Think government departments. I don't know what it's like in the US or elsewhere, but in Australia it's notoriously difficult to fire a civil servant. A lot of our larger companies used to be government departments, and cling to that mentality very heavily.
So yes, using a contract as a trial period is something that happens fairly often.
Since this is the only market I've worked as a contractor, I can only give information specific to here. Which translates to 'This is almost completely useless', but hey!
When it comes to actual earnings, I've found that the difference between contracting and permanent employement is not as high as I thought.
Contracting does bring in more money, but in order to manage superannuation, tax, holidays, etc you either need to take time out to do it yourself, or use a contracting company (who basically stand between you and the employing company and charge a smallish fee for taking care of everything).
The nature of contracting also changes dramatically depending on what kind of work you do. In my area, a contractor performs the same tasks but is not considered part of the team: in contrast, a fulltime employee is an asset who is brought into the fold, and has access to information and internal connections that would otherwise be closed avenues.
Depends on the job. Most contracts I've taken have been short-term for almost that reason: if you don't work out, they want to be able to get rid of you.
If you're right for the job, then chances are the contract will be extended (depending on what kind of job it is). I've never had a contract that only lasted as long as the initial duration, and about half of them have lead to full time positions.
I just reinstalled Half Life for the first time in years, specifically to play They Hunger: http://www.planethalflife.com/manke/
Now to download and try this one!
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Think government departments. I don't know what it's like in the US or elsewhere, but in Australia it's notoriously difficult to fire a civil servant. A lot of our larger companies used to be government departments, and cling to that mentality very heavily.
So yes, using a contract as a trial period is something that happens fairly often.
Since this is the only market I've worked as a contractor, I can only give information specific to here. Which translates to 'This is almost completely useless', but hey!
When it comes to actual earnings, I've found that the difference between contracting and permanent employement is not as high as I thought.
Contracting does bring in more money, but in order to manage superannuation, tax, holidays, etc you either need to take time out to do it yourself, or use a contracting company (who basically stand between you and the employing company and charge a smallish fee for taking care of everything).
The nature of contracting also changes dramatically depending on what kind of work you do. In my area, a contractor performs the same tasks but is not considered part of the team: in contrast, a fulltime employee is an asset who is brought into the fold, and has access to information and internal connections that would otherwise be closed avenues.
Depends on the job. Most contracts I've taken have been short-term for almost that reason: if you don't work out, they want to be able to get rid of you.
If you're right for the job, then chances are the contract will be extended (depending on what kind of job it is). I've never had a contract that only lasted as long as the initial duration, and about half of them have lead to full time positions.
I just reinstalled Half Life for the first time in years, specifically to play They Hunger: http://www.planethalflife.com/manke/
Now to download and try this one!