Permanent vs. Contract – What’s the difference?

If you are having trouble finding a permanent position and really are anxious about what to do next, consider contract employment.  The difference between contract and permanent is who is generating your paycheck.  While working in a contract position, you are an employee of the office or agency who submitted your resume to your place of employment.  At the end of the year you will receive a W2 form from the same office or agency.  Generally, contract workers are hired by huge corporations.  A lot of them hire contract employees  permanently after evaluating their work ethic and skills.  For clerical workers, assignments can last from 1 day to 1 year.  For technical positions, they will generally last from 3 months to 1-2 years.  Many people are hired permanently by the employer at the end of an assignment, so if that is your goal, put your best foot forward during your contract assignment.  Other times contract employees are dedicated to special projects that are only budgeted for a portion of the year.  But don’t let that stop you.  Every contract assignment is an opportunity to network with other people at all level in the organization. 

As I have mentioned before, try to establish a relationship with as many agencies as possible.  This is usually possible when they have job openings available that match your skill.  If not, then keep them in mind but keep looking for others that have current openings.  Sometimes agencies will contact you because they have seen your resume posted on a job board as a candidate actively seeking employment.  This is a great way to passively search for a job.  Once someone has contacted you about an actual opportunity, keep in touch with that individual.  They may offer an online job board that you can search for other opportunities.  This is like a golden ticket to the ‘hidden job market’.  I suggest searching those job boards every other day.  Most employers want contract employees to start the following week, so time is of the essence.  If a job is more than 2-3 days old, it could be considered ‘stale’, on the other hand it could mean they are looking for specialized skills and have been unable to find someone matching the qualifications.

 

Contract employment is also a good way to fill in a gap you may have developed since your last job.  Most employers prefer candidates who recently entered the job market.  They sometimes feel that the longer you’ve been out of a job, the less current your work skills will be.

Among other things, contract employment can make you realize how valuable you are as an employee, and also can give you ideas about what skills you should pursue to become even more valuable.  As I’ve said before, Java Developers are in high demand at the moment.  Pursuing classes in Java programming and computer science could offer you a whole new way of life!  Nurses and Accountants will always be in demand, as well.

Don’t be afraid of contract employment, and consider it a potential stepping stone to a new career.  

Functional vs. Chronological

One day, while reviewing resumes, I came across a couple of resumes written in the functional resume style.  The candidate seemed to have excellent experience, and generally qualified for the position, but I just couldn’t make out the details.  I put it aside and went on to the next resume.

I’ve heard lots of arguments both pro and con regarding functional resume styles, but the fact is that if a Recruiter has 10-30 seconds to get a general idea of the candidate’s experience and skills and whether they match the job opening you have available, the functional style won’t answer those questions, and can appear very confusing.  After reviewing functional resumes, I usually draw the conclusion that the candidate is trying to sell their skills as a match for the position, although they don’t have the experience. 

To illustrate my point, I have simulated a functional and chronological version of one (fictitious) candidate’s resume:

FUNCTIONAL version

Writing experience:

Writing, editing, and proofing a variety of articles including Financial Outlook, Human Interest, Arts and Entertainment, Weather and Political Commentary.  Prepare age-specific, literacy level and culturally appropriate materials.  Provided documentation support for Accounting and Manufacturing departments. Writing and editing consumer product manuals for financial information and manufacturing production.  Assist in the development of material for the organization’s Web site.  Edited and produced the Government Space Program manual, a procedural manual used to train astronauts and help the organization win grant proposal support.  Communicate with field personnel by email, text and phone. 

Work History:

Writer/Product Specialist - Feedforall Industries, Des Moines, IA      2009-2009
Technical Editor/PC, NASA – Houston, TX                                                2010-2010
Writer/Editor, The New York Times – New York, NY                               2011-2011

 

CHRONOLOGICAL version

Feedforall Industries – Des Moines, IA                    January 2011 to December 2011

Writer/Product Specialist
•             Provided documentation support for Accounting and Manufacturing departments.
•             Writing and editing consumer product manuals for financial information and manufacturing production.
•             Computer programs used in this position are Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel

NASA – Houston, TX                                                  January 2010 to December 2010

Technical Editor/PC
•             Editing and designing government bid proposals for the Proposal Development Department.
•             Edited and produced the Government Space Program manual, a procedural manual used to train astronauts and help the organization win grant proposal support.
•             Communicate with field personnel by email, text and phone.
•             Prepare age-specific, literacy level and culturally appropriate materials.
•             Computer programs used in this position were Microsoft outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel

The New York Times – New York, NY                      January 2009 to December 2009

Writer/Editor
•             Writing, editing, and proofing a variety of articles including Financial Outlook, Human Interest, Arts and Entertainment, Weather and Political Commentary
•             Created end user documentation for clients using article layout standards
•             Assist in the development of material for the organization’s Web site.
•             Computer programs used in this position were Internet Explorer, Microsoft PowerPoint, Lotus Notes, and Word Perfect


From looking at these examples, I prefer chronological, unless you can summarize your experience that you feel makes you qualified for the job opening in the first two sentences.  Two sentences of qualifying experience would definitely, as a Recruiter, pique my interest and encourage me to read further!

