Unemployment Blues: The Value of Temporary Work
Although the job market has improved over the past year, many
employers are still reluctant to make a long term commitment to
growing their employee rolls until it is clear that a solid
economic expansion is underway. They need new staff to handle
the increase in orders and customer demands but are loath to
hire permanent workers who may have to be cut in a few months if
business stagnates. Any reduction in force carries major
headaches for a company: employee morale falls, lawsuits arise,
precious time is eaten up in non-productive meetings, and
severance packages cut into narrowing profit margins.
Their solution is often to rely on temporary agencies to provide
needed manpower without any precipitous long term commitment. It
is estimated, by a well-regarded labor research group, that
fully 25% of the jobs created during the past year have been
temporary positions!
How can this work to your advantage?
Working for a temporary agency has some drawbacks but also a
number of positive aspects.
The primary negative is the lack of investment in your future.
While the hourly wage may be similar, or even better, than a
permanent employee would receive, you remain on the periphery of
the company's organization. Temps are often assigned the more
routine tasks which require less intensive training. This makes
it more difficult for your competence to be recognized. You are
not seriously considered for promotional opportunities nor
invited to advanced training or management classes.
It also has personal repercussions. You are uncertain how long
you will be needed and tend to develop a strong sense of
insecurity. After all, your contract could be terminated without
warning through a quick telephone call to the agency. Because
you want to minimize the emotional devastation of a sudden
departure, you tend to avoid becoming too close to coworkers and
perform your duties in something of a vacuum, one step removed
from the camaraderie of the permanent work team.
All that being said, there are some pretty inviting advantages
to exploring temporary assignments.
Within the framework of your long-term career goals, a temporary
position nicely fills in that void on your resume caused by a
lengthy period of unemployment. It demonstrates to a potential
employer that you are an individual who is vested in being
productive even under circumstances where your true talents are
barely tapped.
Temporary agencies seldom require extensive background
investigation so if there is a blip or two on your work or
personal record, it will probably be overlooked. When a future
permanent position presents itself, the more distant the blip,
the less weight it will carry in the hiring decision.
Entering a workplace as a temp puts you in a very different
framework than any mere applicant for work. You become privy to
the company's ethics and philosophy so you can better determine
if this is somewhere you would be interested in for permanent
work. If you find the atmosphere comfortable, you will perform
well. Assuming that the company is growing, and the local
economic expansion continues, you are in an excellent position
to be considered for permanent retention.
Many employers see temporary workers as individuals undergoing a
lengthy interview. After weeks or months of good productivity,
timeliness, consistent attendance, and reliability, you no
longer present the risks attached to the hiring of new employees
after only an hour or two of interviewing. Many agencies will
let you know in advance that this is a "Temp to Perm"
assignment, meaning that if you cut the mustard, you will be
offered a permanent position.
On the other hand, if you find that company goals and procedures
are at odds with your personal values, you can get out before
any commitment is made. Since your employer is actually the
agency, you can cut and run from any assignment without it
impacting your work history. You take a different position
through the same agency and your resume is unflawed by your
decision to make a change.
Assuming that you are working in an industry of interest,
temporary work provides an invaluable opportunity for
networking. Make the effort to get to know your new coworkers
and it is highly likely that they either know of opportunities
in similar companies or know someone who has such inside
information.
Finally, there is the old saw of "Everyone wants to hire you
when you're working but no one is interested when you're
unemployed." There is certainly a grain of truth in that rather
cynical observation. No matter how bad the local economy may be,
or how the effects of offshore job flight have affected your
industry, there is always a little kernel of doubt in an
interviewer's mind: what did you do wrong to lose your job?
Could you possibly have been fingered because you were the weak
link? Was the choice of you, over someone else, related to
interpersonal or disciplinary problems that made you an easy
target?
When you are actively working, even if only on a temporary
basis, such doubts don't even enter an interviewer's mind. They
are more concerned about whether you will be willing to make a
change - a point of speculation that bodes well for you in a
potential hiring situation.
If you are offered alternative permanent work, you are sitting
in the proverbial catbird's seat. You can accept the position if
you find it tempting. You can decline if you don't think it's a
good fit, knowing that you still have your temp job to keep food
on the table and allay that desperation of "I'll take anything"
that sets in after a few months out of work.
And, finally, you have the option of going back to your temp
work and letting your present boss know that you have been
offered a position elsewhere that you are seriously considering.
If the company likes you, let them negotiate a counter-offer and
then go with the best opportunity for you.