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The pros and cons of temp work

slobake

slobake

resident ... something
Aug 6, 2011
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Somewhere to the left of "Whoopie"
smowles01.wordpress.com
#1
Temp work saved my bacon. I was in my mid 50's and couldn't do my old trade (telecommunications) for several reasons. I had messed up my ankle and was having a hard time physically doing the job because of that. Also, I had allowed the technology to pass me by. I was no longer on top of my game.
Went back to college and studied journalism. Put together a nice portfolio that people liked and had some interviews but couldn't get a job even as an intern.
I would start my job search in the morning and work out, cook, clean house and write fiction in the afternoon. This went on for months and I was getting very depressed. I never had a problem finding a job before that.
I decided to do some temp work to make a little money, fill up my days and keep out of trouble. The company I was temping at liked me and hired me as a full time employee. They taught me a new trade and nine and half years later I am still with the same company. I hope to retire in a couple of years with some decent benefits.
Here are some things I found out:

Employers don't have high expectations for temps. If you show up on time every day, work hard and get along with people you usually stand out from other temps.
Temping is a good way to learn a new trade and get your foot in the door.

Right now I am training a temp to do part of my job. She shows up on time, works hard, gets along with people and seems to be getting it. She may have earned herself the right to have a new trade.
There have been quite a few temps come and go at my job who didn't get one or more of these things.
The down side of temping is the low pay and lack of decent benefits. Your jobs may also be short lived. I temped at number of companies before landing where I am at now.
If you are employed and can't find a job I suggest you try temping.

the end.
 
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#2
My first big job in the Land of Smiles was originally temporary. I replaced a gal who was on maternity leave.
When she got back, they decide to keep me on, gave me a big raise & more responsibilities.
A 3 month contract lasted 3-1/2 years!

The second time I worked there, a decade later, it was temporary as well, and remained that way, but a 1-year contract, with a nice project completion bonus at the end :smug:

I'll never forget that foreboding feeling I had those last couple of weeks, knowing that soon I'd be finishing my last big job on Thai soil.

Oh, I did the temp job for another employer in the meantime & was later called back for a full-time job, but the owner was so thrifty that he started messing with my wages, so I soon quit.
 
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#3
Killed_by_Death said:
My first big job in the Land of Smiles was originally temporary. I replaced a gal who was on maternity leave.
When she got back, they decide to keep me on, gave me a big raise & more responsibilities.
A 3 month contract lasted 3-1/2 years!

The second time I worked there, a decade later, it was temporary as well, and remained that way, but a 1-year contract, with a nice project completion bonus at the end :smug:

I'll never forget that foreboding feeling I had those last couple of weeks, knowing that soon I'd be finishing my last big job on Thai soil.

Oh, I did the temp job for another employer in the meantime & was later called back for a full-time job, but the owner was so thrifty that he started messing with my wages, so I soon quit.
Click to expand...
I had a temp job with Lucas Film when I did phone work. Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock Ranch are amazing properties. I was sad when that job ended too. I remember walking around and thinking it would be the last time I was on that property.
My main job was dismantling the phones system at Industrial Light and Magic when they moved it from Marin to San Francisco. The Marin sight was an interesting place too. It was a patchwork of interconnected office buildings that ILM kept leasing as they grew. It was full of movie props and crazy artists. Very fun place to work.
 
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#4
I worked for a temp agency for a summer. We had sold our home in New York and I was going to be starting school in Connecticut in the fall, so we lived with my folks for the summer. It was a good arrangement for the time, but I didn't use it to relaunch a career or anything. It did introduce me to corners of the community I hadn't known about. That's when I discovered New Hampshire makes Velcro. Get the real stuff for your pedalboards, people!

Good to hear positive stories about it, anyway.
 
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#8
Depends on the situation. Once I took a temp job in a warehouse and a week later the temp company had a position open up that was directly in my field and what I got my Bachelor's degree in. The temp company wouldn't reassign me because I was already placed in another position, thereby destroying any chance for a career in my field at the time (the town I lived in had almost no opportunity for this field outside of a few jobs). The thing to remember is that temp agencies only really care about permanently placing a body in a job to try get their finder's fee.

At the same time, a temp agency in another city I lived in took good care of me with multiple good assignments before I was placed in a comfy job for a few years. So they're not all bad as long as your expectations are in line with reality.
 
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#9
My brother took a temp job converting speculation about energy prices into factual sounding articles. He was doing this for one of the largest energy suppliers in the country.

If any of you recall the mention of peak oil and the lack of refining capacity as the reason for record high gas prices about ten years ago, you may have read some of his work.

