Contracting is a great way to add more predictable cash flow to your recruiting business, especially now as companies that are finally hiring again turn to contract staffing rather than permanent hiring to meet their needs. But when seeking contract job orders, you may want to go about it a little differently than you would if you were trying to pick up perm orders.
For starters, you may not want to start with human resources. After working with recruiters for 18 years, FoxHire has learned that contract job openings more often come from hiring managers and department heads. These are the individuals with projects to complete and deadlines to meet. This is good news for you because, unlike HR, they are not looking for the perfect candidate who along with being a good worker must be a cultural fit for the organization. They are looking for someone who simply has the qualifications to get the job done, and they want that person to come on board quickly so they can get their projects done on deadline. For this reason, closing a contract job order is often much quicker than sealing a direct-hire deal.
You may also want to look at the size of the companies you are courting for contract job orders. If you typically only approach larger companies, you may want to rethink this. Our experience indicates that medium-size businesses tend to have more contract job openings. And, unlike large organizations, these smaller employers are less likely to dictate really tight profit margins.
Finally, you may want to step outside your niche to find more contract staffing business. We typically place a lot of contractors in healthcare, Information Technology (IT), and engineering contract positions. That’s not to say you can’t find contracting business in other niches, but if you are looking to broaden your horizons, these areas are definitely worth looking into.
