As career practitioners, how equipped are you to support your clients to navigate interviews, contract negotiations, and terms of employment in the gig economy? When individuals work for more than one organization or juggle multiple overlapping contracts, there will inevitably be times when scheduling conflicts occur, priorities need to be re-set, or back-up plans must be activated. Do you discuss and role play such scenarios with your clients or are your interview workshops still primarily focussed on applications for traditional full-time work?

Many work-seekers today also need support in setting and/or negotiating fees, expenses, and benefits, whether formal or informal. For example, although a temporary employment contract may not provide access to traditional benefit such as weeks of vacation, extended medical, or pension plans, it may be possible to negotiate other “perks” such as borrowing a laptop for the duration of a contract, professional development support to attend a relevant seminar or conference, or subscription fees for an important research journal. Carpooling to a jobsite may be a possibility – or, perhaps, negotiating the option of working from home for some or most days of the week.

It can be helpful to work with your clients to brainstorm the types of “benefits” that would be most relevant to their unique contexts and within reason for the employer to offer. It can also be helpful to work with your clients through various scenarios where contract responsibilities don’t perfectly align (e.g., how to communicate with two different employers when shifting deadlines collide, resulting in a need to re-prioritize or re-schedule).

Join Work Search Essentials 2: Interview and Negotiation Strategies in our Career Management Professional Program to help you help your clients with their challenges related to interviewing, negotiating, and navigating the complexity of work-related contracts.