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Temp Agencies?

11:31 / 12.08.02

I'm at the end of my rope; I can't find a job. Finding a job around here is like using your head to break through a brick wall. Does anybody here have any experience with temp agencies? Does working for a temp agency help at all? Should I even bother with a temp agency or would I be better off trying to find a regular job?

11:49 / 12.08.02

I like temp agencies, and I think they're a good way to look for jobs. Whether temp agencies work for you depends a little on your mindset, though. To me a job is just a job. I have utterly no ego about what I do for a living, very thick skin. If you're the kind of person that gets bothered about people assuming you're a moron, it might not be a good environment for you.

12:23 / 12.08.02

I'm working at for an agency at the moment. It's the second sixth month placement at the same place and hopefully the experience accrued is going to lead to a full time job, here or elsewhere. I resent the fact that basically a third of the money I earn goes to a bunch of vampires who do nothing but cock up my holiday occasionally but that's just personal pride and dignity, troublesome qualities it's best to leave out of the workplace.
I'd say be selective - I'm lucky enough to be based in a big city where there are a number of agencies dealing with the field I'm trying to get into (not-for-profit/charity sector) for me to get employment with. Try and go for some decent agencies (if there are any where you are) targeting whatever your specialised field is, or you could just be photocopy monkey ( I know, I've done it), or try and find out which agencies are used by places you woulddn't mind working for and target them. Voluntary work is another good way to break into things and pick up useful experience but again opportunities could be limited by where you are.
Good luck anyway - make the bastards work for you

12:39 / 12.08.02

Obviously, working for temp agencies won't improve your spelling.

12:39 / 12.08.02

Obviously, working for temp agencies won't improve your spelling.

13:40 / 12.08.02

As Mr illmatic says, you need to know what you want from them. They're usually pretty good at the top and bottom ends of the spectrum. If you've got good experience then they can find you good jobs, although they take a fair chunk of cash. But it saves you having to trawl through the papers, and you can always say no if they call you with a job that you don't like - they don't care. And at the other end, if you just want shitty jobs to make a bit of cash while you keep looking for something decent elsewhere, then they're good for that too. There are always going to be filing and photocopying temp jobs out there.

However, if you're in between those ends, it can be hard. If you're looking for some good general experience to put on the cv, but only have a small amount of previous experience, or if you have no experience but excellent skills, you're fucked either way, because they're just not going to put in a lot of effort to find you some office assistant job. They'll just throw you in the first photopying job that comes up.

But having said all that, it's all just dumb luck. The best thing about temping is the opportunities that open up once you start working somewhere. I spent 3 long months, standing in front of a photocopier all day, with a couple of hundred boxes of stuff to copy. No interaction with anyone, just standing in a hallway photocopying, getting funny looks from people who assumed I had absolutely no self-respect to endure such a soul-destroying job for so long. And I kept trying to quit but the temp agency was not keen at all about that, and I didn't want to get blacklisted or anything, so I kept at it, and then out of the blue it finished, but the company had some other odd jobs for me to do, and then I found my way into this utterly cruisy job where I do very little and I have plenty of time for making sweet sweet love to the internet. And with a bit of craftiness I can actually write it up on my cv and make it sound like a real job. Likewise, a friend of mine started her temping career by sharpening pencils, but then someone left or they "restructured" or something, and she ended up in a job which she loved. So who can predict the wonderful world of temping?

13:50 / 12.08.02

Temp agencies can be of help if you're having trouble getting interviews due to a lack of work experience. When I graduated from university, I signed up with a temp agency that got me an okay job within the first week - and the experience from that contract made it much easier to land jobs by myself afterwards. Given the problems you've been having, I'd say it's worth looking into.

14:58 / 12.08.02

If you work in the meeja in Laaahndan, try Stop Gap (0208 332 7656). But I would add that most temp agencies, like recruitment consultants generally, are useless, unimaginative, loathsome shysters who would sooner eat their own eyes than help another fellow human find a decent job paying a living wage.

I sympathise with your predicament; if it weren't for the fact that the official unemployment figures are so low, I'd almost take the evidence of my own and many friends' continued unemployment/redundancies/poverty, combined with 911/Enron/Worldcom/JP Morgan/imminent war, to mean that we are in the midst of some kind of almighty economic downturn that's being kept under wraps by The Powers That Be. But I'm very trusting.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

15:03 / 12.08.02

I think temp agencies are a good idea for people just starting out...it's a way to judge if you can work in an office type setting, and if you do well, companies have a tendancy to hire their temps who ask.

The downside is that you aren't paid well, jobs can end at any second, and you are generally treated as if you are a serf.

But if you can't find a job...try them, by all means.

17:26 / 12.08.02

Pretty much echoing all the above - good for quick short-term work (they work on commission after all so have an interest in getting you jobs) but in the end, exploitative.

I've temped extensively in holidays and between jobs, and it's good to have the experience now to be able to get the cash if I ever find myself really in trouble.

It's better than having no money. Don't ever be tricked into feeling any loyalty towards them whatsoever, though. If you get a proper job in the middle of a contract, quit immediately, don't take things which look hellish just because they ask you, and go with several agencies at once. They'd fuck you over worse in an instant, even if they like to say "oh, I've got this peach of a job, I'm giving it to you because you're my best temp..." and so on.

pointless and uncalled for

20:40 / 12.08.02

I've worked for temp agencies for the past 8 years in two different countries. They're good on two provisos. 1)Don't expect miracles. 2) Learn to play the game.

22:40 / 12.08.02

(takes bucket from Trijhaos, starts bailing water)

"Learn to play the game"? Got any pointers? Basically, I'm in the same sinking boat as Trijhaos (my unemployment ran out 2 weeks ago).

08:08 / 13.08.02

even if they like to say "oh, I've got this peach of a job, I'm giving it to you because you're my best temp..."

hahaha.... that is soooo true.

Margin, as far as playing the game goes, listen to the fridgemagnet. Just remember that they don't care if you cancel, quit, say no to jobs, whatever. They won't get offended, and will still get you work in the future when you call back, and if they don't, any city has plenty of other agencies.

And I'd recommend joining more than one when you start, because when you sign up you have to go in for the computer and typing tests and be interviewed and all that, so if you've been working for one agency for a while and you want to try a new one, you'll have to take time off to go and do the tests. So do a few in one day at the beginning, and that way you'll be on their books for when you need them.

08:29 / 13.08.02

I'd also recommend going in and getting to know them, even calling in if you happen to be passing, or phoning in on a regular basis - just so that you're the first person that springs to mind when a job comes in. Obviously this can get a bit annoying if 90% of their work is cleaning out industrial deep fat fryers so try and give them a clear indication of what you want.