Who, What, When, Where?

I was reviewing resumes one day and I came across a resume that stumped me.  I read it over a number of times, but it just didn’t make sense to me.  Finally, I gave up and moved on.  Could your resume be a casualty of the ‘summary of duties’ resume layout?  This is the type of resume that lists a summary of projects you have worked on.  No company names, duration of employment, titles, and location.  Whenever I see this type of resume, it raises a number of red flags.  Each red flag says, ‘this person is trying to hide something’.

Is your resume a casualty of the misguided notion that employer’s don’t care where you worked, how long you were there, or what was your title?  This raises so many unanswered questions, employers have no option but to ‘pass’.   You might think that is wrong, but the last time I called someone to get some answers regarding this type of resume, the phone conversation was as confusing as the resume.  It didn’t help.  Providing this information is a way of getting a foot in the door and grabbing the recruiter’s attention.  Usually this format is employed to hide the fact that the individual worked less than a year at each previous job.  The only way to correct this problem; develop the ability to stay at a job long enough to show you have an interest in a stable career.  This is usually 2+ years.  Once you show some maturity in your career, employers will show more interest in your resume.

Full Disclosure

I was searching for a qualified Network Administrator one day and ran across a perfectly qualified candidate – who hadn’t been employed since 2007.  Here’s the dilemma:  employers do need to see the reason for a gap in employment of more than 30 days.  This is part of the review process.  Gaps leave a big question mark, and employment background checks are expensive.  The qualified candidate had updated his information in an online job board less than 6 months ago - a good thing, but the gap could cause that resume to be passed over in favor of a candidate with 'full disclosure' of activities during breaks in employment.  A potential employer will tend to think the worse, for example:  ‘Incarceration or Coma’.  Either of which should be explained, because the actual reason may not keep you from being hired, depending on the situation.  Obviously this person didn’t want the reason for the gap in employment to work against him or her.

Any gap in employment should be addressed.  You can simply say, ‘searching for employment opportunity’ or ‘cared for family member(s) at home’ (be sure to not include the parentheses, if you were caring for more than one child or incapacitated family member), if those were the actual reasons.  Other suggestions:  ‘deployed to Iraq’, ‘started a home business which I am now able to run part time at home in the evening’, ‘working part time while seeking full time employment’, a short description is all that is necessary.  The most important thing is to be absolutely honest.  Don’t say you were in the military if you were incarcerated.  These days, background checks reveal almost everything about you and the cleaner the background, the better your chances of being hired.  

It's always good to keep in mind that employment is never guaranteed.  The economy has an effect on whether a company can hire or must downsize to survive.   The smart move is to ensure nothing you do effects your ability to have a successful future!! 

Let's Get Started!

First impressions are important, and your first impression with a potential employer is your resume.  There are a few jobs that don’t require candidates to submit resumes, but if the one to which you are interested in applying does require one, there are three important things to consider before you create a resume, or when you edit your resume:

1).  Grammar – Most job openings that require you to interact with the public or other employees will require good verbal and written communication skills.  Your resume will represent your ability to communicate, therefore it is a good idea to edit it for grammatical errors.  There are some great  resources online to use.  Just go to Google and search on ‘grammar’.

2).  Spelling – Word processing software, such as MS Word and Word Perfect, have taken the guesswork out of spelling.  Most word processing software indicates a misspelled word with a red underline.  You can right click on the word and it will display the correctly spelled word.

3).  Format – The layout of your resume should be kept simple.  Many software packages have trouble with information organized into tables.  Always include the name of your former employers, job titles, dates of employment, and a description of your duties.  Leaving out any of these items can indicate to the potential employer that you are trying to hide something, and can give them a reason to send your resume to the ‘no’ folder.  The following format would work fine:

 

Name of former employer

Dates you were employed there

Job Title

Description of duties 

I would also suggest including a summary of your past experience, including an explanation of gaps in employment, with a general description or title of the position for which you would like to be considered.

Always make your resume and job information as easy to read as possible.  That will give a potential employer the impression you are able to communicate clearly.  That’s a good first impression!