Not sure if this is the right forum; I believe so… if not, I’m sure it will be moved accordingly.
Basically, I’m looking for a nice summer job… and what with the economy being so sucky, I was thinking about working for a temp agency. Have them call me in the morning and tell me where to go and what to do for the day. That way, the work environment will pretty much be always changing, and that’s something I’d enjoy.
I’m not looking to earn an extraordinary amount of money over the summer, just enough to keep me busy and have a little cash to spend on the weekends.
Has anyone had any experience working in such places? Does anyone have any idea of how I might go about getting hired by one? I live in the Richmond, VA area if it helps.
I have no experience with temp agencies. While I’ve seen that route touted on this board, I’ve also seen it declared here of late that assignments are not as easy to come by.
I’ve worked with Manpower in two different offices here in MI and the jobs they’ve gotten me have been okay, but the people at Manpower have really treated me like shit.
Oh, the story of my life. I’ve been temping for years.
Call several agencies, and good luck getting in. Years ago, anybody would interview. Now, a lot of them say “send us your resume, and we’ll call you.” Keep calling around.
Bone up on MS Office Suite, if you need to, and typing, if that’s the sort of jobs you’re going for. I find the testing procedure to be very standard, and very easy. If you ace the testing, you’ll get assignments – if there are any. It’s all a crapshoot these days.
Also, don’t count on the assignments changing. I’d rather have multiple assignments, but I keep getting these long-term gigs.
Keep in mind too, very often when a business has to call in a temp, it’s because they’re in deep doodoo of some sort. Be prepared to be in a stressful situation. (If you’re good, though, you can make people love you to death for saving their butts!)
If you’re a guy, you’ll have no trouble getting on for the summer. Construction, baby. Temping can be fun, you get to meet lots of new people and do new things, but the shaky income sucks.
FWIW, Manpower here is the shittiest. They don’t pay anything. If there’s a Kelly Services where you live, try them.
I used to temp. Sometimes the assignments were short, but a lot of the time they were REALLY long-term assignments. Occasionally, they’d be for several months. It was always the really horrible companies that wanted someone long-term. No big surprise as to why they couldn’t keep employees.
The last temp agency I worked with was locally owned. They were nice for a while, but ended up being real asshats. (Very long and detailed story.)
Not a bad idea, as long as it’s only for the summer. Just be prepared to work at one place for most of that time.
A few tips-
Look as business-like as possible when you go in for the interview. There aren’t as many companies using agencies as there were a little while ago, so the agencies put a lot of emphasis on how “professional and up-scale” their employees are. If you look and sound really good, they’ll hire you over Joe TeeShirt.
I second the suggestion that you brush up on as many office/typing/filing skills as possible. That’s probably what kind of work you’ll find the most of.
Be really flexible when they ask you about what hours/days you’d like to work. You’ll get more jobs than someone who will only work standard days and hours.
Be perky. Be so damn perky that they choke. Temp agencies eat that crap right up. But don’t be flaky. The trick is to be as sunny and cheerful as possible, while still coming off as confident and capable. Be prepared to keep this up every time you see them or speak with them on the phone.
Last, but not least- If you do get hired, get really good directions when they call you with a job. They will send you to places in your city that neither you nor anyone you know has ever heard of. And they really don’t like it when you’re late. Trust me.