(This is the fifth in a series of blogs that debunks the perceived fears associated with contracting. It includes a quote from a direct-hire recruiter who has successfully added contract staffing to their business model.)
Fourth Fear—It’s too difficult to get contract job orders from clients.
Between 70% and 80% of all companies in the United States utilize contract workers in one fashion or another, and that percentage has been rising steadily for the past several years. The reasons that companies use contractors are almost endless—to complete projects, to meet deadlines, to see if the candidate will work out before committing to them on a full-time basis, to reduce employment costs, to maintain budget controls or headcount, etc.
In the majority of cases, recruiters don’t have to make a major investment in marketing their contract services. All they have to do is inform their current base of clients that they can provide contract candidates, and that’s usually enough to do the trick. Once hiring managers are aware of this fact, they’re much more likely to bring their contract needs to the same recruiter who has been successful in meeting their direct-hire needs.
“Whenever I submit a candidate to a client and that candidate is a potential contract employee, I always suggest offering a contract-to-hire option to the client. It helps get the client into a contract-to-hire thought pattern and keeps them thinking about the contract option.”
Joe Cali of Corporate Search, Inc.
