Well, crap. What I've been trying to avoid, I must now do. TEMP.

[bertha katzenengel]

I know I'm not the only one in this boat. It's a loathsome way to make a living -- but at least it is a living. I am very grateful to have skills that people need in their workplaces. Grateful for my brain, my education, grateful that I love to read (it's where I've learned at least half of what I know).

I'll visit a temp agency tomorrow and get signed up. I have leads on great jobs near my home, but I can't wait any longer to bring in some income. We are struggling, and those jobs are all government and hiring takes longer than in the private sector. I'm sure I'll get one of them, and I'll keep applying for more, but in the meantime, this is how to pay the bills.

Ugh. Temping takes me back to bad days. But my life is very different now.

Ugh. Wish me good assignments not too far from home.

:hi:

[bridgit]

1. wishing you good assignments from here...

:hi:

[bertha katzenengel]

2. thank you, bridgit

(i love your name)

(i wish it were my name so i could have a claddaugh ring)

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. It's a great step into a permanent job

I temped for a company for a few months, and then got hired and stayed there for three years, and only left because the people I worked with were called by another company to start a new division so I went with them for a couple years, and then got called back to the place I was at before.

And it all started with answering an ad for a temp position.

Good luck to you!

It's important to let the company that you temp with know that you are looking for permanent employment. Sometimes they just are looking for people to fill in for a moment, but if a company is also wanting some new permanent employees, they'll take the temp who does a good job and knows the place before they'll spend the tens of thousands of dollars looking blindly for new people.

[bertha katzenengel]

5. Good advice. Thanks, Rabrrrrrrr.

Somehow I can't see you temping. All I see you doing is painting. :)

[Midlodemocrat]

9. I started a whole new career by temping.

and I met my husband. Not that you are in the new spouse market.

I had wanted to leave teaching because I was tired of being poor. I temped for this company, and the Marketing Communications person asked me to type her resignation letter.

I took her to lunch, picked her brain, and voila. Got the job. And, Mr. Midlo. In that order.

Good luck. Someone as intelligent as you are is bound to be grabbed up PDQ.

[sendero]

6. That's what I was thinking...

.. I've never done temp work but I've heard that often if you perform well many companies will offer you a permanent position. And the sword cuts both ways - by then you will know if you WANT to work for that company "permanently" :)

I'm a programmer and have been looking seriously for several months. Many jobs are now "contract to perm" - where they hire you on a 1099 contract basis but if they like you they offer you a perm.

It really seems like a good arrangement all around to me :) Best of luck!!

[bertha katzenengel]

8. thanks!

I've been a 1099 contractor. What a pain.

:hi:

[qnr]

4. I've been in that boat before. Actually, I was hired permanently at

an excellent job because of it. I had to leave that job due to family (Mrs. qnr's family) illness in another state, but still...

Here's hoping you get great assignments.

[bertha katzenengel]

7. thanks, qnr, very much

:hi:

[asthmaticeog]

10. I hated it when I was younger, but I did it again a few years back...

and it wasn't nearly as bad. Think about it - you've refined your skills, developed new ones and learned better how to deal with the social ins and outs of office environments. Thus you're more likely to be treated respectfully and taken seriously as a potential permanent hire.

I actually enjoyed a lot of the assignments I got when I started temping again six years ago. I also enjoyed being able to turn stuff down if I wanted to goof off or scoot out of town for a bit. ;) Yeah, it's better now that I've been in a proper full-time job for a few years, but I hope your experience is like mine and you find temping not nearly so bad as you used to.

Good luck to ya!

[auntAgonist]

11. Best wishes .. I temp'd for a few months

and hired in at the job I'm doing now. That was 6 years ago.

I'm hoping for the best for you!



Hope this doesn't kill your thread :( I've been a thread killer of late.


:hug:
aA

[calico1]

12. Hey Bertha, I am in the same boat.

I am going tomorrow to interview with an agency. Hopefully some real job will pan out soon, but as you say, at least if you have necessary skills you can keep some money coming in doing temp work until some good job comes along. Good luck to you.

[Sequoia]

13. Good luck.

I used to temp a lot in Los Angeles county and I liked it because I met such interesting people and learned new things. Those were the good old days of the 1980s and I never was out of work. Of course, things have changed but it beats doing nothing.

[Darth_Kitten]

14. Good Luck.......nothing wrong in what you are doing......

We all understand......bills need to be paid.

:hi: :)