Make sure you know the difference between an employer and an employee paid staffing service before signing anything. Otherwise, you could end up with a bad experience. Denise did.
Denise was very anxious to get away from her current job as an accountant. She had excellent skills and signed up with the first staffing service she found. The staffing service quickly sent her to an office for an interview. The office called the staffing service and said they wanted to hire Denise. Denise signed a contract with the staffing service and accepted the job. What Denise did not take the time to find out was that she agreed to pay the staffing service 10 percent of her first year's income at the new job and that she must stay on the job at least a year or have to pay a penalty fee to the staffing service. As a result, Denise paid a lot of money and worked at a job she did not like.
Had Denise taken the time to do some investigating, she would have found several staffing services that would not have charged her anything to find her a temporary or full time job. She had excellent skills and could have had more jobs to choose from than the first job she accepted.
Headhunters or professional recruiting services can work the same way. They are going to make their money somewhere, so make sure you know the type you are using before you sign anything. Many companies will only pay a headhunter for an experienced candidate. Those with little or no experience, like recent graduates or those changing fields, may not be viewed by headhunters as attractive candidates since they are hard to place.
So what is a staffing service? A company that makes its money matching people with jobs. They are going to make their money from either the people they place or the businesses who hire them. Know the difference when selecting a staffing service.
Where the Professional Technical Temps Work?
Temps work everywhere, since temps can do any job from working in a factory to running a company. All types of companies hire temps. The next section is a summary of a few of the types of businesses where temps work today.
Temping is a good way to get your foot in the door and gain experience at the same time. Many times people are turned down for jobs because they lack experience. If they get in somewhere as a temp and do a good job they make a good impression. Temps who make a good impression may be recommended for openings for full time jobs where they have worked as a temp. Or, someone may advise the temp of a similar job in another company and put in a good word for the temp because of the excellent job the person has done temping.
What kinds of businesses use temps? Here are several examples. Subsequent chapters discuss different types of professions that temp and the businesses where temps work.
Banks
Banks use temps in most of their departments. These temps work as temporary personnel recruiters, executive assistants, lawyers, paralegals, auditors, and accountants. Some banks will train their professional technical temps and some ask for very specific qualifications like experience reconciling statements, writing legal opinion letters, conducting title searches, or working on various types of software as an information technology specialist.
Hospitals and Healthcare Companies
Hospitals are big businesses and use professional technical temps for everything from temporary chief executive officers (CEOs) to administrators, accountants, auditors, information technology specialists, claims administrators, nurses, doctors, and medical technicians. Hospitals are very competitive, and the government is trying to force healthcare companies to become more cost effective. The number of employees in healthcare may fluctuate; healthcare companies hire lots of professional technical temps for special projects, job vacancies, vacation coverage, or coverage for medical leave.
Many hospitals offer excellent benefits, so they are a popular industry to choose if benefits are important. Knowledge of the medical or nursing professions and Medicare as well as experience with the insurance industry is very helpful when working temp in healthcare.
Healthcare companies also hire professional technical temps in a variety of fields. Some hire temps who are professional physician recruiters; others may be accountants or lobbyists. There is a demand for the most current skills in information technology or computer knowledge. They also hire traditional accountants, lawyers, and paralegals. Many healthcare companies are turning to the staffing industry to find people who have skills in areas of science. Some healthcare companies are turning over areas of research to a staffing service to find and supervise those skilled in various aspects of science.
