Succeed As a Temporary Employee
Are you in between jobs? Are you a new parent? Looking to improve or increase your current skill set? Only in your current locale for a short period of time? Having trouble breaking into your chosen field? Temporary and temp-to-hire employment is on the rise and it just might be what you're looking for.
Steps
- Write down all your skills and estimate your level of competence in each. You never know what might be useful in a given position and it pays to be thorough.
- Revamp your resume. You want to show off your strengths, but also highlight your different experiences. This way, your agent can sell you to the maximum number of clients.
- Decide what kind of job you will be looking for. Ask yourself:
- Full-time or part-time?
- How far are you willing to travel for work?
- What is the minimum hourly pay you'll accept?
- How much advance notice do you need?
- Decide whether you will be applying to multiple agencies or just one. Typically, it is best to work with multiple agencies. This way, if one does not have an assignment for you, another might. Later you might decide to work mostly or exclusively with one agency - if they are providing you with consistent work and you have a good relationship with your agent. Some good agencies are:
- Kelly Services (An excellent international agency, Kelly Services often has multiple offices in large metro-areas to serve different needs - everything from law to technical to office.)
- Express Personnel (You can find Express in both the large metro areas and the smaller cities. The agencies tend to adapt to serve the primary clients of the area - so in rural areas, you'll find that they have more manual labor oriented jobs and in metros they'll have a find array, from manual labor to corporate.
- Robert Half (This is a little more exclusive agency. You'll find they have specific divisions such as Robert Half Technologies & Robert Half Creative. They cater more to those who are already trained and are looking for new or contract positions in their field.)
- Manpower (Manpower is much more on the manual labor side of things. You'll find jobs with construction companies and other industrial types are the general norm.)
- Westaff (Westaff is an international agency and is the best choice if you are looking to receive care and consistency with your staffing provider. They also have a tendency to have higher-paying positions. Westaff specializes in clerical, industrial, and many other types of staffing. They have positions that are strictly temporary, temp to hire, and permanent placements.)
- There are many others, both large corporations & small businesses. If you're calling an unfamiliar agency, be sure to ask them what type of positions they generally place people in. You can also ask them if they can tell you some of their big clients, to get a general sense of what kind of jobs they might be offering you. Be aware that the "big client" can vary greatly between offices in the same company. If you're looking for a specific type of job and the agency you're talking to doesn't seem to have it - don't hesitate to ask.
- Call and schedule interviews with each agency you have selected. Be sure to leave 3-4 hours for these interviews, as the agency will often want to test your skills to get an idea of your levels for various tasks.
- Before your interview:
- Go online and see if you can fill out any of your agency's forms. This will save you time once you get to the agency and will make you seem even more prepared and professional.
- Be sure to have a complete employment history printed out that you can copy. You'll need addresses and telephone for your previous places of employment and telephone numbers and/or e-mail addresses for your supervisors, references, etc.
- Dress for a professional interview. If you don't look the part, you will not get the job.
- After your interview
- Be sure to follow-up. Most agencies expect their employees to call them at the beginning of every week to let them know your current availability, especially if you're not on assignment.
- When you get your first assignment, it is important to be prepared, be sure to write down the following and take it with you to work:
- Where will you be working? Confirm the address, reading it back to your agent.
- Who will you be reporting to?
- What is the dress code?
- What will your hours be?
- What is your assignment number?
Tips
- Keep a pad and pencil by your phone to write down key assignment details.
- Always try to arrive 15 minutes early on your first day. Leaving 15 minutes early also allows for extra traffic, as well as getting lost or any other delays.
