Temp Work.... The Good The Bad The Ugly

[Plecostomus]

Ok the following link goes to a scathing post on Craigslist:

http://rochester.craigslist.org/mnu/1067135104.html

And if they flag it and remove it here is the text:

Be advised that most "Machine Operator" jobs through a service are revolving doors... heck most positions through these services are revolving doors. Look at the ETS staffing position for an SMT operator. $5 will get you $10 there is either a person on staff at that job getting a kickback to push people out of the position so ETS can continue supplying workers or there is something very wrong there and rather than fix it they continuously hire people.

Same thing with the position in Fairport through Remedy. Odds are you'll be stacking cardboard boxes onto skids, 75lb per lift without accommodation at very high line-rates. You stumble, mis-stack or god forbid drop something you'll be out the door and someone else will take your place. Either that you'll be in the Sauce Mines behind main-street doing more or less the same thing for the same wage under the same conditions.

Alot of times the clients fire "temps" without regard, and they make up outrageous comments and send them to the agency. One client I worked for on behalf of the big service that begins with A.... I dropped my knife while stringing up a bag-machine and chipped the knife-blade. They wrote "blatant disregard for property, safety and general workplace procedures. Knowingly and willingly damaged knife-blade, caused property damage and extended downtime to an unacceptable level." Keep in mind the staffing agency will keep this on file and this will follow you if you use the service as a reference!

If you are looking for permanent fulltime jobs that pay a decent wage don't bother replying to these sorts of ads. I know many of us need work NOW but once you get involved with "operator" or "labor" positions through a service you will have a very very hard time getting a real job down the road... even if you are of good work-ethic and personality.

Just a friendly warning from a career-temp who wishes she knew what she was getting into 10 years ago.

I've had many "bad" experiences through temp-services over the years, so have many of my friends and coworkers.

I'm interested to see if anyone has any POSITIVE experiences through these services. From what I've gathered it seems the negative outways the positive and most of the agents around here are regarded as little more than government-sanctioned slave-rings. Harsh and colorful but as I said this is how alot of folks regard them.

Then again, I am in the Upstate NY region, maybe it's just a regional thing... How is it in the rest of the US?

 

[backstept]

well . . . I applied at a temp service . . . never got any work through it.

 

[jamestyler]

well . . . I applied at a temp service . . . never got any work through it.

I had the same thing through one agency.

One day they called me in abuot a job making it sound extremely urgent. I dropped what I was doing to jump on the train and get there asap. Only for them to have a meeting with me and say "Yeah.... we don't know if you're the type our clients are looking for."

Wonderful.

Unfortunatly I don't have anything positive to say

 

[Leroy]

How does doing temp work keep you stuck in temp work and unable to find a real job?

 

[Plecostomus]

Bad references given by the agency would be guess. Easy way 'round that would be not to list an agency you've had problems with.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

One I worked through, the place I got sent treated me like a convict. I told the agency I wanted to quit, but the guy didn't believe me. Eventually I left early one day and the agency called, and a guy in a very serious voice told me my "assignment there was finished"

Which sounded like someone was gonna whack me if I showed my face there again.

Then the agency strung me along with some univerisity clean-up job that never happened. I even took a drug test for it.

 

[Garrovick]

Never had a problem with the people whom the temp service sent me.

 

[Plecostomus]

Never had a problem with the people whom the temp service sent me.

Either you are dead easy to work with or the agency you use actually screens its workers.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I choose - Mixed opinion, some are good some are bad and it also depends on the clients

I worked as a temp in the library industry.

On the whole I enjoyed it. I got to do a wide veriation of work such as working in

a law court library
running a newspaper clipping service
transcribing historical documents
working at a primary school
cataloging for a geology/mining library
Working at a distance education library (i.e school with no children bothering you)
Working in a library in a hospitality school (lots of cookbooks etc)

The longest job lasted for 5 months, the shortest for 4 days. Usually I was only working while someone was on vacation, or ill etc.

I like temping because one learns a whole range of skills and one doesn't temd to get bored.

I hated the law library work but the boss was really nice, I liked the newpaper clipping jon but the boss was a workplace bully. I was working at this job while they found someone to fill the job permanently. At first I thought I might apply for the job myself but after putting up with the boss for three weeks I decided against it. It took them 14 weeks to fill the job and the woman they hired lasted only two weeks

 

[Robert Maxwell]

During my recent job search, I signed up with some agencies for temp work. None of them had anything for someone of my background (programming, highly technical.)

My wife also signed up for some temp work. Good office worker, not afraid of some labor, either. She never got called for anything.

I also have a friend who spent a couple years in the clink but he'll work his ass off given the chance. After 2 years of searching he finally got a job at a meat packing plant. This was after dicking around with temp agencies and day labor places for that long. Note that his new job had nothing to do with any temp agency.

This was all in Indiana, mind you. I really don't know who, exactly, the temp agencies want, considering they wouldn't take me, my wife, or my friend, and between us we have pretty diverse work backgrounds.

 

[kimc]

My experiences while temping have been mixed depending on the clients. The main advantage is that it pays the bills (well, some of them) while looking for something more stable.

 

[Lord Garth]

During 2005-2006, I went from temp agency to temp agency. I worked for four temp agencies and between them all I was sent to 12 different companies.

