To temp or not to temp (Recruitment Agencies in general)

Member Name: hellyphant

Product:	Recruitment Agencies in general
Date:	06/03/02 (2325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: no formal interviews, weekly wages paid into your account, you sit back, they find the work

Disadvantages: lack of security, the work is often mundane, no pay for sick leave or bank holidays

**UPDATED - 23/11/02 - SEE END**


After I finished uni, a long long ago in the summer of 1999 (I?m going to have that Prince song stuck in my head for the rest of the day now ? Great!), I was really unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. My degree was in English Literature ? ok, I read some interesting books while I was there, and spent several (hundred) entertaining seminars discussing the nature of phallic symbolism - from Marge Simpsons? hair-do to the thrusting of the stake in ?Dracula? and the orgasmic blood sucking of virginal necks ;-) ? but I mean, in the real world, none of that is exactly going to help you get a job or even decide what career you want. So it?s fair to say, that when I first ventured into the big wide world, I was well and truly stuck for ideas. The only thing I?d managed to decide was that I was going to move to London to be with my newly acquired boyfriend.

I guess I just fell into temping because I didn?t know what else to do. I think a lot of Londoners fall into the temping ?trap? if they don?t have a fixed idea of which field they want to work in. I?m in a permanent job now but since I was a temp for 2 whole years, I feel I have a fair bit of advice for anyone out there considering delving into the mundane world of temporary work. I hope someone out there finds my advice of some use!

* Which Temping Agency *

There are a lot of agencies out there to choose from. If you do have some idea of the field you want to work in, there quite a few agencies that specialise in particular areas, for example legal secretaries, media and publishing, catering, and care work (to name a few). The specialist agencies are however more difficult to get into, as they often require previous experience or relevant qualifications ? legal secretarial agencies for example, are highly prestigious (especially in London) and you will need to complete a fairly intensive legal secretarial diploma before they will even con
sider you for employment. I was also put off the catering and care work agencies because of the very poor pay they offer (often only slightly more than the minimum wage). In general, the best-paid temporary work for those without prior experience is office based, so if money is your main incentive (as mine was at the time), I would suggest you veer towards this field of work.

I know that some people have had bad experiences with particular agencies ? my sister for one. She worked for Pertemps in Birmingham ? they found her a very dull mind destroying data entry job and were late paying her. I think she only lasted a week. My experiences however, have been far more promising. During my two years of temping, I signed up with two agencies ? Kelly Services and Reed Employment ? both of which offer general office based work, although depending on the branch you sign up with, I have noticed that Reed Employment do offer other kinds of work. Check out their website for further details - www.reed.co.uk. Of the two, I would definitely recommend Reed Employment. They found me work in places such as the Children and Families Department at Social Services and my current job (where I am now a permanent member of staff) in a large secondary school. I was never out of work the whole time I was with them, the wages were good and they were very helpful, approachable and friendly. I really don?t have many complaints.

*How to sign up with an agency*

Probably the best thing about working for a temping agency is the fact that you don?t have to have a formal interview with an employer. You?re not competing with anyone. The agencies generally need you and the money you?re going to be earning for them, just as much as you need them. I signed up with Reed Employment via their website and the following day I was phoned by my local agency and asked to come in for an informal
chat. I had to fill out an application form and give them two references ? just like
for a normal job. Then I was asked a series of set questions that they have to ask everyone ? what are my interests, ambitions etc ? and (the question I hate most of all) - what are my best and worst qualities. The woman who interviewed me was very friendly though and when I struggled when trying to think of a suitable answer to what is my best quality, she found one for me. It?s best to say something like ? you?re trustworthy or honest or have great interpersonal skills.

I was then asked to take a series of tests so they could see how computer literate I was. I should point out that after leaving uni, I did do a basic diploma in key office skills with Pitmans Training Centre (www.pitmans.co.uk) - but I?m sure most people wouldn?t need to. Most people know their way around a computer by the time they?re 21. I was just procrastinating (for a change), wanting to remain a student for as long as possible. It set me back several hundred pounds and it?s not really worth it to be honest, although I have to admit that it does look quite impressive on my CV. Anyway ? the tests were split into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced and tested my knowledge on both Excel and Word. I found the tests very easy as most of the answers were quite obvious and I?m quite a good guesser (that?s how I managed to pass GCSE Maths!!). I was also tested on my typing speed.

I was then told I would be contacted as soon as suitable work came in, and if I didn?t like the sound of the work, I was free to turn it down. I liked the sound of that ? although if you?re willing to do anything, you obviously make a better impression on the agency and start earning that essential money (yay!) sooner rather than later.

*The best time to sign up with an agency*

I signed on with Kelly Services in the month of September ? which is probably the best time of year as all the students are going back to uni and jobs are more plentiful. You may have problems if you try a tempi
ng agency at either Easter, Christmas or during the Summer break. I tried once and several agencies turned me away because their books were full of students.

*What is the pay like*

Temps are paid weekly rather than monthly like permanent employees. I liked this, as it meant I always had money in my account. I wasn?t loaded at the beginning of the month and then broke at the end ? which is what seems to happen now.

