Need a job fast. Temping tips? Chicago?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I wasn’t sure if this belongs in IMHO so I’ll understand if it gets moved.

I’m in a spot and need to look for something to tide me over for what may be an extended period. My problem is that I don’t have a lot of office skills. I can type around 30-35 wpm, I know some general html and css (but nothing fancy or in-depth, just enough to be able to maintain and add content to web sites), I’m very friendly and polite, have phone manners, and I’m easy to get along with.

I’m not scared of computers but I have no specific expertise. I know a smidgen about Word, an even smaller smidgen about Excel, and practically nothing about Outlook and Access. I’ve used various other programs but nothing that would be of any use in an office environment (Notepad, Ultra-Edit, CuteHTML, WS-FTP, Paint Shop Pro, Eudora, nothing useful).

I have no record, not even a speeding ticket going back 19 years. I don’t drink or take drugs. (ok, this paragraph was a strange thing to add, but I thought I should since y’all don’t know me).

Exactly how screwed am I? Are there any temp agencies that wouldn’t laugh me out of their office? I’ve heard there are tests and I’m sure I’d fail every one except for maybe the typing. I don’t know where to start, and know very little about temp agencies, but I need to find something, anything, very quickly.

Any suggestions for temp agencies and tips on how they might view someone like me would be very welcome. It doesn’t even have to be an office job. I was actually eyeing an ad for a security guard, but you had to have a car and we don’t own one by choice, because we’ve never needed one in Chicago.

I should probably mention that I’m 51, another big strike against me. I’m on the verge of real depression here and I want to find something before it takes over and I really will be useless.

Thank you for reading.

2

Do you have any work experience? Some temp positions don’t require any real skills. For example - steaming the wrinkles out of returned clothes at a mail order catalog warehouse returns processing facility, or picking/packing orders. Generally, temp jobs are shitty, repetitive, poor paying jobs with high turnover, so if you’ve got the moxie to do it they’ll usually have something for you. Good luck.

3

You’re pretty much qualified to be a legal assistant, or a filing clerk at the very least.

Try here: http://legal.jobs.net/Illinois-Chicago.htm

4

It helps to know what other skills you might have – any work experience. If you are only mentioning the office work aspect because you want an easy, regular schedule, you are unlikely to find that through a temp agency anyway. If you are desperate enough to (and capable of) working hard, you’d be better off applying directly for some things. I don’t know if you have any Publix stores in Chicago yet, but they tend to pay really well around here – better than you can get in most offices with your minimum skill level and more than most temp jobs. Remember, a temp agency is charging the company more than you are getting paid. Also, places like $tarbucks pay a little better and offer some limited benefits for their PT people – which might help you out as well. Good luck!

5

General office temp agencies tend to get a lot of dreck washed up on their shores. If you walk into a temp agency dressed professionally and able to write and express yourself as well as you do on the Boards, you will be ahead of about 95% of the applicants they see for general office work. The skills you listed should be able to get you a $10-$12 per hour job as an office assistant, receptionist, etc. Your age is actually in your favor if have a decent front-office appearance. If they insist on know ing what you are looking for, tell them Administrative assistant or general office assitant. Try to avoid the non-office jobs - you don’t want to end up doing second-shift meat packing if you can help it.

Have a resume with you, as well as your job history for the last 10-15 years - names, phone numbers, addresses. If your job experience is light, add in any volunteer work you may have done as well. Take in 3 personal references (name, phone, address).

The testing is often very simple unless you are applying for a very specific profession. typing test, data entry test, spelling test, etc. If you know a little bit about Word and Excel, you can fake your way through the tests, which are often laughably simple.

Approach the general agencies like Manpower. Usually, once you have proven that you can show up reliably to a job and make an employer happy for a week, the agency will love you and keep you working. If you can commit to longer term contracts, that can be a big plus too.

Sign up with several agencies and be prepared to call them all daily to keep your name on their minds. Good luck!

6

Thank you Winston Smith, Litoris, Really Not All That Bright and Mrs. Cake.

I wasn’t sure whether to take you seriously or not. I assume you’re joking? I have no legal experience at all. I kind of trembled in fright just looking at that page.

