I recently lost my job and have filled out applications for three temp agencies in the past week hoping to find work. I haven’t had a lead with one but the second and third have both shown interest with the second, Manpower, just calling me to ask if I could come in on the fifth for possible placement at a call center about twenty miles away making $8.25 an hour.
I said yes as I am genuinely interested in the position but there is also a pretty good chance that I may get a job through the third agency making $10 an hour at a customer service center here in town and I would obviously prefer it if given a choice between the two but I won’t know for certain until the twelfth. Assuming that I actually do get both jobs, is there any way I could take the better paying local job without burning bridges with Manpower? Is it possible to quit from a temporary assignment without being blacklisted from the agency employing you? Especially if it is with a rival company?
The only solution I can think of is to call on Monday and tell them that I cannot make it in and then hope I get the other job the following week but the other job is not assured and it could still hurt my reputation anyway and I would prefer to keep my record with them as clean as possible so I could continue to use them in the future if I so required.
Most employers are well aware that potential employees might turn down an offer if they get something better and this is especially true at temp agencies. All you have to do is tell them why if you need to take something better for you. I seriously doubt they will hold it against you permanently and although they may keep files or databases of that type of thing, an honest explanation with reasons that anyone could understand shouldn’t hurt you. They have other people that can fill in during both the short and long term. Moving bodies to places of need is what they do. People that temp often work for more than one agency to ensure regular gigs.
Whatever you do, don’t call Monday morning or leave a message over the weekend cancelling a job that starts that day. There is NOTHING a placement counselor hates more. I really don’t know why people think temp agencies are so understanding about things like that. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be, but they’re not. So, basically give as much notice as possible and don’t do it on a Monday morning and you should be okay.
So, to be clear, you would suggest taking this job and then the other with an explanation if it’s offered?
I guess I have heard and read too many horror stories about temporary agencies that’re supposedly out to get their clients or so poorly run that any offense will get you blacklisted that I’ve started to believe some of it in my general inexperience with them.
I would tell them that you’re still waiting to hear about the second job, but let them know that you’ll still take this one if the other doesn’t come through. The only problems I’ve ever had with temp agencies were when I abruptly left a job with no warning. (Which, I’m ashamed to say, I’ve done a couple times over the years.)
Ditto that. Remember, if you accept a job with a temp agency, you are not their “client” - you are their employee, and/or the product they sell. It makes them look bad to their client (the business which called for the temp, who are they ones paying the bill) if you bail out without notice.
If you did that to my agency, you’d be “deadboxed” (inactivated, your application filed with the terminated employees) and probably have your file marked “DO NOT USE.”
By the way, in some states (like mine), turning down work for which you are qualified and available is grounds for denial of any unemployment benefits. If it were me, I’d accept the first temp position offered, remain open to hearing about/interviewing for other positions, and only leave one if offered another (unless the assignment ends first).
A good rule of thumb in dealing with temp agencies is this: if you cause them major inconvenience or cause them to lose a job order, they will not use you again unless it’s an emergency. They will probably not tell you they aren’t using you anymore; they’ll just not call you. You could do something 10 times and have it work out okay on their end, but if you do the same thing the 11th time and the client company reacts badly or all their other applicants with similar skill sets are unavailable, you become a “DNU”.
This happens all the time. Do exactly as Shagnasty advises. The nature of temp work is that employers realize a good temp employee will eventually (and probably sooner than later!) be offered a permanent position, and temp agencies certainly hope this as well. It’s possible too that the $8.25 an hour job will counter-offer to keep you if it is within their means and they like your performance enough. It has happened to me TWICE in my career. I actually got to choose between two employers who wanted to hire me permanently on two separate occasions, and a small bidding war was started. Neither of the agencies who marketed me and lost held it against me. They realized that I’d be back if I ever needed them in the future, and I was certainly worth their efforts to market. You sound very much worth all your temp agencies’ efforts to place, which will keep you in their good graces if you will just be up-front about which job you decide upon.
Agreed with **Rebecca ** and Shagnasty. I think you can be good to go to start on the 5th with job 1. If job 2 comes through, when would they need you to start? I think your worst-case scenario would probably be having to stick with job 1 until agency 1 can replace you with their client. There is no reason why you’d need to give a temp agency more than 2 week’s notice. This is call center work, and presumably they have a database full of people who can do that type of work.
The one thing you might want to ask about in advance if you can is whether job 2 has some type of structured training schedule for new employees. For example, I had a job once that started 3-week training sessions for new hires once a month. So if you miss the monthly start date you would need to wait until the next month.
Temp agencies will lie. They’re used car salespeople with fewer ethics.
They’ll pull jobs from you at the last second. They’ll change the pay you were offered. They’ll misrepresent the type of work you’re being asked to do.
Don’t feel back at all for leaving one job for another. Trust me, they won’t feel bad when they call at 6 one night and tell you not to report back for work the next day.
In Illinois, you don’t have to accept a job that pays less (or much less) than your previous position. I had an offer from a really bad temp joint for a lousy $7/hr, and I turned it down. They turned me in to the unemployment gods, made me go through the 3rd degree, and the unemployment dude sided with me.
When it comes to temp agencies, presume nothing. This agency may have just gotten into filling call center work and aren’t really prepared or they may have just had a string of bad luck with that client and are now scared to have to tell the client they need to replace you.
When it comes to temp agencies dalej42 speaks the truth as does YaWanna .
Bottom line, I guess, is that you have to do what you have to do and you’ll never know how it’s going to end up.
The other thing is, they may have picky temps. I never took call center or data entry work. I also had a minimum I would work for and preferred shorter term work (1 month or less).
I used to get offered permanent work every place I went. I got the impression that a lot of temps aren’t very good, the employer was always very impressed with little things.
I have worked for a lot of temp agencies and have gotten some great jobs through them.
Basic rule - be honest. Just tell them you “might” have a lead on a better paying job. They certainly understand that - after all, high paying jobs are their bread and butter. Let them know you will not know until the last minute and ask if they will be able to find someone else up as a fallback, should that other job appear.
If you are honest now, they know they can trust you so if you have to call back at a later date, they have less fear you will screw them over unexpectedly at the last moment.
Also, if there is ever a period of inactivity when none of the agencies call you, start calling them every day. Trust me, they will find you something knowing you are eager, and also just to get you to shut up and stop calling them. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.