Generally, in most temporary jobs you are paid for the time you actually spend at work. Confused? Well, in my opinion, a lot of permanent employees get ripped off. A lot of business don?t pay employees overtime - the school I work in at the moment for instance. If you come in early or work through your lunch break, you don?t get paid any extra. You just get your usual monthly wage. Temping is different. If you work for 8 hours and 17 minutes, you get paid for exactly that. I often worked through my lunch break to earn that extra bit of money, or came in 10 minutes early and it all added up!

I was quite impressed when the agency told me how much I would be earning per hour. Maybe because the only proper job I?d had before that was a summer job in Marks and Spencers, where I was on £4.70 per hour. In my first temping job, I made £7 per hour, which worked out, after tax, at about £240 per week. Wages will probably differ in different parts of the country. I?m assuming I was fairly well paid because I was working in London. My wages went up with each new ?assignment? (temp jargon for job), and in my last assignment I was on £8.50 ph. My boyfriend is a supervisor at Virgin Megastore and he earns A LOT less.

Most temping agencies nowadays offer holiday pay. With Reed Employment, once
you have worked for them for 13 consecutive weeks, you are entitled to 4 weeks paid holiday per year ? pretty much like in a normal job. However, you don?t get paid for Bank Holidays or for any time you may have off while sick. <
br>
Some agencies provide their temps with a weekly travel allowance (Reed Employment being one). However, if you join an agency in your local area, they should be able to find you work nearby and travel costs should be fairly low.



*How will I be treated in the work place*

It?s true that some businesses do make their temps do the mundane jobs that their employees don?t like, e.g. filing, photocopying, and even making tea and coffee. I have, on occasion, heard staff say ?Oh, don?t worry, we?ll get the temp to do that?. Also, most permanent employees, especially females who work in offices, seem to form strong giggly friendship gangs and are unwilling to let anyone, especially a temp who is not going to be around for long, get too close. Sometimes it?s a bit like being an outsider at school. Not a nice feeling.

However, most of my temp jobs have been fairly long-term ? my last ?temp? job lasted almost a year ? so I?ve been lucky, on the whole. And once employers realise that you are reliable, that you turn up for work on time every day (lots of temps don?t!), and that you are actually willing to work, they do treat you with respect. I?ve been given a lot of responsibility during my time temping, often being left in charge of an entire office while meetings are being held.

*Why do I want to be a temp*

This is something you need to think long and hard about. As I have pointed out, there are a lot of benefits to temping, but speaking from experience, I know that it?s easy to get sucked into the temping world and very difficult to get out of it. I don?t particularly like office
work ? it?s very mundane and there is little job satisfaction ? but it?s easy and comfortable and while I was temping I became very lazy, too lazy to bother looking for a proper job. There is also little security with temporary work ? your employer - or the agency ? have every right to say to you ?sorry, don?t come back tomorrow, w
e don?t need you anymore?. Temping is great if you?re using it as a stop gap while you look for other jobs, or as a way of gaining experience in a particular field, or even if you are saving up money to go on holiday. But long term?.? Well, it?s your decision.

I had a careers interview yesterday and I was told I was what is technically known as a ?Graduate Drifter?. Apparently there?s a lot of us out there. We graduate with a degree that has little relevance to the working world and we have no idea what we want to do with it, so we make the inevitable drift towards the Temping Agencies.


**UPDATE**

What am I doing here, you may be wondering........well, unfortunately, due to the re-location of the school I was working in, I had to quit my job and start once again knocking on the doors of those dreaded Temping Agencies. And it seems that in the last year or so, a hell of a lot has changed in the temping world, so I thought I'd better warn you all......


In 1999 when I encountered my first agency, I simply walked in the door, said "I'm looking for work" and was given an appointment to come in with my CV the very next day. The following week, I was in employment - an ongoing temp job that lasted over 8 months. I was never out of work - one temp job ended - another one began. Foolishly perhaps, I was expecting to just slip back into temping with no problems whatsoever. I certainly wasn't expecting to have to struggle and to watch my bank account slowly but surely dwindle away to almost nothing.

The first thing I learnt was that agencies no longer like you to just wander in to their offices. They expect you to email them your CV - and if, and only if they like the sound of you and your qualifications, they will give you a call to arrange an interview. In the last 3 months, I have emailed my CV to over 20 agencies. The majority failed to respond atall, several rang or sent me emails to say they
either had no suitable work for me or that they weren't taking on any more temps in the immediate future. Three offered me interviews. At each interview, I was told that my skills and experience were excellent and that I should have no problem finding quality jobs that would pay at least £9-£10 per hour.

Hmmmm, well, in the last 3 months, 1 agency has found me no work whatsoever, and the other two between them have managed to provide me with an outstanding total of 12 days work, paying on average about £6 an hour.

The agency I used previously - Reed Employment - who, as you will see from the rest of my op - I was pretty impressed with - have gone totally down hill. I tried to re-register with them and was simply told I couldn't. They now work entirely from their
website - www.reed.co.uk. All vacancies are advertised daily on this website, and you are only able to register with the agency when you see a job you are interested in and when the agency agrees that you are a suitable candidate.

Yesterday I discovered an agency called Capita, which specialises in recruitment in education - ie schools - something I'm particularly interested in as that's where my skills & previous experience lie. I was told they are desperate for temps and that they are currently overloaded with jobs. I guess I'll just have to wait and see whether that's actually true. To be honest, any faith I may have had in temping agencies in the past has been totally diminished over the last few months.

Summary: