Interview Strategy for Contract Jobs

Contract job interviews can be quite unlike other interviews, they depend on the contract on offer and scope of a project. Contract jobs range from 6 month junior posts, high level consultant contracts, where a specialised professional is paid on an hourly or daily basis to do very specific tasks on a project.

Contract interviews where the successful candidate is paid on a pro-rata basis, i.e. a job like a staff member but simply as contract cover, tend to be more standard. As there is normally not as much time to be trained up, the interviewee will need to demonstrate experience of the responsibilities required and show an ability to be a fully functioning member of staff in a short period of time. In this way they can almost be trickier than standard interviews. Some roles for highly specialised contractors can be anything but, sometime it’s a quick telephone call with no meeting, and these are generally company and manager dependent.

Like all interviews, enthusiasm is also essential - be very conscious that if you can convey enthusiasm to the panel this will reflect on you very positively and in a market where there is usually little differences between candidates, this enthusiasm can make all the difference. Don't act enthusiastic, be enthusiastic - build yourself up mentally in the days running up to the interview, convincing yourself that this is your dream job. It will show subconsciously in the interview. Industry and company specific knowledge is also key, as in all interviews