Interim role or hold out for perm?

[RussellSprout]

Lost my job at the end of Dec.. been job hunting ever since.

What i'm looking for is quite specific, so I'm temping whilst being fairly active on the market.

I've had a couple of interviews for perm roles. Now I've seen an interim role (12-14 months apx) in the area of work I like to do... it's a 60% match so not perfect. I have a lot of experience though so I'm thinking I'm probably fairly likely to be considered a strong candidate. Big bonus for me is it's home based which is the biggest selling point.

Not sure whether to go for the interim role or wait it out for perm. This job won't advance my career, it'll just be a stop gap for a year or so and then I'll be looking again. My ideal is to get a perm role I can 'settle' in for a good few years. This would be a second choice. But is it worth going for the interim role just to get something to tide me over for a bit? Aaargh so hard to decide!!

I'd apply, if you get offered it I'd accept but keep looking for something more than a 60% fit, if something better comes up then go for that. There's nothing to say you have to do 12-18 months in the fixed term role.

Apply, if you get offered it you don't have to take it. If you don't apply you'd never know and as pp said you don't need to stay for the full fixed term.

You never know, it could lead you onto some interesting paths though.

Well I have just heard that the interview has been pushed back 2 weeks so that gives me some more time to think about it and see what else is out there.

I find it very very hard to turn down offers dontfluff particularly as I'm 'vulnerably employed' at the moment, but if it's a 2 stage process I can always bale at 2nd stage if I decide it's not right for me. I'm just thinking that I could really really do with a stable, perm job after 6 months of jobhunting crap and a failed start, but then again its working from home (with travel) which is the very definition of bliss.......

It sounds good and I completely understand the not wanting to turn things down.

Apply, see where it takes you and if you get the role (fingers crossed) then relish working in your pjs sometimes.

Something stable for 12-18 months could lead on to something else within the same company. You never know.

I've done quite a lot of 12-18 month contracts in my time and rarely regretted it. I find you generally get a bit more leeway with how exact a match your CV is with interim roles, because they are less popular so fewer candidates to choose from and also psychologically the employer has a 'get-out' when the contract is over so they're more willing to take a chance. So it can be a good way to make that step up to a higher level role or gain experience in a different field.

In my experience also, interim roles can easily turn into permanent if they like you. Not necessarily the same role mind you, e.g. I've done a couple of maternity leave covers, when the person comes back the company have often then offered me something else, but usually something else comparable.

But of course if you really need stability, e.g. permanent roles are few and far between in your field, job opportunities are limited or you lack a savings cushion in the event of short term unemployment then perhaps you would need to put greater emphasis on the perm role (although not to alarm you but the one time I really felt I need a perm role due to personal circs. and so took something at a lower level just for the permanent contract, the company got closed down and I was out within 6 months of taking the job ! So even a permanent contract is no absolute guarantee!)

@RussellSprout

It's been months and I forgot to come back to check in 😳. What happened with the job or did you get something else?

Hope it's all going well.

Hi - thanks for checking in!

Well the good news is, I didn't have to make this choice (go for interim role or wait for perm) as I got one of the perm roles I had interviews for in my OP!

I've been there 3 months now and really enjoying it. I am glad I didn't have to go for the interim role, as what I really want is to get settled somewhere and I think unless you've chosen to do interim it can be unsettling to be in a contract role always wondering what will happen at the end of it.

Luckily it all came good, don't want to be on the market again for a while!

That's wonderful news! Congrats and I'm so chuffed you're enjoying it.