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

[ScottDS]

I've been working through temp agencies for the past few years. In Los Angeles, I worked at MGM Studios through Ultimate Staffing. They put me in one department within two weeks after I moved out there. It was okay but I left about six or seven months later. A few months after that and with the help of one of my roomates, they put me in another department - records and archives with a few other temps (geeks like me) and I had a blast. If I hadn't foolishly decided to move back to Florida, I'd probably still be there. My roommate was promoted and is now full-time.

Since then, I've had good luck and bad luck. Apple One in Orlando got me a file clerk job at the Orange County Courthouse but I pretty much wanted to jump out the window everyday. I left that job without telling anyone (only time I've ever done that). CoreStaff got me a job with SunTrust and I did that until the job ended (which coincidentally was a week before I was moving back to Boca Raton). SunTrust was funny because I never knew what the hell I was doing! I went to film school and here I was closing CDs!

Orlando had its share of good agencies and bad. Some of the big ones (like Ultimate) were great; others would give me their business card and say, "We'll call you if we get anything." I never heard back from them.

Here in Boca Raton, Ultimate Staffing (my go-to agency) got me a three week office gig with Minolta (copy machine division, not cameras) but I was so fast it ended in two weeks and that was after they gave me additional duties (like dismantling a file room).

A couple weeks after that, they got me a job at LeadAmerica - they organize field trips for enterprising middle and high school students. This was last summer. Within a month, I had just as much duties as the full-time reps, calling parents, processing checks, etc. The job ended (I was given notice at 5:25 on a Friday thanks to our new manager) and that was it. Had I known I'd be working a lot on the phone, I probably would never have taken the job.

I am now working at Tyco (since August or September), again through Ultimate and they even have a temp agency rep on-site. The job is mine for as long as I want it (they did cut our hours - I was working 45, now just an even 40).

Given the nature of the work I want to pursue (improv comedy), I don't believe I'll be working a full-time perm job anytime soon. I can't afford to work retail and I need the flexibility. When I head back to LA later this year to pick up where I left off, I might go back to MGM, I might not. I don't know yet.

 

[Sephiroth]

never had any luck with temp agencies, ended up sitting on my butt for 3 months with nothing,so I gave up on the temp agncies, got my CDL and did a few runs when my friend broke his leg & couldn't drive his rig, hated it, and was looking at either Wally-World or the Marines for employment

 

[Captain Shaw]

I worked for 2 temps agency's both never paid me for holidays that they own me and one owns me a days pay and the worst part is that i will have to go back to them begging for a job.

 

[M'Sharak]

I'd have to say my experience with temp work has left me with a mixed opinion. I have worked on jobs where they were looking for any excuse not to bring you back for another day. I've worked on some that went on for some time in pleasant working conditions. I worked on one that was a ten-day graveyard-shift slog every quarter, doing data entry for people's estimated tax returns; that one paid quite nicely and they always remembered to call back the next time to see if I was interested.

The agency matters quite a lot, and some clients are definitely better than others. It wasn't all hell, in my experience, but it can be an uncertain existence (with no damn benefits.)

 

[DonIago]

^The agency I worked for actually did offer benefits. If you worked x hours they gave you an extra week's pay (i.e. one week's paid vacation, essentially), and they had health benefits (though I don't recall whether they were very good).