Contract work is often highly misunderstood. We live in a culture that teaches us to strive towards full-time employment.As a result, we sometimes perceive contract work as being less valuable. The reality is that full-time positions may work very well for some people, but full-time work isn’t necessarily the right solution for everyone.
For some people, contract work is a much better option in terms of the practical benefits that it can provide. There are three benefits, in fact, that you may not realize come with contract employment. These benefits may help convince you that working a contract can have its serious advantages.
1. High-Demand
Contract work is in high-demand at the moment; companies have been turning in record numbers to contract agencies and contract employment to fill short-term and highly specialized jobs. While contract work is often depicted as less stable than full-time employment, those who work contracts actually experience a great deal of benefits as a result of the high-demand.
For one, contract placements are much more readily available than full-time placements. This means that your chances of landing a contract position are actually better than landing a full-time job. On the other hand, because there are more people in the market for full-time employment, there’s also a lot less competition for the contract work that is available. Instead of settling for a position that you’re not entirely interested in, contract gives you the ability to find something that you’re genuinely excited about doing over a specific period of time.
Many people aspire to have more control over the choices you make in regards to your career. On both fronts—availability of work and variety of position—those willing to take on contract work come out on top.
2. Flexibility
Unlike full-time employment, contract employment has a far greater degree of flexibility for the worker. Depending on the contract position, you have control over things like hours and duties. This is in part because when a company takes you on as a contract worker, they usually do so through the agency.
They’re not actually your employer, and any issues that you have with what you’ve been assigned or the hours you’ve been given can easily be taken up with your agency, which represents you. The Canadian government also makes certain stipulations when it comes to contract work. What’s permissible for full-time employees and what is permissible for contract employees is not necessarily the same.
For example, contract employees are able to sub-contract out work, whereas full-time employees are not. As a contract worker, you’re also allowed to contract out to different companies at the same time. Understanding your rights as a contract employee is very important. The biggest thing to understand is that you are not permanent staff, and that means that you have more flexibility than those who work full-time positions.
3. Full-Time Opportunities
As mentioned earlier, contract positions often seem much more inflexible than they actually are. For example, while you should always go into any contract job with the knowledge that there’s a fixed end-date, contract positions don’t always remain as contract positions.
Many companies end up hiring contract employees as full-time employees if they are impressed with the work. Because hiring is such an expensive process, there are real practical advantages for companies in bringing on contract workers who could potentially become full-time workers. During the time you work under contract, employers get a better sense of your abilities and work ethic. There are advantages for you, too. If you don’t like a certain company, you have no commitment to them come the end of your contract.
