"I am looking for a permanent employment, not a contract position.."

I bet some of you heard this from your candidates. Here is a scenario: You have a great opportunity and know that this candidate is fully qualified but wouldn't work on a year-contract, not even contract-to-hire basis. What would you do/have you done to overcome this obstacle? Will you try to influence your candidate to change his/her mind or just keep them in a folder for "a perm placements only" ?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Babyak on September 10, 2008 at 1:41pm

I work on both contract and perm positions and find that the candidates are seperate in their views and needs. The main reasons for perm is long term stability and benefits especially when supporting and providing insurance for a family and if that is the case you are not going to convince them of contract or contract/temp to hire because of the lack of benefits.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nick Boag on September 10, 2008 at 1:55pm

Speak with the applicant directly and identify their reasons for resistance. Have they had a bad experience in the past, did the contract end suddenly etc? Once you understand their objections you will have a better chance of knowing whether this is actually a great fit for them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alex Putman on September 11, 2008 at 11:05am

We work on both and they are two different mind-sets. I would be curious how "perm" their perm jobs have been. A person with 3 jobs over a 15 year career would be different than a person with 3 jobs in 6 years. As stated below, identifying their motivations / needs is the best start. We offer our contractors benefits, so this seems to be helpful.

Good luck!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by pam claughton on September 11, 2008 at 11:37am

I'd stick them in the perm placement folder and focus on finding people who want contract. I agree that people tend to feel strongly one way or the other. Plus, the reality is that once you go from a perm job to a contract one, it's much more difficult to make the transition back to perm. I find that clients often will not consider candidates with contracting backgrounds.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tom Stewart on September 11, 2008 at 2:33pm

Many of the candidates in the market today who are looking for "perm" positions are doing so because their last perm position turned out to be not so...well, "perm". If your firm offers an attractive benefits package and the ability for them to contract with you as a W-2 hourly employee, then you have a good chance of turning these candidates around utilizing real statistics regarding the myth of perm employment. I have found that in 80% of those cases it is their narrow scope of experience in comparing the two that they fear, not contracting itself.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Irina G. on September 15, 2008 at 12:21pm

Thank you, everybody who replied to my post. I made a conclusion based on your replies and will use it in a future, working with people who want straight perm! This weekend I came across a video that actually shows advantages of temp to hire positions, especially for entry-level or college graduates. The ideas in that video are not new to us but it might be helpful sending this video to candidates who are hesitant about taking c2H jobs. Since this video was made by a third party, there are more chances that they would listen to the pieces of advice given in it rather than to your words.

Have a great week!

Best,
Irina G.