Your first 30 days as a contractor: the extension is decided before you notice

There's a running joke on our desk: the extension decision is made in week three; the client just tells you in week ten. It's not really a joke. In our 2026 European placement data, 74% of extensions are internally decided by day 25.

Week one: earn the room

You are not being judged on code in week one. You are being judged on how you ask questions, how quickly you find the decision-maker, and whether you make the person who hired you look good in front of theirs. Deliver something small and visible by Friday of week one — a documented decision, a first PR, an audited process. Small. Visible. Delivered.

Week two: name the outcome

By the end of week two, you should be able to describe — in one sentence — the outcome you're being paid to deliver by the end of the engagement. If you can't, book a 30-minute session with the engagement owner and get to one. Contractors who can name the outcome extend. Contractors who describe their responsibilities do not.

Week three: earn the network

Meet the three people whose work touches yours. Not the org chart people — the actual people. Every contractor we've seen extended repeatedly at the same client did this in week three. Every one who didn't was surprised when the contract ended on the initial term.

Week four: the 30-day conversation

Ask for a structured 30-day review. Bring what you've shipped, what's blocked you, and what you'd re-scope. Clients love this — it signals ownership without asking for anything. It's also the moment to raise rate expectations for the extension, if the scope has grown. Don't wait for week ten.

The trap

Waiting to be told what to do in the first month. In 2026, senior contractors are hired to lower the client's decision load, not raise it. If the first month is a series of "what would you like me to do next" conversations, the extension is already unlikely — even if the technical work is fine.