Temping

lizzyshep

I'm thinking seriously of leaving my job because it is making me ill through stress (I'm a teacher). I am looking at a career change, but this may take some time and I think I may have to do some temp work for a while. Does anyone know what the current state of the temp market in London is? I know I could do supply teaching but would prefer not to - I was thinking more along the lines of office work. I have got 2 years office experience but this is going back 10 years or so. I'll be paid up until the end of August but will need to work in September.

sexki11en

I can't tell you about London i'm afraid, but here in Bristol (which has always been pretty similar to London AFAIK) temp work is pretty much non existant.

I really wouldn't recommend leaving a job in the current market with nothing to go to unless you can survive financially without working.

I've been in recruitment for 7 years now and have never known temp work as bad as it is now.

Edited to add: Someone with experience 10 years ago, unfortunately wouldn't get registered in our office right now. The clients know there are candidates with lots of experience fighting for jobs at the moment, so are asking for candidates only with experience.

I would say you're going to have a struggle on your hands to change careers right now.

SK x

paulofessex

Have you looked into private tutoring, surely that will enable you to continue to use your proffesional skills without most of the stress that a classroom/school enviorment can bring.

Good luck with the change your looking for

Deep_In_Debt

I work in London and on my walk to work I pass a few agencies who are looking to pay in the region of £7.50 - £9.00 ph for office temp work but depending on experience.

olly300

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

I work in London and on my walk to work I pass a few agencies who are looking to pay in the region of £7.50 - £9.00 ph for office temp work but depending on experience.

Lots of people want temp work at the moment. Unfortunately some agencies advertise jobs that don't exist while others will advertise jobs where only those with niche skills can get.

lynzpower

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

I work in London and on my walk to work I pass a few agencies who are looking to pay in the region of £7.50 - £9.00 ph for office temp work but depending on experience.

I agfee, you see a lot of these in the windows. However, if you go in and ask, unless you have something extra special ( for example full security clearance) or another skills thats rare as hens teeth, they are not even registering.

Oh is temping ( although likely to go perm soon) and his agency ( one of the biggest) is not taking on new people to its books at all.

OP have you considered some sort of child care work for example working in a childrens centre, or doing some escorting of children. You may find a supportive role in for example, educational welfare or similar.

Deep_In_Debt

olly300 wrote: »

Lots of people want temp work at the moment. Unfortunately some agencies advertise jobs that don't exist while others will advertise jobs where only those with niche skills can get.

I went temping (office work) in Surrey in 2008 and got paid £12ph and now perm with the company I went temping with with - the agency were actually crying out for people. Just so happens that my boss and team is London based so spend 3 days a week in the Big Smoke!

I used to work in a recruitment agency and we never advertised jobs that didn't exist. We could never get suitable people to fill the job.

book12

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

I work in London and on my walk to work I pass a few agencies who are looking to pay in the region of £7.50 - £9.00 ph for office temp work but depending on experience.

I saw a job that says something like that.

When they say 'depending on experience', how could they judge which wage to give people? Is it like 1 year = £7.50, 2 years= £8, 3 years + =£9

Annisele

book12 wrote: »

I saw a job that says something like that.

When they say 'depending on experience', how could they judge which wage to give people? Is it like 1 year = £7.50, 2 years= £8, 3 years + =£9

It's usually more "how good is this candidate at negotiating" together with "does this candidate have any skills that we haven't specifically requested but that will be useful for us". For something advertised as £7.50 to £9, they might offer you £7.50 an hour if they want you. If you can come up with some reason they should pay you more, it's open to you to try to negotiate.

Or, if you're already employed and you've told them you're earning £8 per hour, they might offer you £8.25 to try to tempt you - they'll know there's no point offering you the job at £7.50.

olly300

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

I used to work in a recruitment agency and we never advertised jobs that didn't exist. We could never get suitable people to fill the job.

Unfortunately not all recruitment agencies are as good as the one you worked for.

muskoka

I've been temping for the last few years in admin/P.A. work & have 25 years experience and am 95% of the time in work. Due to the current economy I have recently accepted a perm position because even for me - work is becoming more & more sparse. I don't think things are going to improve for some time.