This is Why Contracting is a Great Idea
Why is contract work a great career strategy? Job seekers often think they have to find a full-time, permanent position and they overlook the opportunities that come with short-term contracts. In this blog article, I share the value I see in short-term contracts. Whether they are employee contracts or independent contracts, I have found high value in my career doing contract work from the beginning of my career to mid-career while raising a family and now moving into the later stages of my career. Contract work has given me the opportunity to share my skills and knowledge and support companies as they grow.
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.
Do You Need Virtual Work Makeover? Here’s How to Make It Awesome
Do you need a virtual work makeover? From equipment to a stylish background, we want to create a polished and professional look for our virtual meetings with colleagues and clients. In this blog, you will learn about equipment set up, lighting and microphones (so much FUN). PLUS, you will learn how to set up a stylish background and finally how to look your best on camera without breaking the bank on a wardrobe.
Covid19 has accelerated the virtual world of work. Remote work is growing. Virtual meetings are a reality. Virtual interviews are common. As a career coach, I have been working virtually for several years and training my clients for virtual interviews and remote work.
What I’ve learned?
We want to look professional and “uniquely us” virtually.
We want to feel confident in virtual interviews or meetings with our boss, co-workers and clients.
We want to create a polished personal and company brand image.
Here are three steps to transform our “virtual scramble” into a purposeful, professional and polished virtual presence that we feel proud of.
STEPS #1 - CHOOSE YOUR EQUIPMENT
Choosing equipment can be a hard decision. There's so much on the market at varying degrees of price points. It can be daunting and overwhelming. I know because I've been there. We don't want to over purchase equipment and over spend. We want to have what we actually need.
Several years ago, one of my clients worked in a camera and video store, and he also had a background in video production. He helped me pick my equipment by asking me these 5 questions.
What is it you want to accomplish? What do you plan to do?
Where is your work space?
Will you be mobile?
What kind of equipment do you already have?
What's your budget? How much do you want to spend?
Evaluate your situation, your needs and be really honest with how much you want to spend. In addition, take stock of what you already have. You may have most of what you need and really just need to make some minor adjustments to create the perfect setup for your situation. You don't want to buy equipment if you don't have to. When it comes to choosing new equipment, you want to know that it will meet your needs before you make a purchase.
Here are the four pieces of equipment we need for virtual work: meetings, coaching, teaching, live streaming on social media or video production.
Your device
The camera
The lighting
The microphone
> Choose Your Device
In order to choose which device is best, we first have to decide what we will be doing and how we plan to work. Ask yourself these questions. It will help you determine what device to use.
Do you have a desktop computer, a laptop or a smart phone?
Will you be virtually coaching, training or teaching from your office, or conducting remote meetings?
Are you doing short video production?
Will you be working this way for a long length of time or is this a short and temporary situation?
Do you need to be mobile?
Can you effectively work from the space that you have in mind?
Are you going to live stream your coaching, teaching or training on social media?
What is your budget?
Before we go out and buy new equipment, we want to test drive the equipment we already have to see if it works for our needs. In addition, I always suggest conducting an information gathering session with people you know who are working virtually to see what others are using. I spend a lot of time talking to people and spending time on YouTube checking out equipment before I purchase. I’m really picky when it comes to purchasing equipment and I always have a budget in mind before I spend.
>Choose Your Lighting
Lighting is so important especially if you are going to virtually coach, virtually teach, do video production or live stream on a regular basis. Lighting options are vast and it really depends on your needs, but one thing is for certain, lighting is important. Here are some tips:
Use natural light as a foundation.
Use lamps from home.
Use professional lighting.
Lighting is so important. In my course, How to Create a Professional Virtual Work Setup - From drab to fabulous in 3 easy steps, I go over the ins and outs of equipment and show you what I own from lighting to microphone. I also provide you with video examples of me on video so you can get a feeling for how to manage lighting.
>Choose Your Microphone
If the built in microphone on your webcam or laptop is good, you won’t have to add another microphone. However, if I teach a group of clients off Zoom or Google Meet, I use either a wireless microphone system or a USB Microphone. Microphones come in all shapes and sizes as well as price points.
STEP #2 - CREATE A STYLISH BACKGROUND
When it comes to what is behind us, we really want to create an appealing background but not so STYLISH that it somehow distracts from what we're saying. We want to strike a balance between being generic and PROFESSIONAL while also having PERSONALITY.
A bookshelf behind us can be a really great backdrop for our virtual coaching sessions or virtual meetings. Research shows that plants ground a room and add a sense of peace and calm. A picture and paintings can add personality to a virtual work space.
STEP #3 - SET YOURSELF UP ON CAMERA
When they say the camera adds 10 pounds, we don't have to worry if we are sitting down! When it comes to virtual coaching, remote meetings or video tutorials, we can just focus on the chest up.
> What to Wear
Fashion on camera can be tricky. When it comes to coaching, teaching, meetings and video tutorials, we want to look professional so choosing what we are going to wear is important.
> Wearing Makeup
When it comes to makeup, some is better than no makeup at all on camera. I don't wear a lot of makeup on a day to day basis, but I do wear some basic makeup. When it comes to the camera, I typically dial it up a notch.
> Frame Yourself Out
Before you turn on the camera, you want to frame yourself out, make sure there aren't any weird things in your background and make sure your face, hair and clothing look okay on camera. I’m always amazed by how much the camera picks up the lint on a black sweater and the wrinkles in that shirt we didn’t press. The camera has eagle eyes.
The other thing we want to do is frame ourselves out on camera and make sure we aren’t too close or too far away. We want to make sure we are sitting at the right height and angle. The camera on our computer should be at eye level. You may have to prop yourself up to be at the right height, or you may have to prop up your laptop (use cereal boxes).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Practice. Set up your background, pick out some clothes, put on some makeup and practice. The only way to really know how your equipment will perform, what you and your background will look like on camera is to practice. The more you practice and adjust yourself, you will develop a professional and polished look.
