PJ Gardner bags a contract developer job! Read how he did it and his insights for you

Hello, Acton Networkers!

I am a front-end Web developer with a specialty in Web Accessibility. I
only attended one meeting of the Acton Networkers in Acton, but I have been
on the mailing list since last July.

I am happy to say that I just started as a Contract Web Developer at Nuance
Communications in Burlington on a 3-month project. I also had a 5-week
assignment for Beam Interactive in Boston in April, so I think things are
finally picking up.

What can I tell you that may be helpful to you in your job search? I have a
lot of hints about working with contract agencies, so if you want to know
more, read on. 

I am incorporated as an S corporation, and I am only interested in contract
assignments on a "corp-to-corp" basis. What I have to say may not apply to
you exactly, but I have been working on a contract basis most of my career,
so I have learned a lot over the years. 

This is the second recession that has affected me personally. Mostly what I
have learned is that when there are fewer jobs around, the important thing
is to keep doing your marketing and to keep doing everything you can to keep
yourself visible. Don't conclude that what you are doing is not the right
thing to do, and don't keep switching strategies looking for the one that
works.

Just because the market doesn't respond to your efforts is no reason to
conclude that you just aren't doing it right. What I have found is that
when the economy picks up, everything I have been doing to no avail suddenly
begins to pay off, and sometimes even seems like overkill. It's not you.
"It's the economy, stupid!" There is no market feedback when there is no
market.

What I have found to be most helpful for me is to use the agencies to find
work in large and medium-sized corporations (which is where I do most of my
work), since most companies that size will not usually hire you without
them. The trick for me has been to keep in touch with recruiters
constantly, even when the economy is down. Most agencies assign different
recruiters to contract versus "perm" work, so make sure you get in touch
with the colleague who handles the type of position you are looking for.

Some of my personal hints are these:

1. Put up a Monster resume and refresh it with changes every once in a
while. The recruiting companies pay for membership and do searches by
keyword. Pay attention to those keywords. Put that your preferred method
of contact as "by phone", if that works for you, because you create better
relationships with recruiters that way.

2. Keep your LinkedIn account up-to-date, and post a status from time to
time. Make sure people in your network know you are available and currently
looking for work. Mention your field or what you do in every message, even
if you only add it below your signature. P.S. I don't usually add
recruiters to my LinkedIn network until they place me or I get to know them
well.

3. Use memberships in groups like Acton Networkers to stay in touch with
fellow jobseekers. Although I have not found work through the group this
time around, I had several leads that could have paid off. Most of my best
friends today came from relationships I have made when I was out of work.

4. Use social networks like Twitter only if you have the time to do so and
people in your field are actively using it. (For example, I only use
Facebook for my family so I have some privacy, and I use Twitter for the Web
Accessibility field, since most of my colleagues use it actively.)

5. Volunteer with local professional organizations in your field. Go to
meetings and do something useful for each one.

6. Answer every email or phone call from a legitimate recruiter, even if
the job description doesn't match. Let them know why it doesn't match, and
what you do, and what you are looking for. (I make an exception for any
contract job that is outside my geographical area: I simply ignore those,
since I am not willing to relocate outside New England.)

7. Keep copies of your resume for each variation on your job title and have
them ready to go so you can provide them quickly when asked. I only have to
make slight tweaks from time to time. My resumes have gotten so honed that
all I have to do is to select which one, change the date in the footer, save
a copy with the date in the file name, and file it in a folder named for the
agency I sent it to. I save my job search emails in a Careers folder in
Outlook so I can look back at the history when I need to.

When you are looking for contract work, stay in touch with the local
agencies. After a while, you will establish relationships with the best
recruiting agencies in the area. You will discover who is good by how they
treat you and if they stay in touch. I must admit that I have rarely worked
through the same agency twice, but I have established long-standing
relationships and have stayed in touch with many recruiters for years now.
The first thing I do when I am looking again is let them all know I am
available.

Although it works better to only use only one or two agencies when you are
looking for a direct position, for contract assignments, the more the
merrier. Many agencies have exclusives with particular clients, so you
won't hear about all contract openings if you stick to only a few. Always
keep track of who tells you about an assignment first, and tell the second
recruiter you have already heard about the assignment. Never, never play
one agency against another.

The agency takes a cut, to be sure, but you are more likely to stay working
if you deal with the agencies on a regular basis when you do contract work.

Good luck in your job search.

Best Regards.
P.J.

............................................
P.J. Gardner
Information Designer
Web Accessibility Consultant

Gardner Information Design, Inc. (www.gidi.biz)
Boston-IA (www.boston-ia.org)

info@GIDI.biz
781-646-6849
Twitter: @pjgardner1