As the thread title suggests, I followed the advice of several users in the linked thread and have an appointment tomorrow morning to speak with a temp agency.
Having never done this before, I’m wondering what you could tell me. Anything on what to expect, "do"s and "don’t"s or anything else would be much appreciated.
All I was told when I called to set up the appointment was to wear business attire (obviously) and to bring two forms of identification. I’m also planning to take along a copy or two of my resume (just in case) and some loose paper in case I need to make note of anything. Does this seem like a good move?
Anything you can tell me would be greatly appreciated.
What agency is it? I’ve worked for a number of them, some better than others.
Having a copy of your resume is a good idea. Instead of just a piece of paper, I’d bring a notebook. They may want to test you on whatever skills they’re interested in, so be ready to spend a little time there.
I suspect they’ll want you to fill out an application as well, so bring addresses/phone numbers of past workplaces, probably the salary figures you made too.
For the business attire, dress as nicely as possible. This will make them comfortable sending you to their full range of clients.
The two forms of ID should be Driver’s License and SS Card. There are other options, but these are what put the agency folks most at ease.
Be prepared to take a wide variety of paper and pencil and computerized tests.
Always work with more than one temp agency. That will improve your chances of getting placed. Also, you will get better at the little tests with practice.
I find a simple leather portfolio that holds a legal pad and has a pocket for copies of my resume is ideal for interviews.
The two forms of ID are most likely for filling out the I-9 verifying your eligibility to work in the US. The temp agency is about to become your employer and needs to verify they are hiring a legal worker.
Does anyone else suggest this? It seems a little odd, but it makes some sense too.
I like this. I’ll have to look into it before my next interview (it’s a little late on a Sunday to go shopping right now.)
Yeah. I’m planning to take my liscense and my SS card as my ID. They specificly said that one should be a drivers liscense and the other should be either my SS card, birth certificate or passport.
I worked in a temp agency office when I was in grad school. My job was to pre-screen applicants. Show up 5 minutes early, dress in kakhis, shirt tie, have all your documents, and be ready to work. They will probably have you take a typing test, or other skillset test and watch some orientation videos.
If you want to work, be as flexible as possible and keep a good attitude. Once they feel they can rely on you, they will send to better and better jobs.
Be prepared to take some skill tests. When I signed up, I did Excel, Office, and a basic typing test. I started this thread a few months ago looking for the same advice so you might find it useful.
(In my case, it was all for naught because none of the ones I signed up with gave me an assignment. They only called me with temp to perm positions and I could only do temp only. )
Definitely. Registering with multiple temp agencies is no different than going on multiple interviews. Why limit yourself to a single agency if there are multiple agencies?
Probably too late for this advice, but: treat this just as you would any other interview. You’re interviewing for the job of temporary worker. You’ll be “hired” pretty much automatically unless your skills are a complete mismatch for the sort of clients they service but if you don’t make a good impression you won’t be on the list of the first round of people they call to place.
Following the interview, check in on a weekly basis with every agency where you’re registered for placement opportunities. Don’t wait for them to call you. I’ve been told that the best time to call is Friday morning but I don’t know how specific that is by agency or region.
Remember that the agencies don’t work for you. They work for the clients who look to them for workers. You work for the agency. The agency is supposed to be your advocate with the client in theory, but in practice if the choice comes down to you or the client who provides them with dozens of placements (and thus dozens of fees) they are likely to choose the client.
Yes, register with more than one agency. One will likely become your primary if you do this for a few months.
Also, once you are on the roster (and you will be, they put nearly everyone on roster, they may just never give you an assignment), become a pest in the morning for assignments. Call them up at 8:00 am and say “I’m dressed and ready to go, has anything come in?” What happens is that the calls start coming in, and then they go to the roster and start making matches. If you call when the job is in their hand, they won’t bother to make the match, they’ll just send you. Saves them the bother of calling around looking for someone who is available and gets them in a billing situation probably within an hour. Even if nothing has come in, they now know you are ready to go - they won’t be waking up someone who is still an hour away from being showered, dressed and on the road.
I’m temping at a temp agency now. A few hints:
-Definitely work with more than one agency. We have workers who don’t and who call with increasing desperation every day wondering why we haven’t gotten them a job yet. I’m not allowed to tell them to register with another agency (as that would dilute our pool of available workers), but my God, they need to do so, for their own sake.
-Follow the rules for calling in available, even if they seem silly to you. The agency probably runs a report every day showing who’s currently available; if you haven’t called in, you won’t be on that list of people who can receive jobs.
-When you’re putting down the reason for leaving a job, don’t ever put down that your boss was unfair or something like that. Always put something like, “Looking for a greater opportunity,” when you really mean, “Wanted to get away from petty tyrant of a boss” or whatever. A lot of folks who describe how awful their previous boss was are really just not very good at working in a typical environment, and that can raise people’s hackles.
-Be nice to the front desk people!
Well, I just got back from the agency. I have one offer that I’m pondering at the moment. For more info, see this thread.
Overall, things went well. Both the receptionist and the woman who interviewed me commented that I was much more professionally dressed (coat and tie) than many potential temps. There was only one temp opportunity available (see the linked thread.)
Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and look into contacting some other temp agencies. Can anyone recommend any in northern VA? (preferably close to Arlington.) If nobody has any specific tips, I’ll just be looking through the yellow pages for agencies.
Thanks for all the help and keep any more advice you have coming.