"I did have one idea/question come to mind the other day while talking to some other people in the IT industry. Do you all have project work? What's the difference in "project work" and "contract work"? Sorry, the terminology has always thrown me for a loop. That's the problem with a lot of job ads as well. I have skills, knowledge, training, and degrees, but when I read some of the job descriptions...they are so vague that they leave me feeling that the position may not be a good match at all. Some of them I wonder if they will ever be filled because they sound like real people positions but someone's wish list that is not realistic. Sorry, I went there. Any guidance or help you can give in decoding some of the terminology would be more than welcomed, my friend."
First of all, the terminology. When you are talking to a recruiter it's important to understand what they are saying and we (recruiters) think about job opportunities in 3 ways: contract, contract to hire and direct hire. Contract means that the client company has a project and there are terms associated with the work that needs to be done. Contract is a temporary relationship. There is work that need to be done, and the company is not adding headcount. Contract to hire usually means that there is a permanent position available, but the company wants to work with a person prior to making a full-time, direct hire offer. Direct hire means there is a full-time role available wherein the company want to make a new hire a permanent member of the team.
When it comes to contract you should really consider how the taxes are handled, but that is a topic for another time.
It's always okay to ask what someone means by "project work", but more often than not I think it means contract.
As far as ads go, remember that the folks writing the ads are not professional writers (neither is this writer!) So, depending on how requisitions are written within each organization (does HR do it, or does the hiring manager do it?), you can be sure they are putting everything in the req. And I mean everything. Just as there are no perfect jobs, there are no perfect people. More often than not, if you have most of what they are looking for, or even what you think the pertinent part of the job order is, I'd say you should present yourself. (Or have your recruiter present you!) The worse they can do is not set up an interview, but if you present and you get an interview, then maybe your soft skills will make up for the few things you are lacking in the job description.
I interviewed a really cool lady yesterday, she was so knowledgeable in her niche. Unfortunately I didn't know ANYTHING about her niche, so I felt for a good part of the conversation that she was teaching me her niche, instead of what I usually do, which is get to know the person. It was the first time in a while that I felt like that. I say all this to say, each job we do has buzzwords - and when we are talking to someone new and we use our personal lingo, it can often be difficult for that person to understand where we are coming from. I think it is perfectly okay to ask a lot of questions so that you feel totally okay about the information you are receiving. Most people are willing to explain themselves (as was my new contact).
Thank you AH (my friend that posed the question). Please let me know if I can help in any other way. (BTW my friend AH sells Avon, please let me know if you need a really good Avon Sales Rep. I'm sure she'd love new clients, too.)
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