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For many years I submitted my resume to Robert Half for countless IT support jobs posted in various job boards and their own site as well. The same story as many others reported here... come in for a face to face, dress professionally, copy of driver's license and work authorization/passport then pointless conversations which go absolutely nowhere. I kept going to these "meetings" but i gave up on the professional attire thing. Jeans and a t-shirt are perfectly acceptable for me if you aren't going to do a damn to help me out.
I stopped going to the meetings. No sense in going if there is no job and they just want to look busy.
I realize temp agencies may have changed in the last 25 years but I found both my permanent positions using a temp agency when I lived in North Carolina. I mentioned this in May in this thread. I'm updating my resume today as I'm not liking the direction my current job is going in and I will probably check out Indeed and perhaps another temp agency.
I don't care how much you dislike your job, who in their right mind would give up a permanent job with benefits for the no benefits crap offered by temp agencies? I think that every time one of them sends me an email or LinkedIN contact and think yea I am really going to give up my stable full time job with good benefits for a no/joke benefits job, for about half the pay, and no job security to boot.
I will say that when I was searching after hip surgery. One temp agency offered one work site that I KNEW sucked and I flat turned it down. They never called me for other jobs. Some agency workers get a bit pissy when you don't kowtow to their "Suggestions"
I will say that when I was searching after hip surgery. One temp agency offered one work site that I KNEW sucked and I flat turned it down. They never called me for other jobs. Some agency workers get a bit pissy when you don't kowtow to their "Suggestions"
I believe it is more about making us numbers and not humans. Don't rock the boat, fall in line, don't disrespect your employer at your current assignment, remember your employer isn't your employer (we have the final say). Of course never question why you don't have benefits or yearly rasies!
I just 'retired' from a temp agency at the end of last year; my wife is seriously sick and I now take care of her. I worked for the same agency at the same company for eight years. I really did not have anything to complain about because I am now 71 and they did pay me well. But I have seen so many younger workers that need those benefits and security.
Today I wrote the White House and asked them to take a good look at temporary workers in this Country. I believe that Ivanka is the new 'labor czar'. What I asked them to do is to take a look and see if they can have a pathway to permanent built into our rules and regulations governing temporary jobs. At one time I think we did this, where if you worked a straight year for the same company, they had to hire you full time. The problem was that they would always work you just short of that year and the 'rehire' you again. I want to see loopholes close and for my fellow American workers to again have security. I told the WH that I felt, if they take steps to correct our temp problems, that many working Americans would react favorably and I think that I am right.
By the way; if you don't like temp jobs you should also email the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. If our President thinks he can win more votes from our workers; he actually might take action. Be polite and honest about how you have been overlooked for a permanent position or how you cannot care for your family without good benefits. Nothing ventured and nothing gained!
You are giving people the wrong idea about staffing firms also referred to as "temp agencies". The difference between the real ones and the junk ones, is the junk ones want you to come into their office to interview you for low-level positions. There is no reason to do that. The real ones look at your resume online and talk with you by phone and e-mail asking if you want to be submitted to the job requirement. They then submit you to the client, and if there is interest they go to the next step which is usually a phone interview with the hiring manager at the client company and/or coming in for an in-person interview. Staffing firms are a W2 hourly rate much higher than you might get working at the client companies and the assignments run from 6-12 months on average while some are much longer. Those jobs in major metro areas pay anywhere from $50 to $90 an hour on average.
The junk ones are old style "temp jobs" which are bogus. You might as well apply for those jobs directly with the client than bother with the temp firm. The higher paying ones I mentioned, those jobs are short-term (6-12 months) for a reason, because they are staffing up for a project and don't believe they will need you past that. They also pay time and half for overtime. You don't get paid vacation, but they have a non-matching 401(k). If you had worked for the client company instead, you would be getting a lower salary plus some expected bonus that you might not get all or part of it. With a W2 contractor, you are getting all that money each hour you work, and don't have to wait for the annual review to see if you get a raise or the bonus, because as a W2 contractor it was already built in.
Any staffing firm or "temp agency" that wants you to come into their office first before submitting your resume to a client is a poorly run company and you shouldn't waste your time with it.
