Have you ever responded to a newspaper ad placed by a temp agency?

[seaglass]

I'm having a bad experience this week and I'd like to hear about others experiences.

I responded to an ad this week for a temp job that sounded pretty good. I went through the whole process - interview, tests, scrambling for references, filling out W2 and other paperwork and now I think I've just been taken on a long ride to nowhere.

I spoke with my brother last night, he was a financial guy for various temp agencies for years and he told me it was a common practice for temp agencies to go fishing for resumes. And also that if the economy is bad they can probably get away with treating prospective employees like shit.

So does anyone have any positive stories about working for a temp agency or have you run across the same thing?

[RebelOne]

1. I worked for a temp agency for a while.

They kept me pretty busy. I would usually have temp jobs that would last from a week to a few months. I didn't answer an ad, though. I called their office and then went in for an interview and tests.

[Not Me]

2. Worse.

I live in an area where there is a lot of defense contracting going on. And a number of the permanent FT positions that are advertised, are only posted so that they can meet a requirement that the government has to prove that there is an adequate talent pool in the area.

[FloridaPat]

3. Ages ago I got a lot of jobs with temp agencies. Get out your phone

book and call others and see if they have any jobs. The thing about temp agencies is you could get a call tonight to go to work tomarrow. So at least your registered. Some will do some actual training too.

[Sannum]

4. I don't have any positive stories.

I temp...I haven't had any assignments for three months, but I still call in every week as I am supposed to do.

It really really sucks. I don't have any outright horror stories, but I am sure others will post theirs.

[salvorhardin]

5. It's a mixed bag in my experience

The large national agencies like Manpower are notoriously bad, but maybe if there is a smaller local agency in your area then you might get some decent work. A friend of mine was hired by one a few years back and was placed into a pretty good company as a secretarial temp. She did well, and as better temp positions came up at that company the agency worked to get her placed into them. After a couple of years the company hired her full time. Well, 10 years have gone by now and she is a net admin at that company. I kind of think my friend's case is exceptional though. She happened to hook up with a solid local company that actually makes an attempt to look out for their employees.

[seaglass]

7. Way back when I got a full time job at Digital by first being

hired in as a temp. The temp agency had tons of jobs and I had a positive experience with them. This one, though a large firm, seems a little on the shaky side.

[madrchsod]

6. you are an employee of the temp agency

and if they have a job they will look over your resume and see if you`re qualified. you may have to wait days or weeks to land a temp job in one of the contract companies. best bet is to keep looking and apply at other temp agencies. i have gotten my last few jobs thru temp and the last one i`m a full time employee with the firm i was "placed" at. since most companies go thru temps that pretty much what we are stuck with..

[seaglass]

9. They did send my resume to the client with the job I saw in

the newspaper - at least that's what they're saying, I'm not sure that job actually exists. I know I'm qualified for it.

[auntAgonist]

8. I applied to Kelly Temp

when I moved to MI from Ontario. I had a specific job listing in mind. I was placed there and hired by the company they placed me with after 3 months. Nothing bad at all to say about Kelly Temps. They treated me well, they had their agent on site and she was able to answer any issues that came up. I've been with the company that hired me for 5 years now and I don't intend to leave.

[Trigger Hippie]

10. I worked for a temp agency for almost a year.

I called them up when I saw their ad in the yellow pages. They had me working within a few days, a lot of crappy jobs, but hey, it's still work...

I got my current receptionist gig through them after the law firm decided to hire me permanently. The job sucks, but ya know, work is work...

I don't have that many horror stories, although they did have me working for a glorified ticket scalper once. Ick. Don't ask...

:hi:

[caty]

11. I've responded to these ads

and was told that the position was no longer available. But, I will keep seeing the ad for weeks afterward.:shrug:

[seaglass]

12. Yeah, that's the thing - I'm not sure the position was ever really

available.

[caty]

13. Make me feel like

I'm being tricked into giving out my resume and information about myself for no good reason.

[seaglass]

14. Yep. I consider my resume personal and I don't want people

calling my references without a real job on the table.

[bertha katzenengel]

15. Yes, but it was in the 80s.

I got lots of work back then.

My most recent experience with an agency was with the one that found me this job. They recruit legal secretaries for firms all over DC. But it's a permanent agency, not temp.

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

16. Some agencies are better than others.

You have to be very aggressive with them, telling them exactly what you want, and really take control. I would ask around to see if anyone else can recommend a good agency in your market. I've had pretty good luck with them.

[seaglass]

18. I'm not real particular, they know how much of a commute,

the salary range, short term assignments only and that I'm looking for admin work.

I was surprised that they wanted me to tell them what I wanted to submit to the client for an hourly rate, especially because the newspaper ad already had an hourly rate listed.

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

20. Never heard of that one.

When I temped, they had jobs in a certain hourly rate range. Sometimes, I even priced myself out of work, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Was unwilling to schlep out of bed to do crap work for $7 per hour. Bear in mind that if you're any good, they may be willing to meet your demand in the hope that you are willing to consider going perm and they can then collect a fat placement fee.

[seaglass]

23. You have to give a commute range and a rate range for

unemployment benefits. So if they can't find you work within your range then you can apply. I assume you have to work there for some period of time to be eligible for unemployment.

