Secrets of a Successful Contractor

There are a number of different skills a contractor requires in order to be successful ranging from adaptability to good communication skills and above all, a positive reputation. Below is a list of our 7 key characteristics which, if a contractor maintains, will ensure they fulfil a very worthwhile career.

1 Adaptability - Much like a chameleon a contractor must be able to go from site to site, adapting to the differing conditions, workplace cultures and ways of working.

2 Interpersonal skills - A contractor must be able to get along with many different characters and personalities and be able to communicate with individuals across many different levels.

3 Knowledgeable - Contractors have a wealth of knowledge of how things are done at different sites, and best practices for example and it can be very useful for both permanent management and permanent employees to be able to tap into this reservoir of knowledge.

4 Sensitivity - A contractor needs to know when his advice is wanted and when it is not. Sometimes, or at some sites, they'll want your advice about how to do things and sometimes they won't. A successful contractor will not try to force unwanted advice on an unwilling audience.

5 Commercial Awareness - A contractor should be aware of potential business at a client's site. Any problem that the client has is potential new business for the alert contractor. The successful contractor may even have bid successfully to win pieces of work at various sites, e.g. to run part or all of a project, or to maintain an area of the system.

6 Entrepreneurial - A contactor should seek to identify his own work as well as letting agencies look for him or her. That way he has the opportunity to tout for new business without having a restrictive agency clause in his contract which prevents him approaching the client for new work.

7 Keen to learn - A contractor must be able to brush up on existing skills (and train in new ones) to adapt to an ever changing and fragmented market place.

Above all, the successful contractor should take pride in his/her work to ensure that a good reputation is maintained as this will hopefully ensure renewal of contracts or that as soon as the opportunity is available the contractor is contacted and brought back on board without hesitation.