Advice on Agency/Temping work???

Chrysalis

one thing that really annoys me about angencies (on top of the other bad stuff) they will run an ad for weeks and weeks in local papers to get people on their books, the ad they run is for a non existant job but sounds attractive, that way they have people on their books but these people have been lead on since they were interviewed for non existant work.

Agencies can be a good thing tho, it looks better if you have been temping for 3 months instead of a 3 month gap in employment, and sometimes it can lead to a permenant position if you get lucky.

liney

Agencies are no longer allowed to 'roll up' holiday pay (pay you extra per hour instead of taking leave) You must actually take the time off.

As for advertising, agencies will advertise postions at contracts they have. When you register you need to be interviewed, referenced, then pitched to the client. Sometimes the positions are filled before references come back and sometimes, and people don't like to here this one; the candidate applying isn't suitable for the job they are applying for!

An agency is not obliged to give you work. They will offer what they deem to be a suitable post when it becomes available. State clearly the type of work you want to be offered, then ask if it is a realistic request.

Chrysalis

liney you heard of agencies advertising a job listed as short term and advertising for it for weeks simply because they cant find a suitable person?

liney

Yes. Depends what the job is really.

A) Many qualified persons will not take short term contracts thus making the position difficult to fill.

People apply for jobs requiring XYZ but are only actually capable of XY then complain when they see the advert again )

The client pays the agency for a person meeting their stated requirements. The agency will not get placements by forwarding persons who do not meet the criteria set to them. The agency has much less say in who actually gets the job than alot of people think.

Chrysalis

what happens if the ad outlives the length of the job contract

I have knowledge of agencies advertising non existing jobs unfortenatly I wont disclose it here on a public forum just to let others know this exists.

urban_spirit

lazymoezy wrote:

I live in Waterloo, there isnt an agency in Waterloo, thats as far as I know, if anyone can help that would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-MoE-

Hi lazymoezy

Can you look in a local directory to find agencies?? I looked in the Thompson Local and Yellow Pages, thats how I found mine.

urban_spirit

Hi All

Got appointments to register with 2 agencies. They talked about taking tests - ???? Has anyone done this? What tests are they and how long do they last?

Also, the work you get from an agency, is it regular? Or does it depend on what posts they have in. Is there a way to help it to be regular - i.e. if its short-term work, any way to help get the next post for the next week???

Do angecies cover part-time posts or are all the posts full-time???

Lots of questions! Can tell this is new to me

lswwong

The tests are typically copy typing test, spelling test and MS Word test. Expect to spend about one hour doing these.

Happy to chat offline if you like. I am at the office now and won't be busy later this arvo. Please indicate by PM.

I am a legal sec by trade

missk_ensington

There are perks and really crappy aspects. I'm a temp and on the plus side, I don't have to give an explanation if I want a day off, I just give a few days notice and get it unpaid. On the downside, if I'm ill/got docs/sons ill etc etc, I don't get paid for it. I temped when I was pregnant and received no maternity pay and had it docked from my wage when I went to antenatal checks and scans.

Holiday pay is crap too, you get the basic 20 days which is accrued over time.

However, you can gain very good experience by doing 1 month here, 1 month there without the stigma of jumping from job to job. Last year I worked in a surveyors, accountants and solicitors and learnt valuable things that I now use in my PA to Chief Exec job (which I doubt I would have got at aged 20 without the experience I had from temping).

Good luck, its certainly a great place to start even if it isn't a long term plan!

missk_ensington

LOL When I did my spelling test I got 89% and I was furious ecause I knew I hadn't got any wrong..........it turned out I'd changed all the american spellings to English ones! (I thought they had been put in there to catch me out! Ooops!)