I think I've screwed myself over big time

[Regret My New Name]

Basically, I've pretty much stuck to doing short-term project based work as a contractor(IT stuff) Which I thought was awesome because I would be able to work for a few months toward something tangible, and then I'd be done with it and could find something new. Now I'm thinking I want something more long-term and stable, but it seems my project based work isn't real employment to most. I'm trying various ways of formatting my resume and whatnots, and that seems to help me get an interview (sometimes), but it nearly always comes back to the lack of any solid career that lasted more than a year (last long-term job was not related to IT and back when I was in school in the early 2000's)

Anyone else get into this position before? Any ideas on how to get out of it? I'm figuring maybe I'll get lucky and just going for short-term projects until I get lucky... I suppose I should be lucky I have any job these days, aye?

[barbtries]

1. i wonder if a portfolio of your work

could get you past that hump.

[DaveJ]

2. It's not just you. Depends on what you're seeking.

If you are looking at jobs at big companies, my experience has been that they usually hire others who have had jobs for other big companies in the past. When they got hired, these people probably might have been recruited out of college and thought they were separate from the riff raff (like me) and could never get laid off, like they were part of a lofty protected culture. So rehiring them is a way of making up for it. I never had the chance, being from a rural part of the country. I pretty much will never get a job with a corporation the likes of Sprint, GE, etc. They simply will never hire me, period, no matter what, since we live in a nation of have's and have-not's.

You'd probably have a better change working for one of your past clients, if they are small businesses. In general, people at small businesses behave more like regular people.

[klook]

3. Try the TechRepublic career forum for guidance

There are some good articles and posts on there by IT Pros, many of whom are in the same situation.

If you can explain that your assignments were short-term because the projects had a fairly short lifecycle, that's not necessarily a negative. It's not uncommon for IT contractors to move around. And, especially if you've sharpened your skills and demonstrated flexibility in the process, it can be presented as an advantage.

See the Career Management blog at www.techrepublic.com for more perspectives: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?tag=main;blogHeader (free registration required to participate)