Tips for Engineering Contractors

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Your skills, education and project experience influence your value as an engineering contractor. But just like real estate, location drives regional competition for engineering talent and therefore the hourly rate you can command for your services as a contract engineer. While Texas, California and Alaska are hot spots across the board, here’s […]

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Acclimating to a new environment can be stressful, even for veteran engineering contractors. Soothe your frazzled nerves and get off on the right foot by following these tips. No.1: Understand your manager’s expectations Avoid false starts and hasty exits by clarifying your duties and responsibilities from the outset. Hint: Your manager’s priorities […]

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Some engineering mangers favor traditional ice-breakers like: “Tell me about yourself,” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Others ask insightful questions to assess an engineering contractor’s cultural fit and their technical skills as well as their ability to handle a particular project during an interview. “I never ask superficial questions,” says […]

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Are you ready for your close-up? With companies like Skype and Google+ Hangouts increasingly turning to video-chat software (WSJ article) to screen prospective engineering contractors, you need to shine when it’s time to turn on the webcam. Here’s how to make the most of your moment in the spotlight. Set the stage […]

By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman While managers often explore career goals and employment gaps when interviewing candidates for full-time jobs, they focus on different issues when selecting contractors to fulfill a specific engineering mission. In a nutshell, they want to know if you have the skills and experience to hit the ground running.  Here’s how to convince […]

Sell the merits of your project to win the services of hot engineering contractors By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman With the market for engineering talent heating up, an experienced contractor may have several irons in the fire by the time they meet with you. In fact, a remarkable 86 percent of IT/engineering workers who participated in a […]