My work experience has been in places that I never want to experience again (factory worker, truck driver, driving cars, and I worked in a warehouse that went out of business). I’ve never had to “look nice” for a job but I do know better than to show up in jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t have any “professional clothes” but then, I wouldn’t be qualified for any job that required such clothes anyway. Skirts and blouses are about as professional-looking as I can get. I have had two office jobs, years and years and years ago, but they were pud simple and I only had to answer phones and do light typing (it’s where I learned how to type), plus mail room, which I actually liked, but nothing that would be impressive. I tried turning my hobbies and creative interests into a career and that failed miserably, so now I’m back at square one in the job market, a scary prospect for someone my age.

I’m a very simple-living person, with no debts beyond monthly bills, and my only money sink is going to the movies, a relatively cheap hobby which I supplement with discount and free passes, so I just need something to pay those bills, not dig me out of a hole or anything.

Manpower, that’s a name I need. I’ll look them up.

7

Don’t limit yourself to a single temp agency. There are bunches of them; check the phone book or Google. You’re wanting what’s called “temp-to-hire” opportunities. That’s how I’ve gotten a number of my jobs in the past. Companies contract with the temp agencies to do the interviewing for them.

8

Thank you Otto.

I just called Manpower and they’re going to set up an appointment for me. That’s a start!

9

If you’re comfortable on the phone, that can work in your favor. From what I understand, not a lot of temps are willing to work phones as temporary receptionist or what-have-you. I refused to do it when I was temping.

I once had a weeklong temp job filing, and another making copies. Do you know the alphabet? Like to organize stuff? It’s not all computer work. And a lot of data entry is just following the bouncing ball. Repetitive and boring, but easy.

Not all factory temp jobs are horrible. Back when Mr. S was temping, he did quite a bit of work for Smuckers (through Adecco): packaging jams and syrups and such. He had pleasant co-workers and good bosses. It was hard work but he liked it.

I also had a not-bad job in college assembling hospital furniture. No skill required.

Mr. S also signed up to sub as a custodian for several school districts in the area. When somebody went on vacation or called in sick, he was on board. He worked several months to replace someone who was out on disability.

Believe me, having a work ethic and a pleasant manner and showing up reliably will get you farther than you think. Skills can be taught; attitude not so much.

And yeah, sign up with a bunch of agencies. Between all of them, they might keep you busy full-time or more.

10

I’ll second the statement that the Word and Excel tests are easy. For Kelly services, they’ll test you and assign you an experience level. If you score at only entry level, that can still get you a job. Also, you can repeat the test and any office exposure to the program will increase your level. In fact, exposure to the tests can do it.

Both the software and the typing tests are given through a program. I retook the typing test because it took me a bit to get used to the program’s style. After that it was cake.

If you’d be happy doing mail room jobs, be sure to let them know, although a lot of mail room jobs include envelope stuffing. Some temp offices get inventory jobs that require a lot of walking and standing. My son got a one day job wearing a tiger suit and passing out bottled water with a couple of models. So mention any experience you have, even if you don’t think it would apply to an office.

Advice about the tiger suit - it was hot and smelly and he turned down an offer to dress up as another animal on another gig. He did work as a fuzz plucker one election day. Other than that he mostly stuffed envelopes and sorted mail. He was just out of high school at the time and didn’t want to do office work. He eventually went into IT.

11

Scarlett67, you are right on the mark when you say a good work ethic and pleasant manner are also assets. You absolutely must emphasize that in the interview! Equipoise, you and are in the same boat in terms of being out of work and scared to death. I decided what I needed to do was sell the hell out of myself and show my sense of humor in the interviews, so that I stand out in some fashion. All things being equal when they narrow down the applicants, (hopefully) my sense of humor and personality will make me more memorable.

Actually, when I went through a staffing agency a few years ago, they got some agreement, guarantee, whatever, that I would not apply at any other staffing places. I don’t remember if it was in writing or if I had to sign anything though.

Try craigslist too. I got an interview from an ad I found there.

Most importantly, keep your chin up. You can get through this!

12

It’s not hard to put together a professional outfit, if you really don’t care about fashion you can get perfectly find stuff from the discount racks at Target and TJMaxx (actually even if you do care about fashion you can still find stuff for cheap). A few pairs of non-denim pants, some of these ladies T-shirts with the finished neckline, and 3 or 4 cardigans and your all set. Keep in mind a lot of companies have gone to ‘business casual’, a skirt and a blouse is more formal than a lot of women wear to work these days. And this is Chicago after all, we’re not really much of a high-fashion town.

