Advice for the Temp, the Agency, and the Client
From a Former Player in the Temporary Work Game
By May S. Chin, CCLS
Temporary Workers
Some of us have been one at one time or another, or we've seen them in action at our offices. As a temp myself, I went to a lot of different places, met a lot of different people, and saw a lot of different things. Some of them were good. Some of them weren't. Some of them were in-between.
Some people refer to "just a temp," but I don't believe there is such a thing. Being a temp is as much a job as any permanent position. Temporary workers are observed and assessed by others, just as permanent employees are. And because they are inside a company, temps can directly see the workplace environment as it really is, be it good, bad or indifferent. When I was temping, on some long term assignments I came to know the company as well as the permanent employees did. In many ways temporary work can be a two way street, just as a job interview is.
We've all heard stories about the temp who couldn't do anything, the agency that doesn't have any good workers, and the client who's miserable to work for. But the temporary work game doesn't have to be such an ordeal, for anyone. With that in mind, I offer the following advice to all the players involved.
To the Temp
Limiting your options
Unless you can afford to be picky about job assignments, don't put too many limits on what tasks you will and won't do. The more things you can do, the more choices of assignments you'll have.
Delivering service
When you get to a client's office, focus on the client's needs. Your first priority is to do their work, not to take care of your own matters or do the client's work only when it does not interfere with attending to your own affairs.
Pursuing excellence
Always do a good job. If you do a lousy job, a client can easily tell the agency to take you off an assignment and/or not to send you back again. And if several clients do that, you may find yourself off the agency's rolls and not getting any work at all.
Asking questions
If something needs to be done and you don't know how to do it, ask. This is especially true of client-specific tasks such as accounting procedures, as opposed to something more generic, such as how to redline a document. I once saw a temp who was good at things she knew how to do; but when she didn't know how to do something, she wouldn't try to find out how to do it unless she was pushed to find out. I have also heard horror stories about important tasks that weren't timely completed because the temp didn't know how to do them and didn't ask for help, and nobody else realized it until it was too late.
Networking
You never know who at a client's office is observing and assessing you, or when you might find a place where you would like to work permanently if the opportunity came along. Temporary clients can be a source of work references, job leads, or permanent jobs. And if a temporary assignment leads to a permanent position, you never know what opportunities may come along after you're inside the company. I came to Latham & Watkins as a temp and was hired permanently a few months later, starting out as a floater secretary. In the course of floating from desk to desk and meeting different people in different parts of the firm, I eventually met and later landed one of the best bosses I've had in my career.
To the Agency
Being a good employer
Do not treat your temps as expendable or easily replaceable. Your business is providing a service, and your service is only as good as the people you send to work for clients. If you do not have good workers to send them, the clients can take their business to other agencies that do. Likewise, good workers can take their talents elsewhere if you cannot put them to good use, or if they feel that your agency is not treating them fairly.
Finding out both sides of the story
If a client complains about a temp, make sure the complaint is merited before you drop the temp. Clients do not always regard temps as people, but just as bodies there to do a job for them. Sometimes the problem may be a difference in personalities, a difficult work environment, or office politics. Or the client may be just plain unfair. If Client X tells you never to send Temp Y back to them again, then certainly do as they wish. But do not necessarily assume that a particular temp is lousy just because one client says so, especially if the temp has established a good track record on previous assignments, and then suddenly out of the blue Client X is complaining.
To the Client
Making a positive impression
Do not treat temps like they are there only to serve your purpose for only as long as you need them. A temporary assignment gives a person a firsthand insight into your company environment and your employees that an outside job candidate would never see from the other side of an interviewer's desk, or even from a contact in your company. You may run into someone you would like to have work for you again, or even hire permanently if you have a job vacancy in the future. If that temp has had a bad experience in your company, you may not be able to get him or her back later. By the same token, that temp may also tell other potential candidates that your company is not a good place to work in.
Showing respect
Treat the temp with the same respect and consideration you give to your permanent employees. At a receptionist assignment, I asked the one other person in the office if he would "keep an eye on the door" while I went to the restroom. His response: "What if the phone rings?" (I knew he would probably respond that way; that was why I worded my request the way I did.) Another temp I knew arrived at a receptionist assignment and later discovered that the client had made no arrangements to relieve her for lunch.
Communicating your needs clearly
If you need a person with specific knowledge about a particular subject area, say so up front so that the agency doesn't unwittingly send you someone who really can't do the job. I went to a data entry assignment at a title company where one person had already flopped because she "could only do data entry." While the job was data entry, the data came from standard real estate documents (deed, purchase contract, loan application), not from a fill in the blanks form like a catalog merchandise order. So the company specifically needed someone who was familiar with residential real estate transactions. Fortunately, I fit the bill because I had taken a real estate course in paralegal school, so I knew the basics and was able to identify the necessary data to enter into the company's computer system.
See? Just ten straightforward rules for effectively playing the temporary work game. If each player plays his or her part right, everyone benefits and the job assignment becomes a win-win-win experience for all involved.
Back to Legal Job Articles for Employers
May S. Chin is a legal secretary in Los Angeles, California. This article originally appeared in The Legal Secretary, the quarterly magazine of Legal Secretaries, Incorporated (http://www.lsi.org/).