That's funny. In my early 20s, I used a handful of temp firms all the time. I always had a job. Then, a little later in my professional career, I used staffing agencies more than a couple of times. Never had a problem landing a contract, and a couple of times even converted to a regular employee. Even recently, I've talked to a few professional placement firms, and had one that couldn't match the benefits of the direct job, so they ratcheted up the salary to the point where I was strongly considering it for a few months until i could convert, but wound up accepting a different (direct) job.
Maybe, like in so many other things, this isn't a case of "all temp agencies are scams!", but maybe it's the common denominator across multiple situations that's the problem?
This was my experience too. I think if you could pass the tests, were presentable and had a positive attitude you were hired.
You are giving people the wrong idea about staffing firms also referred to as "temp agencies". The difference between the real ones and the junk ones, is the junk ones want you to come into their office to interview you for low-level positions. There is no reason to do that. The real ones look at your resume online and talk with you by phone and e-mail asking if you want to be submitted to the job requirement. They then submit you to the client, and if there is interest they go to the next step which is usually a phone interview with the hiring manager at the client company and/or coming in for an in-person interview. Staffing firms are a W2 hourly rate much higher than you might get working at the client companies and the assignments run from 6-12 months on average while some are much longer. Those jobs in major metro areas pay anywhere from $50 to $90 an hour on average.
The junk ones are old style "temp jobs" which are bogus. You might as well apply for those jobs directly with the client than bother with the temp firm. The higher paying ones I mentioned, those jobs are short-term (6-12 months) for a reason, because they are staffing up for a project and don't believe they will need you past that. They also pay time and half for overtime. You don't get paid vacation, but they have a non-matching 401(k). If you had worked for the client company instead, you would be getting a lower salary plus some expected bonus that you might not get all or part of it. With a W2 contractor, you are getting all that money each hour you work, and don't have to wait for the annual review to see if you get a raise or the bonus, because as a W2 contractor it was already built in.
Any staffing firm or "temp agency" that wants you to come into their office first before submitting your resume to a client is a poorly run company and you shouldn't waste your time with it.
When you look at the long range stocks of companies that have played the 'old style' temp jobs; they have done pretty good in the last ten to twenty years. Locally we have companies that will only hire through these temp or staffing agencies. They get the best of all worlds. As time passes workers forget they work for the agency and feel they work for the company where they work. But if an employee is making too much money or questions authority the agency or the company (they actually work in) can fire them. Employees have two employers to worry about; even though they only work the one job.
It all boils down to security and benefits. Dedicated young workers need both to raise young families. It has to be a fair system so our young, hard, workers can buy the houses and goods that then grease the wheels of our capitalistic society.
Over the years our employers have played many games to keep down wages and maximize profits. first our workers had no protection and then they moved to unions for protection. The employers adapted and some moved South for cheap labor and then simply outsourced or offshored. Companies also tried convincing workers that we were all one big team (embracing the Japanese style team work) - but with their own unique twist which held our workers totally accountable for all the new responsibilities that they were given. Currently they have embraced the 'temp agency' because it is a quick way to turn over workers without raises and without giving benefits. Shortly they will turn from the temp and staffing agencies to robots and no need for any workers (of course that leaves a distribution of wealth problem). Too much greed and the whole system will collapse.
When you look at the long range stocks of companies that have played the 'old style' temp jobs; they have done pretty good in the last ten to twenty years. Locally we have companies that will only hire through these temp or staffing agencies. They get the best of all worlds. As time passes workers forget they work for the agency and feel they work for the company where they work. But if an employee is making too much money or questions authority the agency or the company (they actually work in) can fire them. Employees have two employers to worry about; even though they only work the one job.
If you have low-wage, high-turnover work; why would you go through an endless hassle of finding, recruiting, qualifying, and hiring people? You go to the temp firm and have them pump bodies through the door. If a job ends or work tails off, you can say, "I don't need as many people tomorrow. Send Joe and Jane back, tell Tom and Mary to take a hike."
And what's wrong with dumping throwaway labor that "questions the company"? I can "question" my employer because I have decades of experience, and they hired me and paid me because I'm really good at what I do. But someone who operates a machine on a production floor needs to sit there and operate that machine, not be "questioning" the people who created that job.
And it's pretty common for companies that use temp firms like that to convert the people who prove their worth... temps are actually pretty expensive on an hourly basis, but that expense is a great deal when looked at as a bulwark against the risks that unknown person poses. Once they're a known quantity, it's a better deal to convert them to a regular employee.
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