Some staffing services are formed to staff only professional and technical temps. They have come about as a result of the need for people with specific skills. Examples are Accountemps for accounting, Amicus for legal, and Maxwell Medical for medical skills. Other general staffing services started several years ago to create professional technical divisions within their companies as a result of the phenomenal growth in the professional technical sector of the staffing industry. Examples of these are Manpower, which created Manpower Technical; Kelly Services, which created Kelly Services Technical; Olsten, which now has Olsten Accounting, Legal, and Healthcare; and Accustaff, which has Special Counsel.
There is no easy way to select a staffing service. Remember, the staffing service business is the second fastest growing industry worldwide, second only to the computer industry. Professional technical placement is the fastest growing part of the staffing business. As a result, more and more staffing services are specializing in specific placement of temps or consultants who have the professional technical skills that are in demand. There are services that place only those with computer skills; there are services for engineers, for nurses, for hospital technicians, for accounting and finance. And, more staffing services are now being developed to address the demand for these technical and professional skills on a temporary basis or on a temp to hire basis. The good staffing services will stay in business. The bad ones that do not know what they are doing or who are unethical will hopefully be put out of business, because no one wants to temp for them or hire skills through them.
The procedure for finding a staffing service is going to be different for every person. It is going to require effort, work, and patience on your part as you test each service.
The smart staffing services know that they have to have a product to make money. The product is you, the professional temp. The smart staffing service will try to be as user friendly as possible. That is why you will see a lot of options in the Internet that make signing up with services as fast and as easy as possible.
You may try to sign up with some staffing services that are geared toward very specific skills like engineering, accounting, legal, information technology, healthcare, and science. You would also be smart to sign up with some of the big general staffing firms like Manpower, Kelly Services, StaffMark, Robert Half, Accustaff, Adecco, and Olsten and work through their specific technical divisions such as information technology, accounting, and medical.
Staffing services tell you in their advertising what skills they are looking for. These skills may be made known in printed advertising, on the Internet, or through the referrals of the people they are currently working. Remember, if someone you know has skills similar to yours and seems happy working for a staffing service, ask for the name of the service. Your friend may be paid a referral fee for sending you to the service. You may also pull up the Web sites on the Internet for various services. Most staffing services' sites have a space for you to enter the skill you want to use. For example, when you type in the skill "legal research," the site will list what offices are staffing paralegals and list the job openings that match your skills, or it may tell you, "Sorry, no matches."
Remember, if you have a very specific technical skill, take the time to do some investigative work and find out which staffing services place people with your skills and where you can maximize your abilities or earn the most money.
Working with Several Staffing Services at the Same Time
You may want to choose several services to work with at the same time. The advantages are that you may work more frequently, be paid more, and have more variety in your temp assignments.
The disadvantages are that you may not be able to accrue benefits with a staffing service unless you work at least one thousand hours a year. Many staffing services offer vacation benefits to temps who work that many hours a year.
Working with Only One Staffing Service
If you work with one staffing service, you may build a close relationship with the service staff and as a result you may be sent on the better jobs. By working with one staffing service, you will be letting the service get to know your likes and dislikes and where you work best. The staffing service should then only send you on the premium jobs.
There are advantages and disadvantages in temping through one or multiple staffing services. In summary, the advantages to working with one staffing service are that the staffing service will get to know your preferences, you will be more than just a number, you can accrue benefits, and your loyalty should be rewarded by your being sent on the very best jobs. The disadvantage is you will be limited to working only in the businesses that use that particular staffing service. You will miss out working at companies that use other staffing services.
If you want to work temp for long periods of time or you want to earn your income as a temp and not as a permanent employee, consider the advantages of working with one service. You can get benefits and have access to many insurance plans.
If you have a special skill like accounting or legal expertise, you will want to work with services that specialize in placing accountants or lawyers. That way you will be sent on jobs that match your specific skills. You will also probably earn more money working through a staffing service that recruits and places only in information technology, accounting and finance, healthcare, scientific, engineering, or legal fields.
