In this post, I am going to look at what it means to work as an interim employee, and how this differs to business ownership and being a freelancer.
I think the most important thing to note is the word ‘employee’ – it is a bit of a giveaway as to your status within an organisation. As an interim you are still very much employed – your boss or organisation may change a couple of times a year, but you are still very much employed. Your key stakeholders are still your boss or sponsor, rather than your clients. Whereas a freelancer can often be seen to be on the outside of an organisation, an interim is very much on the inside of an organisation.
An interim normally takes on project based or short-term assignments, either for a daily or hourly rate, or on a salaried basis. Most interim assignments are for senior level professionals or highly skilled technical specialists.
Organisations will use the services of an interim professional when they have a long-term absence to fill, such as a maternity leave cover, or to ‘buy’ a skill for a project which isn’t present currently within the organisation, or to ‘try’ before they hire permanently.
When organisations do hire an interim, it is almost always on full time hours, and often with a very quick recruitment process.
Many interim professionals choose to go down the interim route for many reasons, including:
- they like the freedom of being an interim,
- they want to build up a particular skill set
- they have chosen to take an interim assignment as there are no suitable permanent assignments around
- there is a strong possibility that the assignment will turn into a permanent role
People do manage to mix interim work with freelance work, but I suspect they take on freelance work when in between interim assignments.
I tend to find my work with interims is focused around helping them find and secure the right next assignment. Similar to permanent roles, 80% of all interim vacancies are not advertised – I typically help my clients who are interim professionals quickly find their next role.
If you like working within the structure if an existing organisation, love hitting the ground running, and have no yearnings to want to be your own boss, then the interim route could be the right one for you.
So, what are your tips on quickly finding your next role as an interim?
In my next post I will look at what it means to be a business owner.
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