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

17. I went to register with a nationwide TA a while back

they wanted to do drug testing, wanted me to sign off on all these legal documents, etc. I got up and walked out. LOL

[seaglass]

19. I had my first drug test in January and it was a nightmare.

The first time I couldn't pee enough for them so I had to sit in the lobby guzzling water until I made myself sick, I don't do well with peeing on command.

I knew I'd pass it, it just made feel guilty until proven innocent.

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

21. I don't do any kind of drugs, but that wasn't the point with me.

As my mom used to say, some things are none of their damned business. No, thanks. I won't do a drug test for any job. Period.

[flamingyouth]

22. Oh god, I did when I got out of college

It was 1990 and I applied for one job, sent in my stuff, they called me, had me come in and take the tests, etc.

Then they told me that that position had been filled and sent me to interview for a job I'd never want in a million years. It was an awful experience. x(

[seaglass]

24. My last permanant job was an awful experience, I only lasted

3 months. That's why I figured short term temp positions would be good because if the job really sucked I wouldn't be there long.

[SmokingJacket]

25. I worked in a Manpower office...

(yes, I actually temped in a temp office.) You probably need to call them back to make sure they remember you exist. Temp offices love to have a big backlog of people on file, but they usually don't call new people unless their usual stable of regulars are unavailable. If you call and make a friendly pest of yourself, you're more likely to get offered jobs.

Ultimately I came to hate Manpower, for many reasons. They do treat people shittily. Our office sent people on jobs not because they were qualified, but because they had the #1 most important quality: perkiness, and #2: nice hair.

I liked temp work because I get bored very easily and feel like killing myself after three months of almost any job. But I don't recommend it except to fill gaps between permanent jobs: the pay is bad, and it's hard to get enough work to ever get benefits.

But it can often lead to more permanent jobs, at some agencies more than others.

[seaglass]

26. Uh oh, I am not perky and I do not have nice hair, I'm doomed.

I did call them this morning because they said they would call me by yesterday morning - we are talking about 1 specific job that was supposed to start next week with interviews this week.

It was partly my fault that I was feeling that I had a really good chance at the job - I did excellent on all my testing (got 100% on Powerpoint which they had never had happen before) plus they had me fill out W2, showed me a company video, gave me an employee handbook...I mean it felt REAL.

Now I think it was just a bunch of bs.

[SmokingJacket]

27. Not necessarily....

They could be disorganized. My office certainly was. If they gave you the video and the handbook, it sounds like they really thought they were going to give you the job.

Don't give up yet. Maybe they're just backed up, maybe the job changed. Maybe they did hire someone else -- but since it's a temp agency they are likely not to even show up.

Stay friendly and eager, and they'll think of you when another job comes up.

(One really excellent thing about temp work that you can gather lots and lots of different kinds of experiences... really, I shouldn't have bad mouthed it too much, there are pros as well as cons.)

Good luck!!

[trackfan]

28. I worked for Temp agencies for about 15 years

In fact, the job I'm at now started as a temp job, and they forced me to go perm. I usually would quit at that point, but I couldn't this time because I was broke after 21 months of unemployment and had bought a house.

[skygazer]

29. I worked for a temp agency one summer

They got me working and I had no problems with them. That was during good economic times, though - perhaps the climate makes a difference.

[seaglass]

30. I had that discussion with my brother because temp agencies

are usually recession proof. I figured in a bad economy companies would lean towards temp workers because they don't have to pay for benefits. But my brother said with the mark-up they are really paying that extra cost indirectly.

I had good experiences about 20 years ago, that's why I went this route.

[Nikia]

31. I've worked for a couple different temp agencies

The reason that they might go fishing for resumes in a bad economy is because clients expect employees right away and that there are usually enough people on their list to fill those jobs. For example, if five job orders for administrative assistants come in on a particuliar day and they have 20 qualified people on their list, they are going to call people on that list. They have no reason to advertise. If for some reason though, they've hired everyone (maybe in a really good economy), their clients might be upset that they have to wait several days while the agency places the ad and gets interested applicants. As a result, they often advertise for jobs that they anticipate will need to be filled in the near future. They work for the client company, not for you.
I worked through temp agencies to get summer jobs three of the years to pay for college. The agency knew that I only wanted summer work so I didn't expect to get hired anyway. They were helpful, but I was rather naive. I basically took whatever they gave me. While that was perhaps necessary the first two year, the other job they hired me a month in advance for and I am thinking that I would have gotten a better temp assignment if I had asked for more money and a choice.

[seaglass]

33. I get that they are working for the client but I wonder why they

asked me how much I wanted per hour after the rate for the job was already advertised. They had just finished telling me how strong my computer skills were so it wouldn't make sense for them to think I was going to ask for less money than what was advertised.

Maybe they were testing my desperation?

[Nikia]

34. In case, you aren't placed in that job

They might want to place you in another job. They need to know how low you are willing to work for. Depending upon the temp agency, giving them a lower figure might be a bad idea. After all, people willing to work for less are easier to place than people who want more money. Giving a lower figure, might cause them to pick someone else and give you a lower paying assignmnet.

[seaglass]

35. Yep, except they already asked me what the lowest hourly

wage was that I would accept and I told them.

[Nikia]

36. That's a little odd

I guess that I would have just asked if the wage listed in the paper was the pay rate or if it was negotiatable. Most temp jobs have a set wage. I suppose some could be negotiable.

[Pithlet]

32. I had a great experience both times.

Both times I ended up with a good job that went permanent. But, both times were during the Clinton years, when the economy was much better.