ALT-2 The Pros and Cons of Temporary Employment
In this article I'll be briefly pointing out a few of the pros and cons of temporary employment, aka temping. I'll also be offering a few tips, gleaned from my own experiences, that will hopefully help those seeking to temp to make the most of their experience; both on a financial and personal level. I have to mention that I've only ever managed to find successful and frequent temporary employment through an agency; trying to find it yourself can be a long and unrewarding process, so the article will primarily deal with employment through an agency.
Pros:1. If you need a job for a temporary period, then (no surprises) it is far better to sign up with a temp agency than apply for a full time job and simply quit when you need to leave. If you're looking to get a glowing reference for future work, then a temp agency is far more likely to give you this than a company who you promised to work for and then promptly left. Effectively this is lying to them about how long you were willing to work for; lying employees don't get good references.
2. Temping can offer you a wide range of work experience, making up for lack of depth with range of experience. After a month or two of temping the list of jobs you've held can be quite impressive in itself!
3. If you're temping in a job that you grow to hate there's nothing to stop you calling up the agency and telling them that you won't work there any more. The temp is never trapped in a miserable job for long.
Cons:1. If you like a job you temp in, it can be difficult to obtain a full time placement with a company; you're likely to be reassigned fairly regularly.
2. If you want to be regularly offered employment from the temp agency then you must be prepared to be flexible in both the type of jobs you will accept and the hours you're willing to work.
3. The uncertainty of employment. If you're with a temp agency that is not very effective you may have to wait long periods between placements. Consider changing agencies if your current one is not getting you work.
Tips!
1. Be a Yes man (or woman).Say yes to the temp agency. If you're willing to say yes and accept a wide range of job types then you're more likely to be regularly employed by an agency. Saying no to work a few times is acceptable; but just don't expect to be at the top of their list when they've got a new placement available. When I applied to a temp agency they were turning away people only willing to work in an office, but because I was willing to turn my hand to any kind of work I enjoyed a full summer of employment instead of those more pedantic and ultimately out of work folk.
Say yes to the company you're on a placement with. If the boss asks you to work overtime, or do a job that doesn't fall within you job description, don't reject it immediately. When the choice of renewing temps comes around, who are they more likely to keep? The person willing to do the work needed and cover overtime, or the one who wasn't?
2: Have your own transport.Temping by nature means you'll be frequently swapping between jobs, and the jobs available often require you to travel. Having your own transport not only makes you more flexible, but opens up more job opportunities to you as well.
3: Don't be too picky.Over the course of a summer's temping I did a wide range of jobs, many of which I ordinarily would not have considered or turned down because of my preconceptions of them.For instance, I was dubious about working as a hospital porter because I'm no fan of hospitals (who is?). However, it turned out to be the most rewarding day of work I did. I worked for 8 hours, but only actually 'worked' for about 2; the rest I spent waiting between operations to wheel patients to surgery. I chatted to patients reassuring them before surgery, something rewarding in itself. Also the pay was far above average.Working as a removal man involved brief periods of heavy lifting followed by hours spent sat in the van eating sandwiches; as well as a hefty tip that far outweighed the actual wage for the day.Try not to reject a certain type of work before you have tried it, you never know if you'll enjoy it or not.
I hope that this article has been helpful in some fashion to those considering, or already in, temporary employment. The suggestions above are just a necessarily limited selection; if you have any queries or need further help then feel free to get in touch.
