• Home
• News
• Start-Up Guides
• Contractor FAQs
• Umbrella Company
• Limited Company
• Tax / Accounting
• IT Contractor Rates
• Contract Rate Checker
• IR35
• IT Contractor Insurance
• Money / Investing
• IT Contracts / Work
• Service Provider News
• Directory
• About Us

Independent Contractor Services Free IR35 & Contractor Tax Review Call free 0800 195 3750 | Email

How to impress during the contractor interview process

Published on Sep 7, 2009 |

• Print this article
• Email this article

Once you have sourced a potential contract role, brushed up your CV, and dispatched it to the agency or client, just one hurdle remains between you and that potential juicy contract.

The interview stage is an important one, as although potential clients are looking more for short-term technical ability and knowledge, rather than long term permanent employees, you still need to impress on a personal as well as a technical level.

Dave Chaplin from Contractor Calculator gave us five helpful tips to impress during an interview:

Tips for interview success

1. The most important rule of sales - always pitch to the decision maker, the person who signs the cheques. You may be able to impress the a fellow team member at interview but if you don't impress the project manager then you've not succeeded.

2. The key thing to note about contractor interviews is that they aren't really interviews. It's a sales meeting where you are trying to present and sell your product - which is yourself.

3. Ask lots of questions and fact find. Without fully understanding the problem you can't diagnose and solve it. It's a bit like paying darts blind folded - you’ll choose the wrong darts, and miss the bullseye.

4. Explain how you will solve their problems using recent relevant experience. Avoid going into detail about previous achievements that aren't relevant to the role you are pitching for.

5. And finally, at the end of the meeting finish off by asking for the business.

Further contractor interview advice

Read our IT contractor interview tips for some basic tips on interview success.

For an expert view, try our two-part article; Contractor interviews - the inside track.