How to Get a Contract Job

Online job sites can alert you to contract work.

Contract work can be sweet. It involves you doing some work in your specialty for an organization without having to be an employee of the organization. It might involve working from home. It can involve one short-term or long-term project, or it can involve multiple projects. Depending on your specialty and how good and experienced you are, contract work can be quite lucrative. But contract work isn't easy to get. Follow these steps to increase your chances.

Things You'll Need

• There are two basic roads to obtaining contract work: using help wanted ads and prospecting.
• To find out who is looking for someone like you for contract work, check out online job sites for your specialty. You can be quite specific about the what, where and when of the kind of work you want. For example, at the Indeed job listing site, you can type in the search box "part time or temporary accountants in Cleveland," and you will get a surprising number of good leads.
• Prospecting might involve mailing, so you'll need the standard tools of business correspondence -- stationery and envelopes -- and a good source for compiling a list of organizations you want to mail to. Your local newspaper might sell a directory of companies in its circulation area. Some Chambers of Commerce publish and sell such directories, and your local library might have some helpful directories.

Instructions

1. Network whenever you can. Whether you're responding to a job posting or prospecting, networking is your best bet. If know someone who works for a company you want to do contract work for, ask that person to put in a strong recommendation for you. If you're responding to a posting, follow the application instructions in the posting, and then ask your contact to find out who will be choosing the applicant for the position and to talk to that person on your behalf. You can arm your contact with some specific reasons why you would be good for the position.

   If you're prospecting, you can ask your contact to hand deliver your written materials to the person doing the hiring and to give an oral plug for you.

2. Use the mail. When you're prospecting, it's almost impossible to get anywhere by cold-calling company personnel. Many personnel do not answer their phones. If someone does answer, all sorts of bad things can happen: you may end up being sent to the human resources department, or you might not get the name of the person you want to talk to.

   Email is not a good option, either. Your pitch can be ignored as span.

   So, take to the mails. Send your prospects a cover letter and a sell piece. Both should contain strong, brief sales points. You should list your credentials on the sell piece. You can also include brief testimonial quotes from people you've worked for. Make the sell piece look sharp. If you lack design ability, pay a good designer to make your piece look impressive.

   Don't fold your pieces into a Number 10 envelope; use 9 by 12 envelopes.

   If you can find out the name of the person you want to mail to, so much the better. If not, address your piece by title: Attn: Head of Accounting Department.

3. 

   When trying to get contract work, use the phone to follow up on a mailing.

   Follow up. You can follow up your mailing with a phone call. If you do reach the person who assigns the contract work you want, be brief: "I sent you some information on my accounting skills, and I'm calling in hopes of doing some contract work for you."

   If you are connected to the person's voice mail, leave a message that includes your phone number.

4. Use job hunting skills. If your prospect shows interest in hiring you for contract work, apply all of the principles of standard job hunting. One of the most important principles is knowing something about the company you are approaching. If the prospect asks you what you think of the company, you should be ready with a knowledgeable answer.

References

• Indeed