It is also possible to use the Temp Agency as an ‘in’ to a specific company or industry. If there is a company you are interested in working for, call their HR department and ask which temp agency they use. Then sign up with that agency and tell them you came to them because you are interested in the specific company. Next thing you know, you’ve got a gig at the company you want to work for!
bufftabby, I’m not sure what your line of work is, but there are a lot of jobs locally (we’re in the same locale) that hire their permanant employees through temp-to-hire positions. I’ve gotten several good jobs over the years doing that.
I also second (third?) the Robert Half agency. When I was doing short term temping, they provided some interesting jobs.
If you have reliable transportation, you might want to try something outside of the 'Boro proper. Usually, you’ll make more money for the same type jobs.
If you would like to hear about some of my local experiences on the subject, e-mail me.
Good luck!
One warning about Robert Half. They’re a huge agency, but the reason they got so big is because they steal 40% of your paycheck. I used to work for them and although I was making $15/hr, the client was getting billed $25/hr and treated me like a $25/hr employee.
The agency I’m with now (ExecuSearch) is much more reasonable with the % they take, which results in higher paying jobs for the temp.
That’s good advice, fusoya, but I’ve never had an agency volunteer to tell me how much they were charging for me (only what they were paying me). Do they just tell you when you ask?
Nothing personal, I’m sure, but quite tasteless.
It’s not stealing - it’s how they make money!
They are profit-making organizations and, let me tell you, when I placed temps in Olsten’s of Rego Park, Queens 40% was on the low end of my markup.
Keep in mind, I would never want to do this work again, but back in the day I made from, say 32% to 75% on placements. I also made commission when my temps went perm, even if I had little to do with that part of the deal. And it was pretty good money too. We didn’t get commission on temp placements, btw. I was just a good little soldier.
Anyway, at Olsten’s (now Adecco) we were told to average about 55% markup.
At the smaller agencies I worked for, markup wasn’t quite as high, but then, they were small. If we’d been more bold, we would have had more money and if we’d had more money we’d be big.
We never told the temps what we were getting paid and we never told clients what we were paying, but sometimes they’d talk amongst themselves and then be shocked. Even in hindsight I thing that’s naive.
So, basically, to anyone thinking of temping, a word to the wise - the agency is doing this to make money, not to be nice.
And, yes, I think it’s a soul-less, heart-less industry. I’ve worked outside that world for 13 years and got my current job doing what the agencies would call stealing a client - I went perm within 60 days of my last day temping there and didn’t tell the agency.
I have a piece of my own advice to add after yesterday: check with them for their application times, because the one I’m most interested in (WPS, for you locals) only wants to talk between 8-10. D’oh! Let’s try again today!
Did they at least send you home with the paperwork you have to fill out?
Luck luck! Keep us posted…
Wow, you guys weren’t kidding about some people having no sense of what’s appropriate to wear while trying to get a job at these places! I’ve been here for an hour (gotta love an hour’s worth of paperwork before I even know if they want me…), and I’m easily the most appropriately dressed person here. Gah, I hope all these other people’s names are called while they’re out smoking, and I get bumped up on the list.
I usually work in accounting, so I see my own invoices - I almost always know what I’m making and what the agency is charging (and what everyone is is billing out for, too). The markup doesn’t bother me as long as I’m getting a fair wage. I have no compunction about discussing my wages with my clients, either, even though agencies say to never, ever do that. I messed up a two-agency job once, because I told the temps from the other agency what the temps from my agency were getting - it was quite enjoyable for me to watch the ensuing brouhaha (I have no particular love for temp agencies). 
Good luck with the agency, tabby. It is a lot of hoops to jump through at first, but if you get a good agency that keeps you in good jobs, you only have to do it once.
Absolutely tasteless. Believe me…when the whole department goes to the auditorium to open presents and eat food and do holiday stuff…and they tell you to stay behind and answer their phones…it truly sucks.
i’m with you on the temp thing. this will be the third time i signed up, but i think unless something happens between now and monday, the first time i will be placed.
twice i signed up but got a job before i was placed by them.
good luck! and i hope you find a great new place soon.
hey bufftabby! any news? how is the temp thing going?
I’m surprised it took to post 17 for someone to say this. At the height of my temping, just out of school, I was signed up with six different agencies. When I didn’t have a gig, I’d just go right down the line until I found something. As temp agencies will rarely come after you, this doesn’t mean that you’re turning down assignments left and right, but rather that you have options.