Temp agencies?

[miss sha]

Can anyone share their experiences with places like this? What to expect? What to do/how best to get a job?

I've only got two months of summer left before I go back to school (where I have two on-campus jobs already lined up) so I don't want to get a regular sort of job. A lot of people have suggested trying to get help from a temp agency, but I don't really know what I'm in store for.

There's a place called BesTemps in Dover, DE that I'll be checking out Wednesday-ish.

Please give me whatever advice/tips/experiences you've got! I need to pad my bank account for the rest of the summer MAC collections!

 

[VIC MAC]

Hi I have worked for a major company called Kelly Services, but they have a very prof. attitude, and I like that. Hope you find a job A MAC addiction can be very costly....

 

[chiquilla_loca]

As long as you don't have a restrictive schedule, i'm sure they can find you something fairly quickly. Be open to work all schedules, day or night and weekends. Sometimes they can find you, 1-2 day, weekend, or indefinite assignments. and when they call you try not to refuse assignments, cause they'll stop calling you. I worked for Kelly's, as soon as I turned 18, doing general labor/factory jobs, till they found me an office/clerical position that lasted me a year!

 

[LiAnn]

Don't work with an agency that requires you to pay them a fee to find you a job. These agencies make their money by offering you a job at (for example) $8 an hour, then charging the company $13 an hour for your services. The difference between the 13 and 8 covers payroll (which they handle), administrative costs, any benefits they offer to you, their advertising, and their profit.

Sign up with multiple agencies. I've only ever worked on the west coast; but I've never had to sign an exclusivity-arrangement (for example, saying that I'll only take jobs through Agency X and not anything through Agency Y.)

Contact the agencies multiple times a week - two is the minimum (Monday and Wednesday), three is best (M/W/F). This lets them know that you're interested, that you're available, and that you're willing to work NOW.

If any of them offer any kind of free training, take as many courses as you can. The agency may track which courses you take, and can then demonstrate to their clients that you're improving your skillset (which makes you a valuable employee) OR you simply are able to expand your resume...which never hurts. (And free training? Yeah. Always a good thing.)

Even if you really, really want a job that's temp-to-hire or long term (6-9 months) at a minimum of $18 an hour, accept shorter-term jobs and lower-paying jobs - even jobs that may be completely outside your field, like working registration at events - until "your ship comes in". One to three week jobs, particularly vacation-coverage, can get you money and experience while you're waiting for the ideal position. It also makes the agency think well of you, since you're making them look good to their clients by being available even for littler jobs.

Good luck!!!

 

[miss sha]

Thanks for the advice to so far!

I'm not looking for anything long term right now, so the short term stuff is best for me, since I have work when I go back to school in September... in another state. Right now I'm just looking for something to fill up the rest of my summer and earn some extra money.

I live in kind of a barren state and this one agency I found is the closest thing to me. Hopefully they'll have something at all!