Waited Two Months
Has this ever happened to anyone else, i.e. that you waited two months, or more, before starting a contract?
I went for an interview and passed it with flying colours.
I was told that it would start in two weeks time so I went away for a week.
It‘s seldom that a contractor can plan a week‘s holiday knowing he has a new contract to come back to.
No Contract
When I got back there was still no contract there and I called the agent.
He said that the client was waiting for final budget approval and we should be OK within the next few days.
This dragged on and on.
The agent even asked me to take a £50 a day rate cut to get it through which I reluctantly agreed to.
One never knows whether it is the client trying this one or the agent but I couldn‘t gamble with current market conditions and no other contract to go to.
Just yesterday the word came through – the client wasn‘t able to get budgetary approval.
As there was never any contact signed there was nothing I could do.
This is just to warn other contractors.
Dr McLaughlin‘s IT Surgery
A similar scenario happened to me except it was 3 months and it was in an even worse downturn – the one of 1992.
I even gave in to the rate cut.
However, I did get the contract in the end – at a rate well below what I used to get and not even covering what I was paying out on two mortgages as interest rates had gone up to 14%.
Contractor Downturn
Sadly, it‘s all too common in a downturn.
Managers shouldn‘t be interviewing people without Budget approval.
It may be a question to ask at interviews nowadays and that is ‘Has the job got budget approval’.
If they say it hasn‘t but they expect to get it – continue your job hunt.
Don‘t go off on holiday.
Budget Approval
There‘s not much more I can say or advise except to tell you to find out in future if a contract has budget approval or not.
If it hasn‘t yet, it may take longer than expected to come through and may never come through at all.
Be wary if a contract is not put in front of you within a day or so of getting the contract.
Agencies are usually desperate to close the deal and get your signature on that contract.
Sign the Contract
If they are hanging back, they are the dog that didn‘t bark in the night, and it is because something is up.
The fact that the agency weren‘t desperate for you to sign the contract before you went on holiday should have set alarm bells ringing.
I‘m sure that it will in the future.
The rule of thumb is that if agencies are acting in an unusual way it is because something is not as it seems.
This guy waited two months and then didn’t get the contract.
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