Be a manager and a temp?

I wouldn’t say being a temp is all bad. In a positive perspective when there are not other jobs to be had you always have something to fall back on at a temp agency. Also, if you are at a temp agency you dont have a gap in employment and you are still staying sharp by working and learning new skills.

In today’s economy even C-level executives face an average tenure of less than 3 years (down from an average of 4 or 5 years a few years ago), so one might argue that there is no permanency in “permanent jobs”, nearly all jobs are interim in nature.

With my MBA from what is now the Simon School and having worked as a CPA with 3 of what are now the Big Four firms, I realized early in my career that I create value working as a CFO or Acting/Interim CFO and, in either case, I work to take the company through significant changes, then move on.

Consulting/temporary work disadvantages: no paid vacation, holidays, or sick/personal days; no paid health benefits or matching 401k; no unemployment benefits; bonuses/stock options need to be worked out for meeting objectives contractually. Advantages: chiefly for me recognizing my employment reality…that in achieving all that is needed at a position I will effectively work myself out of a job to move on to the next challenge…so great variety and a great sense of accomplishment across many companies and industries. I’ve been the CFO of a ten corporation wholesale nursery and of the fastest growing technology company in CT. With my own business, I have had some assignments last a day (often assessing needs and recognizing that their need was for someone with bookkeeping, not CFO/CEO, skills) and three others which went from consulting to employment. Consulting/interim jobs generally bring both greater risks and rewards.

I’ve been a temp with many firms & for the past 4 yrs, a substitute teacher with the Brevard Cy FL (Melbourne/Palm Bay) School District. I teach at least
three days a week and most often five.

The major downside is most employers do not view temp work as valid. They seek persons who have remained in jobs for two or more years or at least one.

Some people have trouble learning the
corporate cultures of the firms where they are assigned. My own problem is that some permanent employees view
temps with disdain or aloofness.

I have been a financial management contract employee for the last 15 years all over the world with a variety of firms. Contracts have been from 3 months to two years. Some contracts were mutually extended, some I finished and left and twice the firms went bankrupt. I don’t have to play office politics and I just the job done. If the contract is a local one, it is not worth the paper it is printed on, you are disposable and nobody cares. But it is liberating to just do the work and see where the next adventure is. A few times as my contract was expiring, I had lined up another job and when asked by management to stay, well sorry. Right now I am under serious consideration for 5-6 months jobs in Nigeria, Dubai, Singapore and China.

Beware some firms use the “temp” job as a tryout for permanent work. You work for the local country manager not corporate office, so any personality conflict means “bye bye”. And if you are on a local contract, memorize the local labor laws.

My daughter is currently working for Kelly Services and is considered a contractor to the federal government. She tried to refinance her mortgage with two different companies. In spite of the fact that she has excellent credit she could not get a loan because she was working for a temp agency. If she is hired permanently by a company, even if she has not yet started the job but has an offer in hand, then they would refinance with her. Makes no sense but it is something to keep in mind.

I would tell that person to stay right where they are until we know more about where the economy is heading. I also doubt very much that 90% of people working as temp really want it that way. Publicly, at least, many laid-off people say that to make their situation sound better. Sure, there are some who prefer it, but I suspect if many of those working free-lance were offered the “right” job they would take it.

One other downside of working as a temp is the obligations employers have to you as a temp are quite different than if you are a permanent employee. I wonder what this so-called restructuring is going mean to the long-term plans of the increased numbers of people working as temps. Sure, you can fund your own IRA, and be able to put more away than an employee but temps are not always employed consistently. Often there are gaps between assignments that can make income unpredictable. Vacation pay can become a problem as well as paid holidays, and other benefits that companies offer full-time employees. My feeling is that most people who are psychologically wired to work in a temporary fashion are already doing so as consultants with their own company. The dislocation of so many professionals, should it become permanent, or if new industries requiring their skills do not appear, are not yet known. I can’t but wonder what the ripple effect will be throughout society.

I have served as a consultant, a contractor, and now as a “term employee” (36 month employment with benefits). The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. Distance from politics, focus on immediate goals, and the “tough assignments” make my current term employment an attractive earning situation.

I have been working as a temp for 9 months with this company. The job was supposed to go perm in October, but when things tanked in the economy, the company issued a hiring freeze. So I am without insurance or a 401k. I also tried to buy a house. My bank informed me that even though I have a perfect credit score, until I get a “real” job–not a temp job, I cannot buy a house, or a car, or get a credit card. Since I am single, this was very distressing for me as I have no other “real” income. I am hoping that the job market does not go the way of temporary employees. If it does, the banking industry is going to have to change the rules about lending to people with temporary jobs. And by the way, I reminded the banker that the tax dollars that came out of my temporary pay check were “real” enough when it came time to bail their butts out of the fire. I got no response from the banker.

I’ve been working administrative assistant and receptionist jobs with temp agencies off and on since 2001. I love the variety and I get a lot of kudos for my work (successfully holding down the fort until a permanent employee is hired). I often get jos offers while there. The down side has been the lack of benefits and a lower hourly rate.

Absolutely, I’d simply call it consulting! I’ve chosen to work as an independent project management consultant for a number of reasons including better pay and more flexability. One tip I’d offer is that you need to market yourself. Don’t go out there and complain that you got laid off and that you’re doing this because you can’t find a full time employment situation. Build a marketing plan as a consultant and focus on some specialty that you have experience in. For example, I market myself as a project management expert on my site. Thousands of consultants get hired every day, may as well be you!