What kinds of jobs can you get through a temp agency?

Question

Is it mostly office work? It it work that requires experience? Can you get part-time temp work, or is it only full time? Finally, what is the average period of time that's considered temporary? Thanks for the help. I don't have experience with this.

Answer 1

I personally have experience with accounting jobs. I want to say it's mostly office work, but there might be other industry agencies, I know there are technology agencies. You can also search for agencies on-line on the type of job you want. You can get a part-time temp work, and they all range with different time periods. A company might need someone for a week, a month, couple of months, it all depends, there are a lot of choices and opportunities. Some can lead temp to perm hire. There is no set time for temp work, it all depends on the company who is hiring.

Answer 2

I work as an HR Manager and use various agencies. There are so many types of agencies that offer placement from Janitors to Office Managers. Opportunities depend on your experience. There is no "average" period of time, as that also varies. However, it is common for agency to require a company to employ a candidate for a minimum number of hours. Roughly this averages out to three months. At which point the company may hire you at no added cost. Most agencies will put you through a battery of tests, to see your knowledge and strengths. In my experience, no reputable agency will charge you a fee for finding you a job. Hope this helps and good luck in your search.

Answer 3

All kinds.

They need all kinds of temporary help doing all kinds of different things.

I worked doing temporary jobs years ago.
They are generally labor type jobs. Mostly for Holiday work.
Some were temporary just to take care of the job until it was finished. Clearing out some store shelves, cleaning a building, packaging parts, Stocking shelves, etc.

I worked all over the place for all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. The time and the pay varied as well. Anything from 1 day to full-time employment if you wanted it.

Answer 4

It can range from clerical to laborer type jobs. It just depends on what you are looking for. Tell the recruiter what kind of work you are looking for and what your skills are (typing speed, computer experience, etc.). Most will work with you to find part time or full time employment for you. They get paid to find you a job so they will be willing to work with you to find something that fits your needs.

The average assignment can last anywhere from 3 months to a year from my knowledge. I have never worked for a temp agency but have several friends that do.

Good luck!

Answer 5

You can get any type of jiob through a temp agency. Most are office jobs but they have temp agencies that specialize in manual labor. You need to contact the temp agency to find out if they offer part time.

Answer 6

For guys, even with typing skills, you get jobs like cleaning up on a construction site, or a lot of warehouse stocking of shelves. The jobs are generally very short, from one day to 2 weeks or so. Wages are under $10 per hour.

Answer 7

Generally, where you are placed is based on what you submitted as experience on the application the agency will have you fill out. They try to place you in your particular area of "expertise". It is highly unlikely that they will match you in an area where you are unknowledgeable or unskilled. This is due simply to their desire to maintain their established client base, and they most certainly won't if they habitually place temps that are unskilled or unmatched to their clients' needs. Most have built their reputation on consistently good and reliable service. That's why their clients keep calling them when the need arises.

They will give you the choice of part or full time, and match you according to the client who is seeking that.

As far as the average period of time, I've seen anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, because you're usually covering for someone who is ill, has an illness or death in the family, someone on vacation, or maternity leave, or just until they fill the position permanently. The latter usually last the shortest because, odds are, they have already been in full-on search mode, and have interviewed quite a few people by the time you've started sub-ing. That's because the clock started ticking the minute the person gave notice, usually 2 weeks if not more.

You may very well like this kind of work. There are a few advantages:

-you generally can pick the days and times you are available.
-you can choose the kind of work you want to do, provided you know how to do it
-the more valuable you are to the client (i.e, you get consistently high marks for availability, punctuality, quality work, good communication skills, etc; good feedback from client, and/or they ask for you by name, etc.), the more valuable you are to the agency....they tend to go out of their way to accommodate YOU. Another caveat to that is that the demand for you will be more steady, and you'd want that...you can't "pick and choose" if you have nothing to pick and choose from.

A couple of "down" sides:

"On call"- some people don't like it. They want to be able to make plans and keep them. Until you establish your worth with some agencies, they will tend to call you when THEY need you, regardless of your plans, day or even night, if the job calls for evening work hours. Weekends and holidays, too. However, if your skills are of high demand and short supply of workers, or happen to be "hard to place" areas (example: I had a temp job that took me 60 miles outside of town Monday thru Friday; because most refused the job because they had school aged children (they would have had to be gone early in the morning, and wouldn't see home until late at night), the agency was forced to attach incentives, such as paying for the mileage and vehicle upkeep, as well as doubling the pay, to get someone to take the job- and I took it!) Of course, that was back when I was young, single, and childless.

Another downside is, if they don't call you somewhat regularly, you don't get paid regularly;

also, while almost all agencies give you the option to refuse any job (you don't necessarily even have to offer a reason), most will generally not call you again after the 2nd or 3rd refusal. You'd have to check the policy for the temp agency you work for to find out what theirs is.

Some bits of advice:
Look at several agencies, and find out what types of workplaces they cater to. There are temp agencies for almost every line of work. I've seen office, private nursing, housekeeping, housecleaning, teacher's assistant (NOT to be confused with substitute teacher!! - a lot of schools want someone to help give supervision to special needs children who are being adapted to regular classes- you don't have to be a "teacher" for this); One client just wanted someone to stay overnight with her mom while her mom was in the hospital because she just didn't want her to be alone-
another just wanted someone to stay with her terminal ill husband (post stroke/ brain cancer), while she ran errands for a few hours. I have had clients who didn't want to go to doctor appointments alone, or needed someone to simply do the driving after a dental or medical procedure. I've had the filing ones, the typing ones, the answering the phone ones, you name it. You might want to find an agency who dips into a little of everything. Not only will your chances increase of having a skill they need, but demand will rise, and a variety will exist, meaning choices, and an avoidance of boredom. Also, with the schools, some will hire you directly for that kind of work- so you might want to look into that if you like it.

Note: They will all have you sign a legally binding agreement, that, after you stop working for them, you cannot work for any of their clients, usually for 2-3 years. Why?
They don't want to lose their clients to you, and
they don't want to lose you to their clients. So they don't allow any outside "shopping around" by either party. The clients have to sign the same agreement.

Hope I've given you some good feedback,
good karma, and hope