What’s the difference between an interim manager and a contractor in IT?

 

When it comes to the difference between a contractor and an interim manager, it’s not a case of you say potato, I say potahto. Despite common misconceptions, the two titles are not interchangeable.

 

If you’re thinking of pursuing a career as either, you need to know exactly what those distinctions are. Here’s the lowdown…

 

The clue to the fundamental difference between an interim manager and a contractor, is, as they say, in the title. Interim managers are management level: they’re expected to lead teams, drive change and manage projects through to conclusion. Essentially, it’s an executive, management level role with the benefits of self-employed flexibility.

 

This level of experience means interim managers are often required to fulfill the roles of both consultancy and execution. They’re usually hired to implement or oversee a major change (such as a new software system), to directly address a problem (such as employee or company performance) or to deal with a full-blown crisis (such as the imminent failure of a project). Therefore, interim managers are usually employed for longer periods of time than contractors (months rather than weeks).

 

If the change or crisis is significant, the brief may have been put together hurriedly so it could be unclear – and it’s also likely to evolve as things progress. In short, interim managers often face big challenges and even bigger expectations.

 

They’re paid higher rates than contractors but in exchange, they’re required to hit the ground running and deliver results immediately. In addition to hard, technical skills, interim managers need to possess a wide range of soft skills such as good communication, leadership and critical thinking. They have to engage in a process and deal with people, which requires empathy and awareness – and they have to do it all off the bat.

 

Interim managers need to be able to quickly understand and solve problems, seamlessly slot into a longstanding management team and take on board all the obligations and responsibilities that go with it.

 

Whereas a contractor can operate as a lone wolf to a large extent, interim managers have to embrace the culture and become part of a team. The role is flexible but it’s not a quick fix, in and out job – rather a more substantial and complex commitment to a company.

 

In the simplest terms, a contractor is a provider of specialist or niche skills. Contractors are not hired as senior management: they are not required to provide strategic planning, analysis or to manage people.

 

Contractors are hired for three main reasons: when the requisite technical skills are not available in-house to complete a specific task or project, during particularly busy times, or to cover extended employee absence. Like an interim manager, contractors are self-employed and work on a contract to contract basis. However, the nature of these contracts can vary from rolling (renewed as you go along) to fixed-term (a designated period of time). Due to the task-specific nature of the role, contractors’ timeframes can be anything from days to months.

 

One of the biggest differences between a contractor and interim management is context. Contractors are often part of an organisation’s plan for a particular project; the company determines ahead of time where the skills gaps are and how to fill them. The specifics of a contractor’s role are therefore easy to clarify – it’s usually a case of completing a project and then either being asked to do more or to part ways.

 

 

While the role of a contractor is often more singular in purpose than that of an interim manager, that’s not to say it’s all plain sailing. As with any role, contractors are sure to face problems along the way, but the nature of these unforeseen challenges is more likely to require creative or technical quick thinking rather than strategy or managerial skills.

 

As a contractor, you’re being paid for your technical skills so you often don’t need to work as part of a team or get involved with infrastructures or workplace culture. Working like this can be both a blessing and a curse – and it calls for certain occupational skills.

 

 

Contractors need to be able to self-motivate, stick to tight deadlines and to navigate the sometimes isolating experience of joining a company for just a few days or weeks. If you’re hired as a contractor, you are expected to be the solution to the problem a company is seeking to resolve – there is no help or back-up. Therefore, you need to be highly skilled in your field of IT and you need to be able to improvise rather than panic if things don’t go according to plan.

 

It’s not your job to worry about things like company performance or organisational changes. The parameters are therefore more defined: you work fixed hours (if you do work overtime, you would expect to receive additional pay) and you focus solely on the project or task assigned to you. In other words, the role of a contractor is finite, definitive and clear.

 

 

 

If you’re considering embarking upon either interim management or contracting, it’s important to know the difference between the two. At first glance they may appear to be the same because they both offer flexible self-employment – but that’s where the similarity ends. And if you’re looking at the contractor or interim manager in your office and thinking it looks like they’re getting more money for doing the same job as you, think again.

 

Both contracting and interim management require a wide range of hard and soft skills. Some (the hard skills) are clear to see but the others can be deceptively tricky to spot. From being thrown in at the deep end to starting a new job every few weeks to potentially not having any work for a while, both roles require resilience, great inner confidence and the ability to think on your feet.

 

If you want to find out more about becoming a contractor or interim manager, speak to us.