To wonder how one goes about "temping"?

[Yerroblemom1923]

I see it on threads all the time about jobs etc the phrase that is bandied about so often is "could s/he Just temp for a bit?"
Can someone clarify how it works and how it is the solution to so many problems? (Not being flippant. Genuine question!)

I've done it before, though it was a long time ago and I'm not sure there's so much available now. You sign up with an employment agency and they go through your experience and skills with you, then contact you with job offers. It's not likely to be continuous employment, but better than nothing (unless it messes up benefits, which it could).

I temped for a few years about 12 years ago and again when I moved to Sydney 8 years ago. Not sure what the current climate is in UK now.
I have always done admin work so went to all the employment agencies in the city I was moving to, registered, did their typing tests and then called them every Monday (or when I was desperate, every day) to keep my in their minds. I worked solidly for a year in various admin roles (reception, PA, etc) sometimes for a day, a week, a month or longer.
It’s not for everyone, but it worked for me.

We have at least 10 temp agencies around us, loaaaaads of temp work available! Mostly warehouse, admin or kitchen work

Sign up with an employment agency. There are ones that specialise in different types of work, eg administration, constructing, warehousing.

You sign up with an agency, and they send you to places that need extra staff, perhaps short term for a specific project. That's how it worked when I did it. You are employed by the agency, not the place where you're working.

It suited me at the time because I didn't want to commit to a permanent job. It was office work, mostly things like filing, data entry, quite undemanding tasks. But I met interesting people, got experience of different types of workplace, and there was often the possibility of overtime, if there were deadlines to meet.

Two of my longer term temp jobs got me offers of a permanent job with the workplace in question.

I always did office work, but there are agencies that handle other types of work.

That was all quite a !ing time ago, so things might be different now. Overall, I enjoyed it: as I said, it suited me at that stage in my life.

I signed up to temp with a couple of agencies including Office Angels years ago, in uni holidays and while doing my post grad. They’d ring me and ask if I was available for work - sometimes the odd day or two, sometimes a week or more - and then I would turn as need. It was quite good - really flexible. I could pretty much work as many days as I wanted. I mostly did receptionist work. Pay wasn’t amazing (just over min wage) but it worked for me.

Yes it just means temporary employment through an agency. Most high streets have 2 or 3 agencies and there are also large national ones like Brook Street, Hays, Office Angels. You can usually submit your CV on email or walk into a branch. The agency will usually 'interview' you to understand your skills/experience and what kind of role you are suitable for and then submit you to employers who need temporary staff. Temps are used in most companies to cover roles which are only needed for a short period of time (e.g. to cover a particularly busy time, cover an event, cover sickness absence or holidays of other staff) or to cover for a role in the short term which is being filled permanently in the long term.

The majority of agency work is for low-skill work like retail, warehouse, admin/reception, care work but if you are in a corporate/professional field like IT, finance, HR there are also agencies for these areas. Doing temp work is certainly not a cure for all ills but it can be a good option for those who aren't ready or able to take a permanent role for various reasons or those who find themselves temporarily unemployed whilst looking for permanent work. There are lots of pros and cons...the obvious cons being that as a temp you don't have a guarantee of ongoing work and it can play merry hell with your benefits if you have a fluctuating income. But some pros are:

You usually do lots of short term contracts of anything from a few days to a few months on each 'assignment', so you get to try out a lot of different jobs and different companies which is a plus if you are unsure of your next career move or want to try something different out. If you don't like the job or your manager or colleagues or whatever, you can quickly and easily move on. Con being they can quickly and easily move you on if they don't like you!

Temping can be a good way of building experience on a CV especially for those who have been out of the workplace for a while for whatever reason or who are changing careers. As a manager I am often prepared to take much more of a chance on a temp who doesn't necessarily have good experience because (a) if it doesn't work out they will be moving on at the end of the assignment anyway (b) there is often a shortage of good candidates for temporary roles. The con being that if you are only in the job for a short period of time there would usually be a reluctance to invest as much time and effort in training you as there would be for a permanent person.

Similarly, in my company a lot of temps get taken on as permanent because we've seen their work and know they are good - even if 'on paper' there might be stronger candidates for the permanent role.

In some areas the employment market is very strong for temps, particularly in certain fields, so the money can be good and the temp can pretty much name their terms, so pick their own working hours etc. Not the case universally of course! And also you have to bear in mind that whilst the hourly rate might be good temps don't usually get access to company benefits like the pension scheme and enhanced annual leave, sick pay etc.

