The Life of a Temp

nobody@vox.com(Life With Cats) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:50:06 -0700

Ahh, temping. I temped for several months in 2006 and I’m temping again until something permanent comes up, hopefully soon (fingers crossed). It’s not easy to temp; basically you’re thrown from industry to industry, a few days here, a few weeks there, constantly meeting new people and learning new tasks. The meeting and learning wouldn’t be so bad if the experiences weren’t so fleeting; these are people you won’t work with again, unless they decide to ask you back … for another week. Right now I’m in the security system industry, for a few days. I received a crash course this morning in who to forward what types of calls to, how to use the debit machine, navigating a program I’ve never seen before and how to get out of the office after you’ve locked the doors. Still not clear on that last one; if you’re reading this on my blog, you’ll know I figured it out.

The one good thing about temping is getting to “sample” many different businesses. It’s an opportunity to learn which places have nice bosses and which ones don’t. When you’re applying for permanent positions with these companies, you’ll know what to expect. Right now the person I’m covering for normally never takes breaks and works through her lunch, she’s so busy. I’m only doing a fraction of her job and have time to write this. It’s good to know how tough her job really is, though, so I’ll be prepared should I ever find myself applying for a similar one.

Then there is the lack of benefits, vacation and sick days, and the lack of a steady paycheque as well. On some assignments you make more, some less. Or you may have a few unexpected days off. (Actually, with my temp agency, down-time is a rarity.) For someone who doesn’t like change, it’s also stressful to never know where you’re going next when the agency calls with a new assignment. Fortunately, it *should* all lead to permanent employment with a company whose waters you've already tested. Plus being able to say you’ve worked in a variety of industries looks good on your resume. So I’m sucking it up and crossing my fingers for permanency.

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