You’ve got a great part-time or contract gig with a company you love. Maybe it suited you best at the time you were hired, or maybe you just love the company and wanted to get your foot in the door. Either way, you’re ready to try moving up the ladder and getting a more permanent position. Here are 10 strategies to get you started on the path to turning your part-time job into a full-time job.
1. Listen to the boss
You’re at a meeting, and your boss expresses a concern or unveils a new goal. Quietly start doing everything you can to show her serious results in making that goal a reality. As soon as you’ve got something to show or some serious momentum, clue her in on your efforts. You may just blow the rest of the team out of the water.
2. Hustle
Put a Post-it on your desk, or, you know, a notification on your phone, that says “Everyone else is working harder.” Let that scare you for a second, but don’t let it be true. If you want to rest on full-time laurels, you have to hustle 10x harder to achieve them. Come early, stay late, and get involved. Prove that you’re an asset by working harder, doing more, and showing more results. How else do you think you’ll get hired for good?
3. Get creative
Don’t just do your project, turn it in, and shut down until you get the next one. Don’t just focus on the one aspect of the company that lands in your lap on a part-time basis. Try thinking about how your piece of the puzzle fits in with the rest of the company, and try to keep the big picture in mind. If you can show not just the value of your own work, but that you have a good sense of the company as a whole, you’ll distinguish yourself among the other freelancers and temporary employees.
4. Be better than you are on paper
Maybe your resume-worthy experience is kind of thin, but you really get what’s going on here, in this field, or in this company. Prove it. Show you’re wise beyond your laundry list of accomplishments. Show your talent and your drive. If you prove yourself to be extra insightful, your boss won’t care what’s on your resume when it comes time to make hiring decisions.
5. Be proactive
If you want to graduate to full-time, you should make your boss feel like you already are full-time. That means going above and beyond on every project, insinuating yourself into the most important discussions, and proving that you’re already an asset and part of the team. Going the extra mile now will make it very easy for your boss to see you in that rosy full-time light when it’s time to make decisions.
6. Speak up
Don’t just meekly submit your work. Submit your work with insightful feedback, or the great ideas you’ve got for how to help the company progress. Showing your investment in your team and the work you’re doing can go a long way toward getting you a full-time gig.
7. Sell it
If you believe in the company, sell it. Get out on social media, and spread the word. Be such a good spokesperson that the company is terrified to lose you, lest you focus your excellent attention somewhere else. If you believe in them, they’ll believe in you. It’s mutually beneficial!
8. Teamwork
Don’t just distinguish yourself and go about doing anything necessary to achieve your personal goals. Nobody likes a mercenary. Be a team player instead. Don’t just prove to your boss that you’re essential, make sure your team knows it as well. Stand together and you’ll be stronger for it.
9. Play the long game
As much as possible, show long-term interest in the company’s strategy and goals for the future, and indeed the future of the industry. That means staying abreast of trends and innovations, and constantly engaging in how to advance the company in the field. Even if you don’t get this particular full-time gig, you’ll be an asset in the next place you look.
10. Self-start
Come early, stay late, and get involved. Don’t go to a meeting without having a few suggestions or ideas. Make an effort with every project, on every team. Show you’re more or less full-time already; hiring you permanently would be an inevitable formality. Sometimes it’s the little things and the extra above-and-beyond details that will really make a difference in how you’re valued.