Yes register with relevant temp agencies

Also if there's big industry etc around you with thousands of employees they often have their own temp agency - our local university does

Waitressing was another area where temp work was available - I remember being asked what types of work I was willing to do, and that was on the list. Office and retail were my areas, though.

It also used to be the custom to approach all the department stores in your area and ask if they were taking on extra staff for Christmas. You'd be doing that about now. There were a lot more independent stores then, so a lot more options.

In my experience, some temps came in, did the work that was put in front of them, went home again. Others proactively went looking for work when they'd finished what they were given, talked to the permanent staff, showed an interest in the business and in learning new aspects of the work. They were the ones who were more likely to be kept on if numbers were being cut, or offered permanent jobs.

Good point flumpbear, most NHS hospitals also have their own agency, usually called a 'staff bank'. There can be good work to be found there for admin, data entry, clerking, reception as well as things like Healthcare Assistant shifts or portering - pretty poorly paid I'm afraid (Band 2 or 3 work if you know NHS pay scales) but again a good 'in' if it's a field you are interested in).

Also shifts for nurses and doctors but I assume that's not suitable!

I temped as a PA when I first got to London 10years ago, maternity cover mainly, in investment banks. I'd left teaching but no idea what to do next. Work was plentiful then I worked constantly for really good £. But since last recession the no of temp jobs on the main website where every agency advertises has dived massively. As I can't guarantee I'll be in work all the time anymore & that work was losing its appeal for me anyway I've retrained.

Thanks, folks. Think I get the idea. Appreciate your replies.

I've done it but the agencies vary hugely in how hard they work for you. With some, I found that I had to call them every day to keep myself on their radar and make sure they considered me for suitable opportunities. Others could be really pernickety about people having to fulfill 100% of the job criteria before they'd put you forward, i.e. telling you they wouldn't consider you for a job which required 2 years of office experience if you only had 18 months. I actually found it more fruitful to use the agencies to look for things I thought I could do and then apply directly to the company concerned.

Forgot: holiday pay is now incorporated into daily or hourly rate. You also need to be able to adapt to different work cultures. Marketing is more laid back than Investment banking, basic secretarial and I could wear jeans etc choose my hours, but it pays less. Banking I had to wear a suit, support 25 traders & their boss, organise complex business trips and client events & dinners with just my own judgement & a given budget. It wasn't for the faint hearted. Bankers expect a lot, they want it now: & no excuses.

I've been through phases in the past of considering getting a nice little job in an office doing nothing particularly stress-ful, filing and inputting data etc!
That's what I thought temps did. Sounds like it's not just office work though. Do they expect you to know what you're doing? Or do they show you? E.g. you might not be familiar with a company's computer system even though you know how to use a computer.

Yerroble
Unless it's purely reception, not in London. For £14-16 p/hr you are expected to seamlessly provide what perm person did re skillset & interview for even a 3week role whereas before it was just start tomorrow (such a pool of people to choose from now). . I'd often take my 10min guide to PowerPoint in as I never used it much til I temped & some Managers in smaller banks & companies expect you to 'tart up' their client pitch involving 3d singing & dancing graphics, excel pie charts/spreadsheets then importing team contributions (make a mistake on that & you're finished for any other banking work). If you want a no stress tootle for £9 an hour, then reception all the way.

Hi Yerroble. I think it really varies. I will admit that my number 1 wish/ criteria for temps is ability to get on with tasks quickly and on their own initiative without the need for loads and loads of training or support. But obviously I wouldn't expect them to know how to do things without any guidance either, and I would vary how much time I expected to spend with them initially depending on their level of expertise/how much we're paying them. So for a minimum wage level data entry or basic admin role (e.g. we have some temps scanning old hard copy records into PDFs and filing them atm, very easy, low stress work, also very boring for them!) I would expect to spend probably as much as a day initially inducting, training and explaining to them what needs doing as I wouldn't expect them to have much experience or IT skills beyond basic office packages and typing. Then there would always be someone there for them to ask questions of if needed. Whereas when we hire an experienced temp Executive Assistant on a much higher wage I pretty much show them where to sit and they're off ... so you could probably find your desired very low stress role as a temp, you would just need to not expect a huge wage and be a bit picky with the assignments you take on?

I temped in a new city in the uni holidays one year - I went for admin work and I think they did a computer test to check my typing speed and accuracy. I suppose 20 years ago not everyone could type. I just said I wanted temp work, whether that was the odd day or a few weeks. Seem to remember I was offered another admin job elsewhere and never did the agency jobs, though they did keep sending me some.

My DB temped as a waiter and again joined a local agency.