Some jobs would work out, some wouldn't, some would be up-front about your being temporary, and some some jerk your chain and say that might might become permanent.

The thing is though, that they had a lot of work that needed to be done, too much for the regular employees to handle, so they brought you on as extra help. As soon as they didn't need you anymore, they let you go. End of story.

Of course, in today's economy, there's probably not enough work to go around for the regular employees, forget about temps.

The good thing I got out of it was that I got to try out a wide variety of different fields. Now I'm definitely positive about knowing what I want to do because I got to experience everything I didn't want to do.

 

[DonIago]

4 jobs, one temp. agency-

1) IBM. Was there almost a year until the economy went to hell back in 2001. I got 3 weeks notice though.

2) Subcontractor for the INS. The job was 40 minutes away and I loathed it (you try sorting files for 8 hours/day for less money than you were making at your last job while working with idiots). I signed up for 40 hours/week, then the job unexpectedly went to every day except alternating Sundays. The temp. agency was all "But don't you like the extra money?" No, I like having a life, thank you. It wasn't long before I was told my services were no longer required. Good riddance.

3) University job. Initially it was entering names and addresses...it became clear this was for mailings. Didn't bother me. They later offered to let me handle calling the people on the list though. Turned them down, explaining I really didn't think I'd be good at that sort of work.

4) Temp. job turned into a permanent job which lasted me most of 5 years. In year 4 I got laid-off for 2 weeks, but it's not like I was a temp. at that point. In the end I left that company for a different permanent position.

So...in the end, though I wouldn't say I was thrilled, I can't entirely complain.

 

[FPAlpha]

I've been a temp worker and never again if i can help it.

Now i didn't have a problem with the company i worked for (or the client who's my permanent employer now) except in the beginning where they forgot to pay me some bonuses we have agreed on.. i complained and they corrected with the next payment (though it was annoying since i didn't earn much).

Maybe i was in a better position since i had a degree and was qualified as a logistics agent so i didn't have to worry that a single mistake would get me fired instantly but still i wasn't comfortable in that role so the client offering me a permanent job after a few months was exactly up my avenue.

For menial jobs it's a hell hole though.. you are easily trained (a couple of days is usually enough if that) and just as easily let go. The company gets into a bit of trouble and the first ones to go are the temps which sucks.. they may be good workers but that sometimes doesn't count anything at all.

We currently have one really good fork lift driver who's fast and reliable but a temp guy and he works there now for over two years i think and they never hired him full time for whatever reason whereas there are guys working there permanently who are just plain dumb and slow. I don't get it.

Temp worker agencies may be a good way to get your foot in the door of a good company but overall i don't trust the concept.. you are easily replaceable and have no job security at all. It's good to bridge the time between two steady jobs and shows your next employer that you were willing to work instead of sitting at home playing videogames but i wouldn't extend that "career" for a long time if i could help it.

 

[nevermore]

I've gotten temp jobs twice through Kelly Services and was hired permanently by the respective organizations both times. I requested temp-to-perm jobs and got them.

The first time, I was fresh out of college and had no office experience, but they test your skills and I tested well; I couldn't have gotten the job based on my resume but got in and proved my worth through the temp agency. That was for a newspaper which then went thorough several rounds of layoffs between 2000-2003 (still ongoing, actually) of which I eventually became a victim.

The second time I went through the temp agency, I decided to work at a university for various reasons and rather than wait for something I got a temp position from which I was hired almost immediately. It wasn't exactly the position I would have applied for, but it was a foot in the door and a good stepping stone to my much more interesting current position.

 

[Plecostomus]

That's interesting because Kelly Service has a rep around here for being the worst of the revolving door companies. They are always hiring "operators and labor" for the same five companies around Rochester. Same ads, same newspapers, same jobs, week after week after week.

I guess it's just a matter of location then.

 

[nevermore]

That's interesting because Kelly Service has a rep around here for being the worst of the revolving door companies. They are always hiring "operators and labor" for the same five companies around Rochester. Same ads, same newspapers, same jobs, week after week after week.

I guess it's just a matter of location then.

I don't think it's a matter of location. We're comparing apples to oranges here. It's probably more a matter of job type and the intended nature of those temp listings. The two organizations I worked for, both of which I specifically requested to be place with, used temp agencies to fill vacancies as a matter of policy.

The university I work for actually used so many temps and hired out of the temp agency so often that the city Kelly office had two people dedicated specifically to placing people here. Of course, now that the university has issued a hiring freeze and a moratorium on temp and contract workers for FY2010, that will probably change a bit...

 

[Plecostomus]

Good point, on the other hand you almost never see Kelly Service recruit for your kind of jobs around here, that's more Adecco's cuppa.

 

[nevermore]

I have no idea if they actively recruit at all here.

I just went in, signed up and asked for a temp-to-perm job at a specific organization, they gave me some options and I chose the ones I found most appealing.

 

[Plecostomus]

Ah see around here you sign up with an agency and they tell you where to go. Take that as you will.

You really have no choice in assignments once you sign up, most of the time it's take it or leave it.

You can call regarding an opening you might have heard about or seen listed somewhere but if you haven't been called already in most cases it means you've been pre-screened and rejected.