Does this describe you? If so, it seems that you may finally be reaping the benefits of your long-term patience and perseverance. While full-time positions are not as readily available as they were before the beginning of the global economic recession, the availability of temporary, contract, and project assignments has steadily increased in the past few months.
An increase in contract or project work, along with a lackluster number of available full-time positions, can lead unemployed professionals to ask a variety of questions. Why is there still a lack of full-time, salaried positions? Will these positions increase anytime soon? If companies are unwilling to hire full-time employees, why do they seem to be able to steadily hire contractors?
Of course, such questions lead to a two-word answer -- the economy. Until the recession begins to slow down and the economy further improves, most organizations will simply not have the funds to provide full-time, salaried positions to prospective employees, no matter how qualified they are.
Ideally, all unemployed workers should have opportunities to improve their skill sets and to display their talents within their desired industries. At the same time, all professionals truly deserve to earn wages according to their past work experiences and skills. However, full-time positions are so few and far between that many workers have focused on another career opportunity for the time being -- temporary, contract, or project employment.
In the meantime, contract employment can provide positive experiences to unemployed workers. Some of the benefits of contract positions include:
Freedom and flexibility -- Many contract workers are able to work according to their own pre-determined hours, providing them with a sense of freedom and flexibility that full-time employees may not enjoy. If contract employees happen to work more than 40 hours, they are paid overtime. This is not always the case with full-time employees.
Opportunity to discover new career options -- Through temporary or project assignments, individuals are able to attain a variety of positions within different industries. By obtaining work experiences in various fields, contractors are able to identify what type of career they would likely enjoy in the future, as well as which ones they would never like to experience again. It is important to realize that many contractors do indeed discover their dream jobs through contract engagements -- you can too!
Networking -- During contract employment, individuals meet and network with a large number of employees within a wide range of industries. By developing such a vast and varied list of contacts, you can learn about temporary and full-time positions that are currently available, outside of your usual career field, before the positions are posted on career websites. Networking can lead people to acquire unique, highly enriching careers that frequently change their lives.
By accepting contract assignments, you will not only receive regular, weekly paychecks, but you will also acquire meaningful work experiences that will possibly lead to a full-time position once the economy improves and the recession lightens. Often times, many contract workers are well-rewarded for their achievements, as well as the positive impacts they have on their organizations, as they are typically notified of full-time offers within their current organizations.
Looking ahead
If they are not offered full-time jobs, some contract workers may also learn about permanent positions that are available at a variety of other organizations, due to the relationships they have developed through networking. By maintaining a high level of positivism, as well as continuous persistence, you will not only thrive as a contract employee, but you may also succeed in a full-time setting once the economy improves.
Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions. Kelly offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct hire basis. Serving clients around the globe, Kelly provides employment to 480,000 employees annually. Revenue in 2009 was $4.3 billion. For more information, please visit www.kellyservices.com.
