Putting on the right hat for the right person is key during the
interviewing process. Not every interviewer wants to know the same thing or
will ask the same questions, so be prepared! Multiple resumes are one way
to help, as is studying for your exam (ie: who specifically are you
interviewing with?)

Interviewing for a contract is a lot different from interviewing for a
full-time position. First, know that contract interviewing is a hell of a
lot harder than full-time interviews. In fact, the process should have a
totally different name. One is similar to the Spanish Inquisition while the
other is a lot like the softball questions Chris Matthews throws out on
Hardball.

As a contractor, you’re likely to first interview with a recruiter or
whoever is being paid to find a service provider. Don’t be misled: this is
likely to be an easy one and throw you for a loop. After all, recruiters
are often known to throw a warm body into a position, roll the dice and see
what sticks. Of course, YMMV with recruiters. Nevertheless, you’ve got to
take this one seriously. Why? For several reasons.

You are selling your company: As the CEO, Principal or
Prince (or whatever title you’ve decided to arbitrarily given yourself),
you’ve got to see your company to this recruiter or consultant. It’s
important to show that you know how the industry works, how recruiters
work, how contracting as a whole works. You must show that you’ve been
around the block and that you’re willing to take on this client.

You are selling your services: As the person who will be
providing these services for this guy’s client, you’ve got to prove that
you fit the bill for this gig. Generally speaking, your resume can or
should speak for itself. From experience, recruiters seem ready to throw
you in to the lion’s den if you look fairly qualified.

Now is the time to ask questions: If you have questions
about the gig, now is the time to ask them. Specifically, if you have
questions about length of contract, rate expectations, etc., now is the
time to ask them. If you get to interview with the site client, they’ll
assume that you’ve been prepped and are cool with anything on the admin
side. Asking a site client about rates is a *very bad idea* ™.

If you’ve made it this far, there is a good chance that the site client
will want to interview you (assuming you did well on the first one and your
recruiter is truly interested in making a sale and thus pitched you
properly to the client). Now is your time to shine and make sure you’ve
actually read your resume.

You are not selling your company: You don’t have to worry
about selling your company to the site client because you’ll have little
contractual dealings with them; everything else will go through a third
party. However, if you are going direct through a client, then, please read
the section above relating to selling your company.

You are selling your services

‘ve took the time to
read up about your client (when possible), you know what they’re looking
for in a candidate. Focus on what you know based on their needs. Offer them
some potential solutions for their needs in the interview. Do not drone on
about something you did in 1998 that has nothing to do with this contract,
other than the fact that both bosses were named Dave.

These questions may be hard: Your client generally isn’t
interested in where you’ve been or who you know. This guy has a 6-month
project that is already 2 months late and he needs a contractor who knows
his product or his technologies and can get the job done. Simple as that.
Don’t expect questions, such as “How long have you been using X?” as much
as “Here’s our situations. We’re using technology X; how will you get us
out of it?”.

Approach each interview differently - You’ll want a general resume for
your recruiter and the hiring manager at the site client. Keep a more
task-based or technical-level resume available for product managers,
developers.

Just remember that not every interview will be of the same caliber; many
managers are as nervous about interviewing as you are about enduring one!
Take a deep breath, relax, remember what I told you and go for it!