ETA: i think clothes is a secondary point here but I’m a fan of what-to-wear threads so I say don’t be afraid to ask for advice if it will make you feel more confident. And best wishes!

13

I second the recommendation to apply at several temp companies. My company has a contract with Adecco, for example, and we hire temps for everything from warehouse work to collections people. Very often when we need short-term warehouse help, they’ll tell Adecco they need 20 people and only 7 will show up.

StG

14

Thank you Scarlett67, Yllaria, Rascal’s Mom, sugar and spice and StGermain, thank you everyone. Please know that I’m reading everything and taking it all in. Your advice is much appreciated.

I just took an online test sent to me by Manpower. It was for Access and since I don’t know the program I know I didn’t do well. However, I’m sure I did much better than I thought I would, because much of it was common sense, looking for the right File/Edit/View/etc tab and seeing what looked applicable. It didn’t give me results and I didn’t keep track because I thought it would give me results, but I might have gotten around 15-18 out of 26 questions correct. I wish it had given me my results.

15

I hated doing the computer tests back in the day. They were so stupid. My least favorite was the one where you had to do things multiple times in Word but not the same way twice. Like, cut this sentnece using a keyboard shortcut, now cut it using the mouse kind of stuff. Utterly pointless IMHO. Who cares if you know three different ways of doing the same thing so long as you know one?

16

Back to the clothes…

It’s pretty easy to look nice on the cheap. I own one actual suit that I only bought because I was interviewing for a director-level job. Clean, pressed, not jeans or t-shirts is pretty much it. Nearly everything I have is mix and match skirts, jackets and tops. I have a broad-shouldered build and have had good luck at the thrift store buying men’s suit jackets (plain colored), adding a cheap longish shirt and knit top and ending up with a reasonable facsimile of a professional outfit for about $25, and each piece could work with almost every other piece I owned.

What I found in my many temp experiences was if it’s not jeans, it’s professional. Apparently a lot of people go in for interviews and testing in whatever they woke up in, so it was pretty easy to impress even when I had less office skills than you do now.

17

I signed up with Office Team, thinking I’d bomb out on the tests, too - but I came in as “Advanced” for Excel and Word. And, office team sent my info out to their partner company, Accountemps.

Good deal, all around!

18

You’d be surprised at what skills you can pick up; during my year and a bit at Wal-Mart I was the backup operator (that is, I answered the phone). That was a big factor in getting the job I have now, which is making hotel reservations. I only have one phone line to worry about and I type more than fast enough. I have virtually no other office experience, but I managed to land this one. There might be something in your work history than an agency jumps at, you never know.

WM can kiss my behind, but I now have a nice part-time office job.

19

Don’t underestimate yourself, you haven’t seen what the cat drags in for temp agencies (I was a temp and hired them).

Register with several agencies.

Be willing to do anything - stuff envelopes, file, answer phones, light industrial, heavy industrial - even (gasp!) telemarket if you can stand it. Do it with a good attitude (even if you have to go home and throw things at the wall after).

Get up every morning at 7:00. Shower and dress. Call the agency at 7:30 “has anything come in, I’m available today and ready to go” Call again at 8:00 and at 8:30 and at 9:00. You have several agencies to call, remember? If nothing comes in by 9:00, you can put your feet up and relax (but don’t change until 10:00). Temp assignments are often “the person who was going to file didn’t show up today.”

Lots of temp assignments involved filling a desk while you answer the occasional phone. Bring something to work on, like a copy of word for dummies. Or a timer and a book of typing exercises. Use the time they are paying you to improve your skills. Most times, the client will be impressed by your initiative, and give good feedback to the agency.

As to professional clothes, a trip to Goodwill should set you up cheap if you truly have nothing. But blouses and skirts are more than fine.

20

Thank you Dangerosa, whiterabbit, Fetchund, Mrs. Cake and Otto. I’m very much appreciating the tips.

Ha, all of the ads on the temp sites have photos of young, well-dressed, impeccably made-up women. It’s a bit intimidating, so that made me smile.

Ugh, I want to go out and apply to a bunch of places tomorrow but we’re supposed to get 9" of snow. I wonder what the agencies would think if I came in wearing a good blouse, but long winter pants and snow boots. I don’t know about finding a bathroom where I can change into a skirt and shoes both before and after I go into the office.