It was deliberately deceptive and took a convoluted path to your typical news consumer. The bare bones idea was given to a temp writer who would turn it into an article which was submitted for consideration. The good ones got further tweeked and passed to a friendly media type who would then claim it as their own.

Apparently it was done this way so the full time employees of the energy supplier could truthfully say they didn't write the articles should the subject ever come up.
 
#11
Took a temp job with a fairly large company for a ridiculously high salary. At the time they had a hiring freeze, but could fill positions with temps. When the hiring freeze was lifted, they tried to hire me, but higher management killed it because I didn't have the degree 'required' for the position, to do the job I already was doing, so I continued as a temp, until they decided to get rid of all temps.
 
#12
My current employer had to pay the Temp company a fee to hire me. They were okay with that because they already knew I would work out. Some companies might not be willing to do that.
Like @Munjibunga said if a temp doesn't work out you don't have to fire them. If you are looking for an employee you can hire temps and look for one that can do the job if you are willing to pay the temp company a fee.
 
#14
We're probably going to hire a temp to set up a simple videoconference system 2-3 nights a week for classes in south Denver this fall. The guy who runs the degree insists on not using any of our university sites, so we have to set up and tear down the system for every evening class. Faculty won't do it.

I think I found the right temp agency, and staffing this with students from local colleges has been difficult, so I'm hoping this will be an improvement. I don't need the headache.
 
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#15
Pilgrim said:
We're probably going to hire a temp to set up a simple videoconference system 2-3 nights a week for classes in south Denver this fall. The guy who runs the degree insists on not using any of our university sites, so we have to set up and tear down the system for every evening class. Faculty won't do it.

I think I found the right temp agency, and staffing this with students from local colleges has been difficult, so I'm hoping this will be an improvement. I don't need the headache.
Click to expand...
Hope it works out for you.
 
#16
Fishheadjoe said:
As the owner of an employment agency, specifically for I.T. professionals, I have a bit of insight into the business! LOL
Fishheadjoe
Click to expand...

I exclusively use services like yours when hiring for tech positions. Very difficult to find quality candidates in tech because everyone of them puts every language or software package they ever read about in there. Doesn't matter if they don't actually have that skill. Placement Services allow for that pre-check on the credentials prior to wasting a lot of time interviewing and on-boarding a new full time employee.
 
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#17
Does substitute teaching count?

I work full time at a school now, but my original plan between jobs was to be a career substitute for a while. The pay surely isn't glam, but it's the easiest job to plan a schedule around, since you get to decide where, when, and even if you feel like working. Having that sense of control in my life was therapeutic, and when it came time to be a real adult again, it turned out "proven capable of becoming anyone at any time as necessary" is pretty good on a resume.

--^@
 
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#19
I found that temping gave me the opportunity to try new industries, earn a LITTLE money, and see if anything stuck. I had one temp-to-permanent stick for over five years, and then another go from "a few days helping the accounts dept." to three solid months of full scale audit! The employer paid more to keep me there.
I went from temp-to-permanent in another business, stayed there about six years (and in the meantime met my wife there...), and then transitioned into other businesses within that industry. I'm still in the same industry, and will probably stay here. I've been in this industry for over 21 years.

I think temp work offers huge advantages. No risk to the employer, no risk - and possible bonuses - to the agency, and opportunity to the temp (at the expense of low earnings). Still better than internships, and so long as you turn up on time, regularly, appropriately dressed, show appropriate intelligence, and work hard the assignments improve as your agency grows to know/trust you.
You may have to kiss some frogs too, and some employers may simply not like you. Goes both ways.
 
#20
I guess I have slightly different take.

It used to be like most of you state, good way to get your foot in the door, try different jobs, etc. Not here anymore at least. Most companies here seem to want to use temps the way they used to hire full time workers. You must have x number of years in the industry doing that particular job. Not a chance in heck of getting hired direct. Most bigger companies will only keep you one year and then you are gone, regardless of the quality of work you did. They dangle getting hired direct, even say they will, but at the end of the contract it is always "someone above said no to bringing you on". Temp agencies may offer benefits, but not always. I worked with one in Ohio (large national agency) that stated they offered medical insurance. What they offered was giving me a link to the Affordable Health Care Act webpage to signup for that.

At one large company I have personal experience with, a major chip manufacturer (not AMD) treats what they call contingent workers like 3rd class citizens. Free drinks and fruit for direct hires, but if a CW tries to take one it is stealing and you get fired. Fun stuff like that.

Biggest thing to remember is no matter what they say, you are not their customer. The company paying them is. Any problems between you and the place you work at, they will side with their customer. And once you have been placed, forget about finding a better place with that same agency. They won't remove you from where you are as that will inconvenience their customer.

Anyway, that is my recent experience.
Russ
 

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