life that she enjoys.  “Learn what works for you and play to your strengths,” she says as we converse over the phone about her portfolio career.

In her 20’s, Maureen started to read financial books about money management and property. “I read on my 20 minute commute to work. What I was reading made me realize that managing money better could make a huge difference in people’s lives. I considered becoming a financial advisor but changed my mind. I didn’t want to be someone who sold mutual funds."  Maureen developed a motto “run the numbers” and it has helped her create her work life. “I genuinely love what I do and I want other people to love what they do. When people run the numbers, they find out what they really need to live on. Then, they can make career decisions based on their true financial situation."

At this point in our conversations, we veer off slightly and discuss wise money management and Maureen shares a tip. Drive a beat up car. "“With the income from our cottage, we could’ve bought new stuff like a new car, but we didn’t.  We made sacrifices and drove an old 1998 Chevy Celebrity and we put our rental income back down on the mortgage to pay it off faster.” Now, her vacation rental property has almost become a passive income. "I have created systems that help me manage the emails and bookings, and the people who rent from us clean it themselves and do a really good job.”

Wise money management skills are essential skills for everyone and portfolio careerists managing multiple income streams need to learn how to manage their money wisely but it is not a skill that everyone innately develops. Maureen believes we have to be taught and she has spent hours combing over books trying to understand how to manage her money well. "When people don’t understand money," she says, "They often live in fear. You have to run the numbers in order to address the fear of not having enough because running your numbers helps you to see what is and isn’t enough." We discuss how fear often paralyses people and prevents them from changing careers.  "It’s a cop out to say I can’t change careers because of financial security. People have this underlying fear of how much they think they need so they don’t change anything. They stagnate and don't make any changes out of a fear of not having enough.”

Money, fear and careers. Maureen has made a career consulting business out of understanding some of our deepest fears around money and our jobs. She has also made some tough career choices herself. Three years after she and her husband bought their cottage in 2001, she got laid off from her job and it was a lesson in change and transition. “I started to volunteer in the career development field and shortly after, got offered my first paid job as a career professional.” Simultaneously, she got pregnant which was also a lesson in having tough conversations with a new boss. “It was a very hard conversation to have with a new employer and now that I understand that piece about our careers, I can help my clients with their tough conversations. Somehow, I felt like I had dishonoured my employer's trust because they had just hired me. But, from my experience, your boss will totally understand."

In 2005, she had her first child and went back to work six months later.  Then, in 2007, she decided to go in a different direction with her career as a career professional. "I officially walked away to start my second business. I always knew I wanted to work for myself. I thought I would be able to help more people if I could go out and do it on my own." As well, because Maureen’s husband works for the military, she knew he would eventually get posted somewhere else so entrepreneurship hit all of the criteria she needed for her career.  “I created a business plan and I showed a guy that worked at the entrepreneurship centre. He said my business plan was all good, gave me the thumbs up and it was like, 'Away you go’.”

She broke the news to her husband with a power point presentation when he was on a home leave from Afghanistan.  “I sat him down and I was at slide number two which was to run a business and stay home to take care of our daughter.” He stopped me and told me to go ahead and do it.” Maureen adds, “We have to have these conversations with our spouses.  A lot of couples don’t have these conversations and they stay in their jobs and aren’t happy.” It is often hard for people to break out of the work they are doing even when they are unhappy. Maureen adds, ”I firmly believe we are raised to think that we have to have a steady income but I think we are doing a disservice to ourselves. People approach their careers out of fear, fear of not having, and they sign up for misery, and in some cases, it's becomes like jail time. I’ve decided I’m going to make my own jail time and privately fund my pension.”

For Maureen, a portfolio career that allows her to income stream from different directions helps her create a work life she loves. "If someone asks me to do something and its fun, I'll do it. But if it isn’t fun, I won’t do it. When I first started my business, I said yes to everything but now I have built my life so that it wraps around my family life. When we lived in Europe, I worked enough but I was also able to travel. I can adjust my work life to match what I want. If I invest, I want a good outcome."

I ask her what advice she would give to someone thinking about a portfolio career. " They need to ask themselves what do they really need to make?” Maureen continues.  “Then, work for yourself. You are handing out the keys of your destiny to an employer and you don’t have to do it.  But, if you choose to work for someone else, either way, you don't have to hand them the keys. Your employer is not responsible for your happiness. If you are unhappy, do something about it. The next step is scary. However, we have to first work for ourselves by being wise with our money."