Getting Professional Experience Through a Temp Agency

Experience, Experience, Experience! That’s what you’ll hear when you ask the best way to prepare for a job after graduation. Most people will tell you to get as many internships as you can. However, many advisers and students overlook one avenue because of its bad reputation. People generally believe temp workers get little pay and do grunt work for companies who don’t care about them. Today, that’s simply not true. Temp work is a great way for college students to get the flexibility they can use, the extra income they want, and the experience they need. According to the American Staffing Association, workers earn an average of $10 or more per hour, in some instances more than their permanent counterparts. Temp positions are available in many fields, including health care, business, and computers, and you set your own schedule. There are four ways temping can help put you on the path to a permanent job: 

1.  Use temp jobs to make job contacts directly with companies in your field. Making job contacts is imperative in today’s job market. You will need something to make you stand out in the pile of resumes employers receive each day. According to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 45% of employers will hire less college grads this year than in past years. To compound this quandary, the economy is bad, and experienced workers are looking for jobs too. According to the U.S. Dept of Labor, the national unemployment rate was 6.0% in April, 2003, an increase of nearly 2.5% from the same month 2 years ago. So not only will you have to compete against your co-grads, but also against older, more experienced workers. The only way to compete is to get experience, and one way to get that experience is temp work. You can also use the temp agency’s vast resources to make job contacts. Meagan Kelly, a temp service representative for Westaff in Iowa City, IA, says, “If we have an excellent candidate we will market them to clients, and they can hire them from us for a fee.”