Most people experience gaps in work at some point during their life.
Whether it’s because you just changed careers and found out it was the wrong switch or you’re in a financial pinch, temp work can fill the gaps.
It’s a fun way to experience jobs and environments you wouldn’t have found otherwise as well. Want to learn more about temp work?
Employ your reading skills below.
What Is Temp Work?
Have you ever wanted a job, but only for a little while? Not usually, right? But what if you can’t find anything else?
You’ll take anything. And there are agencies willing to work with people like that. They’re called temp agencies and they’re ready to hire you.
Temp work, by definition, is temporary work. It can be when a regular employee is out on maternity leave, sick, or when a business is looking to replace someone but hasn’t found a candidate yet.
Other businesses employ temp workers during their busiest times of the year. Target is big on hiring holiday temp workers.
When you find a temp job, there will be a contract stating how long your position is valid for. Some will simply say, that it’s up to the employing company’s discretion. Or that the contract expires at the time of an event (like them finding the perfect candidate).
But not all temp jobs expire. There are plenty, probably a little less than half, of temp jobs that result in a full-time position. They hired you to fill a gap, but then realized you’re exactly what they needed.
Sometimes these jobs will specify that there’s the possibility of going full time, and other times it’ll be a surprise.
Either way – you’re getting out a pinch and getting a paycheck when you really need one.
What Are Temp Agencies?
As you can tell from the above description, being a temp worker isn’t the most stable career. When your contract with one company expires, that company has no responsibility to help you find another job.
But a temp agency does. Temp agencies are like your agent, in a way. They know your talents and can recommend you for jobs that are a good fit.
When one contract ends, the agency will work with you to find another good fit.
But that’s not all an agency does. They invest in temporary worker safety.
They also act as your representation, when it comes to contracts and negotiations. If you’re having trouble at a job and can’t resolve it on site, your temp agency can talk to the business for you.
They can even help you get out of contracts (depending on the terms) if the job just isn’t the right fit.
And yes – their services come at a fee. But it’s reasonable and the company that contacts the agency pays most of it. It’s well worth the small percentage of a paycheck you wouldn’t be getting otherwise.
Who Should Temp?
A large range of people work for temp agencies. Some like the ever-changing jobs and work as temps long term, jumping from gig to gig.
Other people only temp for a year or two when they’re in a squeeze. New moms who need some extra cash, college students who don’t have a lot of experience yet, and people willing to do the jobs other people refuse to do.
If you have no idea what you want to do as a career, temping is the perfect gig. The range of jobs you see and experience is the best on-the-job learning you can get.
You may find that you love accounting, even though you didn’t focus on that at school.
Working these different jobs really builds up your resume. You can say you were employed by a temp agency, which will lead potential employers to ask follow up questions.
Then you can tell them how diverse and well-read (so to speak) your job skills are.
It’s especially impressive if one of your temp positions asked you to go long term – whether you accepted or not. That shows potential employers that you’re really worth their time.
How to Succeed at Temp Jobs
If you’re interested in temping, you need to find a temp agency. Most of them will show you a range of jobs or even have you apply, to better understand your skills or interests.
Once they understand you as a potential employee, they’ll start recommending jobs.
The best advice we can give temp workers is not to knock it till you try it. Of course, there will be jobs that are no’s right off the bat. Some people are against hard labor, we get that.
But unless you have a really good reason to say no, give the temp job a try. You may find you’re great at whatever the agency has you doing. Maybe you’re great at it and you love it.
Most of the time temp agency recruiters have a keen sense of who is good at what, based on past experiences. Trust them to set you up with the right company.
On that note, also trust them to help you get out of a situation that isn’t right for you. The golden rule is to try to fix any problems with the employing company but then go to the temp agency if things don’t get better.
The Key to Getting Temp Work
Like everything in life, there’s no one magic tip to getting temp work that you’ll love. But there is a tip to getting more gigs.
Be honest about your skills and be willing to work hard, every day. If you show up and give it your all, you’re more likely to be asked back by the employer and get more favorable job offerings by the agency.
Hard work always pays off, remember that.
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