In my experience, sometimes they wanted more skill and experience for a permanent role than they did for a contractor. I worked as a contractor and had to fill

In my experience, sometimes they wanted more skill and experience for a permanent role than they did for a contractor. I worked as a contractor and had to fill headcount, and the process was different for a contractor and a permanent. Contractors are much simpler to get rid of if they don't turn out, so hiring decisions were made faster. Permanent people being hired had to be of a higher standard. This doesn't mean that you can get away with being a junior in a senior role, but it might mean there is more of a focus on technical skills rather than university qualifications, that type of thing. There are some crap contractors floating about the system and some crap permanent employees. And vice versa. The working conditions are almost identical, except that in a downturn the contractors will be first out the door. They also get to avoid 'company building' meetings and crap like that.