Temps are, by nature, temporary. You don’t owe them jack shit. Don’t get yourself into a situation like this again.
Being a temp doesn’t mean I don’t take the jobs I’m assigned seriously. I’m not just some slacker kid off the street. I’m an accounts payable professional with thirty years experience. As such, I don’t take my work promises lightly. And no, replacing me is not just having another warm body in my swivel chair. Not just anybody can do what I do.
I know that if it suited them, most companies would toss me out without any hesitation such as I have. It’s happened to me more than once, in fact. That doesn’t mean that I should repay my employers in kind.
Today, I’m philosophical about what happened. After all, it wasn’t for certain that the other client would’ve hired me. And I would at least like to think that any company I would work for would let me honor a promise made to a former employer. I mean, show a little class.
It has to be. Because that’s almost always the only reward you get.
I had a temp agency threaten to sue me when I gave them a week’s notice that I was going to a much better position. This from a company that would have given me notice measured in hours if they wanted to get rid of me from an assignment (I had one agency that fired me on my answering machine - don’t come in tomorrow). Temp agencies are all about the one-way street - they want you to fulfill your obligations to them without expecting any commitment in return from them.
It’s great that you have integrity, but temp agencies don’t deserve it.
It’s not the temp agency I’ve promised. It’s the company they sent me to, and I have no reason to shaft them. Although if this company had any sense, they’d hire a permanent person for what I’m doing. Like me f’rinstance. But I’m not counting on it.
Companies today don’t want to pay benefits if they can find a way out of it. That’s why they use temps.
Err, nobody said this? We’re saying you’ve been there for less than one week, and it’s not the most horrible thing in the world that you’d leave a temp gig you’ve been at for all of *days *in order to take a better position offered, even if it cuts into the notice you said you’d give.
You screwed yourself over by making a promise that may not be in your best interests to keep.
I use temps all the time. I appreciate it (and expect it) when they can give me notice, but I also understand that there are circumstances that arise where they have to do what is best for them because they are trying to survive in a tough economy. I don’t hold it against them. There are thousands of other temps to choose from to replace them. It sucks to have to train another person, but that is what happens when you have temps. They come and go.
I was a temp for several years when I was younger. We’re not judging you. Some of us have been in your shoes, for goodness’ sakes.
The key word is “temp” - meaning that company could just as easily have sent you home if you so much as put your lunch in their fridge, not knowing it was company policy.
Sorry to say, but I think you missed the boat with this one. You need a job - and while integrity is something to be valued, you NEED A JOB! You could have gone to your temp boss and been honest - perhaps they would have offered you at least a longer-term position there? If not, only a fool would not have understood why you were doing what you were doing. Plus, if there was worked stacked high, it would appear they have survived without a temp for quite awhile and could survive a few hours until the next temp arrived.
That said, I have gotten some of my best jobs through temp agencies. One job was supposed to be for three weeks - five YEARS later, that job ended.
Another job was supposed to be for a week - that job ended two YEARS later.
I will grant you that the “new” job seems a tad fishy - no interview, start immediately, no notice?! It might be that you possibly dodged a bullet - as few places are that rigid when hiring a new person full time, unless they are insane to work for and people quit right and left after short periods of time at that location.
At any rate - this is all moot now, correct? That ship has sailed?
Yeah, I think the lesson to take from this is to not make the same mistake again.
A company who is hiring you temp rather than hire a full-time employee, especially in a situation such as you’ve described, is deliberately doing their very best to screw over the people working for them, regardless of how much trouble they cause themselves in doing so. They will have absolutely no loyalty towards you.
Whatever dire situation they’ve created for themselves is their problem, not yours.
So don’t make them promises. Simple as that.
You’ve been there a day. This isn’t a knock on you, but if you’re that good at it already they can probably find someone else as you’re learning curve wasn’t that long.
I would be wary of the other position w/o knowing more details, though.
It sounds like you are on an assignment through one agency, but it was a different agency that offered the second opportunity?
I’ve been both a temp, and ran a temp agency for many years, so let me give you my perspective.
When you accept a job, you’ve made a commitment, not to the client, but to your employer — the temp agency — to complete it. But we all know that our temps are usually looking for full-time work, so we expect people to fall out when an opportunity arises.
So if you called me and told me that another agency has offered you an opportunity, closer to home, for more money, with the possibility of permanent employment, I would be able to either go to my boss and ask if we could cut into our profit and raise your pay on your current assignment, or call the client and explain that they might lose you and give them an opportunity to offer more money to keep you there. And if neither were possible, as much notice as you could give would be ideal, but you don’t “owe” us or the client, even if you promised them, a week’s notice.
What you’ve forgotten in this is that as much as you like the place you’re working, you don’t work for them, you work for the temp agency. And the temp agency can be your advocate in a situation like this, and also cover your ass if you need to move on.
The other thing you should know is that Temp Agency #2 may be bullshitting you about there not being an opportunity to interview. Tell them you’d need to at least interview by phone before deciding to leave your current job. Part of the benefit of working temp is that you get to decide what jobs to take or not. And it’s as much your choice as it is the client’s. I wouldn’t jump ship from a long-term assignment to some unknown where I could hate it on Day 1 without an interview. No way.
So just follow up with Agency 2 today, ask if they presented you to their client (which you told them they were welcome to do). If they say no, ask them to do so. And if the client is unwilling to talk to you on the phone, I’m with those who say RED FLAGS are all over this thing and be glad you didn’t jump at it. A reasonable company would be more than happy to have a phone conversation if they liked your resume and you requested that. One that would refuse such a simple request is one that will be unreasonable in every other aspect of how they run their business and you don’t want to work for them anyway. Trust me.
Now go make that call.
And quit talking to the client as if they’re your employer. Let your agency do the “dirty” work on your behalf. And if you do take the other position, just say, “I’m terribly sorry. I know I promised you a week’s notice, but I did so assuming any potential employer would be amenable to that. Unfortunately this one wasn’t, and I can’t pass up the opportunity for full-time employment. I’m sure you understand. Best of luck to you.” Then move on. The temp agency will do right by the client and get them someone else to fill in.