By Mike Gardner
It’s 6 p.m. and now you get to work on your second job: Hiring the additional team member you need to get the workload under control. You sift through a pile of resumes, but you can’t seem to find the right candidate - too experienced, too little experience, not the right experience.
The clock ticks on and it's now 7 p.m. The reality: Tomorrow’s challenge is another day with an empty seat on a bus that seems to be traveling faster than it did the day before. Work is piling up and the process of finding someone to fill the seat seems to be taking forever. Consider bringing in someone to bridge the gap between getting the work done and getting the seat filled.
Somewhere else, it’s the same day, same time, different place. It’s 6 p.m. and you have been looking for a job for three months. You have had your share of luck with getting interviews, calls returned, and maybe even second interviews. You have a great resume, terrific experience and you are fun to work with. You are a Type-A, get-it-done, self starter and this business of sitting in front of a laptop all day, job searching, is starting to eat at your self confidence (not to mention your wallet—given the lack of a paycheck and its impact on your financial situation). You have made a name for yourself in your career and you also know you are going to land someplace great when the time is right. In the meantime, you might consider a short- term contracting opportunity. Would you marry someone you spoke to once on the phone and met twice in person? Probably not. Being a contractor gives you the ability to really get to know the company and its culture well before you - or the hiring manager - make a commitment.
While the economy continues to rebound, the pressure of meeting goals and performing well is at an all-time high. Companies are starting to invest in marketing programs once again, and managers feel the stress of having to get new programs launched without having the full resources in place to do it. The challenge of meeting increased revenue objectives while expenses remain flat keeps managers awake at night. If this is the picture of your life - perhaps shifting the budget around to carve out some dollars and gain staffing help is a good way to get back to bed and get the work done.
Still, even with a budget in place to support the solution, there remains the challenge of finding the right talent—quickly. Hiring managers; Try taking a second look at that pile of resumes sitting in front of you. That really expensive, highly experienced candidate that you initially passed over might actually consider a short-term opportunity and could be your solution. Ask them. Or, you might consider taking another direct route - talking to a recruiter you trust, who can contact candidates that fit your needs and present your position as a short-term contractor opportunity. Many recruiters now have a “contract to hire” option where a hiring manager can bring the candidate on board as a contractor first for a short-term engagement and then elect to hire them permanently for a reduced fee. It’s a try before you buy approach…
Lastly, know what you want the contractor to accomplish. There is nothing worse than having one more person to manage and very little to show for it. Before you engage, make sure you create a very detailed list of deliverables with due dates, and share the list with the contractor. It will give both of you a means to be successful while providing you with a tool to evaluate the contractor’s contributions.
Taking the stress level down a notch by bringing in some short-term help is worth the dollar investment if you can swing it and, in the long run, pays off.
Mike Gardner is a staffing executive and incoming President-Elect of the American Marketing Association-DC Chapter. He specializes in helping great companies find top-level digital, marketing, advertising and PR talent. Email him: mike@gardnerandpartners.com