Contract work – the upsides and downsides

With the undeniable proof that there has been an influx in recruitment in Ireland in recent years, we have also seen an increase in contract work coupled with an interesting article in the Irish Examiner this morning.

We were thrilled to see our very own David Glavin, who is a Senior Recruitment Consultant based in our Cork office share his thoughts!

David sources candidates in contract recruitment as well as permanent employment. He sees contact roles as a double-edged sword. The upside is you can up-skill in a short space of time, add value to your CV and in most cases, you’re paid well to offset the additional risk.

The undeniable downside is if the contract wraps up early for reasons outside of your control you can be laid off sooner than you expected as seen with GlobeTech. David’s advice to junior candidates considering contracting would be to access the risk involved and ask the question ‘Am I being paid well in order to offset the risk of being let go early?’.

In other words, what would this job pay on a permanent basis and what are you being paid to do it on a weekly basis. Also, what will this do to your profile to boost your experience.” Senior contractors usually have an in-demand skill set. They will pick up another contract within a short space of time and will know what their market value is.

If you were affected by the Globetech situation. We would suggest reaching out to one of the multitudes of local agencies.  If you would like to contact us,  our executive branch ‘Euro Executive‘,  specialises in senior and executive-level placement solutions.