In my industry (info sec, UK) most people consider 2 years to be the (permie) line. The farther below this you go, the more of a liability you start to look (i

In my industry (info sec, UK) most people consider 2 years to be the (permie) line. The farther below this you go, the more of a liability you start to look (it costs a lot of money, time, and effort to recruit - I don't want to be in a constant recruitment cycle). Conversely, if you're a "lifer" then you've got work to do to convince me I'm your next butt-groove. For contractors, the length of time is less directly important, what I'm looking for are people who were extended from their original contract length a few times - this tells me that they're not just purely contract hopping (constant recruitment cycle again), that they're willing to stay in the right place (which I obviously believe we're offering), and that someone felt they were good enough in a previous role to try to keep them.