Ok - I’ve been seeking a job for close to a year simply because I refuse to be PIMPED out by a fuckin Temp Service.
Companies that genuinely need temporary help to move offices or some other really short term immediate project may be excused.
Companies that use Pimp Services to screen all their employees are fuckin low - What is the point of having a Human Resources Dept when everybody can be pimped out and let the pimp whip that bitch who won’t put out.
Fill out app for co - fill out app for pimp then app again IF they like you after your 90 days or 6 months.
What a run-around and guess who pays for it in the long run?
I got pimped once and never again.
You’re being pretty stupid. Temp jobs can suck, but they’re a great way to build experience. And if you really don’t like one, you can have the agency assign you somewhere else. And if you find a good agency and a good temp job and make a good impression, you can get an excellent full-time job. If you’ve been out of a job for a year I reccomend you swallow your pride and start exploring real options.
Yeah, you could get a full time job. Or you could end up like me. I’ve been a “temp” on the same job for almost five YEARS now. The company I indirectly work for figures it’s cheaper to pay the temp agency $4 for every hour I work just to print paychecks for me than it is to hire me on and pay a portion of my health insurance.
I’ll have to agree you’re pretty stupid, too. I got some of my best jobs by starting off as a temp, including the one I’m in now. And the way the economy is right now, anything that gets your foot in the door is a good idea.
But, then again, you always have the option of wallowing in unemployment, and while that may be fun for you, it sure as hell wasn’t for me…
I’m having a hard time understanding what is so bad about being able to try out a job for a few months basically risk-free. You get to audition the company as well as they you, you know. You know before committing to work there what the conditions and your coworkers are like. I’ve had temp jobs that I loved–and a few that I hated, and I was damn glad I didn’t have to work there permanently.
I worked as a contract engineer (Aeroteck Automotive) and made MORE than others who were full time at Generous MOTORS. Yes, I had full benefits (life, health, etc.) and a 401(k). Yes, if I wasn’t relocating to Cinti I would have been full time by now!
If that’s the way to get your foot in the door------it sounds good to me especially in this economy.
I was once hired as a temp so that an employee could go on maternity leave. Turned out I was making about 50% more as a temp than the mother-to-be (who was training me to take her place–we talked, you know . . . ).
When she found that out, she didn’t come back.
(I did emphasize that I didn’t get any benefits, but she insisted that hers weren’t that good.)
Mr. S has been working for a temp service – at the same job for the same company – fairly regularly for about a year or so. After working so many hours, workers are eligible for paid vacations and health/life insurance. The people at the job are OK to work with and the bosses and temp company people treat him well. Plus, even though he hasn’t earned paid vacation yet, he can get time off whenever he wants by simply turning down shifts, with no penalty.
Even though the pay isn’t phenomenal, it’s a nice supplement to what I make. The last few weeks he’s been working full-time, and that should continue through the summer.
In this economy, it’s a pretty sweet deal for basically unskilled labor.
Yup, I’ve been temping for about 8 months now and have no complaints. I’ve had 3 job offers for permanent employment from some of those jobs but have been unable to take them up due to outside forces.
Temping is the best. Don’t think of them as “pimps”. Think of them as “agents.” And think of yourself as lazy and unambitious if you can’t find work after a year (when it’s obviously right under your nose). Unless you work for yourself, you’ll always be somebody’s ‘ho’.
tcdaniel, I was a temp for 6 years, and I agree with you mostly that it sucks, and that you get treated with no respect and human dignity, but there are ways to work the system so that you get maximum benefit for minimum arse-reaming. You can choose your jobs carefully; don’t accept any assignments that don’t suit you (pimp agencies don’t like their hos thinking for themselves, but that would be their problem, not yours). Only take jobs that will turn permanent, if that is your ultimate goal. Don’t stay at any company longer than a set time (mine was 6 months - if they needed me longer than 6 months, then they needed to hire me). Quit any temp job that is abusive or has you working in uncomfortable/unsafe conditions (the pimp agencies don’t like this either, but that again is their problem). Screen your pimp agency like they screen you; agencies that kept me waiting long periods for interviews, etc. were off my list.
(neutron star, have you checked your local labour laws about how long companies can keep temps? Here in Alberta, employers are not allowed to keep temps longer than 2 years, the rationale being that if you’re there for two years, you’re needed as a regular employee and should be hired as such.)
I’ve been a temp for 7 years. As an aspiring actor/writer/producer I don’t want a full time job. If I did, I could get one, but since I don’t, I have a part time job. If I have an audition or rehearsal I just call in and say I won’t be there. I’m a temp - it is expected. I work 4 hours a day typically (right now). I’m a temp - it’s expected. I’m habitually late. I’m a temp - it is expected. If I want that really cool new digital camera, I sign on for more hours until I’ve earned enough and then go back to part time. I’ve been lucky to have assignments as much or as little as I want them. Temping has been perfect for me and it beats the hell out of waiting on tables (which I also have done). I get paid a pretty good hourly wage and it goes up by half if I work the graveyard shift. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Temp agencies aren’t inherently bad, they just aren’t right for everyone. I play mine like a fiddle. They suit me just fine. Of course, once I get to a job I hardly work instead of work hard because I HATE administrative work - but I’m a temp so it’s expected.
My Pimp Service, on the other hand, sucks. I mean, if you tell me you are going to send over a busty blonde don’t send me a flat-chested brunette. Things aint like they used to be . . .
I haven’t, but I doubt there’s a law against it in this country. I mean I could be wrong. (Hell I don’t even know how I’d go about checking a labor law.)
It sure would be nice to live in one of the plethora of countries whose governments require businesses to give their employees paid vacation time (2 weeks in most countries), but apparently the richest country in the world can’t afford such an extravagence.
I’ve never had a paid vacation day. I’ve never had a paid sick day. I’ve never had a paid holiday. When my grandfather died and I flew up to Pennsylvania for his funeral, the three days I missed came out of my own pocket. Same deal with the week I took off to get married.
My temp agency offers insurance, but it’s absurdly expensive; I’d have to pay almost as much as my monthly rent to get any kind of coverage. That’s not an option. Indeed, it’s almost an insult.
Also, I get the joy of taking an unpaid hour (at least) out of every week filling out my timecard, getting it signed, calling in my hours (which has to be done before 9AM), then driving across town to the temp place in heavy traffic to pickup my paycheck.
As someone who worked as a pimp, I mean placement counselor, I don’t disagree that temping can lack in dignity. I don’t really think tcdaniel is right about companies’ motivations for using temps. I don’t think most employers think that sophisticatedly, quite frankly. If someone is in a temp to perm assignment and they don’t get the job, well they weren’t good enough for the job is the way I see it. But most long-term assignments aren’t temp to perm, even though it’s easy for temps to start to see it that way and to start to feel at home on the job. People use long term temps for a lot of reasons, often due to union restrictions on hiring or to save on benefits. On the other hand, there are often temp assignments that have no promise of perm hire that lead to terrific OTHER jobs in the company. When I left NYC I left pimping and started temping myself. One of my assignments was a maternity leave which lasted long enough for people to get to know me a little and for me to get to know where the job postings were kept. I’ve been here in another capacity more than five years, that’s longer by two years than I’ve been with any other employer.
