Sometimes It Takes More Than a Phone Call
Most people think getting an appointment with a service is simply a matter of picking up the phone, dialing, and speaking with someone. It does involve that, but there are ways to do it and get the most results for your call (and earn the most money as
After you have done your research using referrals, reading the ads, and surfing the Internet, and have selected a staffing service, make your call. How friendly, professional, and helpful is the person answering the phone? Mondays are often the busiest days for services because of all of the recruiting ads they place in Sunday papers. Therefore, their phones may be busier than normal on Monday.
Know Whom to Ask For
Know whom to ask for when you make that first call have a reason for calling.
Many services that use recruiting ads will list a person to ask for at the staffing service if the service is recruiting for a specific job. For instance, if a staffing service is trying to hire temps for an accounting firm, it may run an ad and tell you to ask for Rachel if you are interested in that job.
If you want that job, call that service and ask for Rachel. You will save a lot of time if you go directly to the person who is filling the specific job you want. If you do not talk to Rachel and you only want that specific job, you may waste time interviewing with other people in the staffing service who have jobs available you do not want. If you want accounting jobs, make sure you are talking to a representative who fills accounting jobs.
Jan was looking for a bookkeeping job. She did her research and reviewed the ads in the paper. She found several services that were advertising for bookkeeping jobs, some temp, some permanent.
Jan called in response to one ad that listed a temp to hire bookkeeping job and asked to speak to Jim, the person listed in the staffing service's ad. She got an appointment with Jim at the staffing service the next day and was placed on the job she wanted that week. Jan did not waste her time talking to people who could not help her.
Tell the Staffing Service Why You Are Calling (You Need a Job)
If you are not sure what type of temp job you want and you just need to get to work and earn some money, investigate several Web sites or call several staffing services. Tell whoever answers your e mail or the phone you want to fax your resume or come in and fill out a questionnaire or an application. If you want to make an appointment, ask when the first available appointment is. If the service tells you it is several days or weeks away, say you have an immediate need for money and you would like to come in and be worked in between appointments or you may have to go to another staffing service. Try to respond by sending your resume through the Internet or by fax. If that service does not seem to care or does not respond to your e mail or fax, go somewhere else.
Some staffing services prefer to work by appointment only. That means they may schedule a phone appointment or interview in person. Others are open certain hours of the day to meet with potential temps. The smart and progressive staffing services know finding a good person is finding a good product, so they will try to work around your needs. If they do not, go somewhere else. Still others may require you to fax or fill out a questionnaire before they talk to you.
If you want to meet with a staffing service in person, some may see applicants Monday through Friday from the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. Others may interview people some evenings and weekends. If you have a professional technical skill that is in demand, a staffing service should be smart enough to work with your schedule. You should go where you think you can work in the jobs you like the most and can earn the most money.
When you go to a staffing service, make sure you apply with the right division. Many staffing services have several professional technical divisions. Do not go to accounting if you are an engineer.
How are you treated as a professional technical person? Are you asked to complete the same tests the clerical temp is taking? Not that there is anything wrong with being a clerical temp, but make sure you are using your time wisely. You can expect to fill out some of the same paperwork that all temps do, such as the required government paperwork, but you should not be expected to take the simple clerical and office tests that other temps take. If you are required to take them, you may have selected the wrong staffing service. If you are in an environment that seems like a cattle call, you may need to reconsider your choice. Appearances can be deceiving, but proceed with caution if you find yourself in this environment and do not expect much.
On the other hand, if you walk into what appears to be a tomb or funeral home type of environment, the staffing service may have too little activity to keep it in business. If you get a recording every time you call the office of a staffing service, you may be contacting a one person shop. There is nothing wrong with one person running a staffing service; it just may take longer to talk to the one person in charge. There should be a happy medium. Activity, conversation among the staff, and a sense of purpose (i.e., finding you a job) are important. The staff should act like they expected you and they know what to do with someone with your skills. If they do not, go to another service.
Is the Staffing Service Qualified to Help You?
When you have someone from the staffing service on the phone, try to qualify the types of positions the service has. Ask to speak to an interviewer, placement counselor, or staffing supervisor. (There are different titles used in the staffing industry for the person who will actually find you a job, so make sure you get to talk to the person who can help you the most.) Some services have staff who only interview or qualify people to be temps. These interviewers then refer the temps to the placement staff, who actually send or place temps on jobs. Other services have staff who both interview and place people on the job. It is important that you spend your time at a staffing service with the people who can help you, and that means getting to see the person who distributes the jobs you want.
When Mack walked into Brand X Staffing Service he was not sure exactly what he wanted to do. He had heard a lot of good things about Brand X from his friend Jean, who had temped for them evenings and weekends while she was in college. Mack arrived in the office of Brand X on Monday morning at 9:00 A.M. He'd had laboratory research experience in telemarketing and was looking for work to supplement his job as a musician in the evenings. He had a biology degree, but his choice of vocation was music and playing in a band.
Mack spoke with the receptionist, who asked him if he had an appointment. Mack admitted he did not have one. The receptionist then asked him if he was applying in response to an ad, and he said no.
The receptionist then made a phone call, and when she finished her call she told Mack that all of the placement staff were busy, but that he could complete an application and come back in two days for an interview. Mack completed the application and left.
He then went down the street two blocks to Superior Staffing Service. By then it was 11:00 A.M. The lobby was very busy. He didn't know much about Superior Staffing Service except that they advertised temporary and permanent scientific jobs in the classifieds.
The receptionist asked Mack if he had an appointment. He said no and the receptionist said no problem, someone would be with him soon. Another person from the service introduced himself to Mack and asked how he could help. Mack said he had an immediate need for income and wanted to do temp work. He went on to say he was especially interested in the laboratory research jobs the staffing service was recruiting for. The employee from Superior Staffing Service, Howard, reviewed the application with Mack, showed him how to complete it, and then reviewed the type jobs Superior Staffing had available. Mack worked for Superior Staffing almost a year six hours a day doing research and was named supervisor of the laboratory.
If you walk into a service with or without an appointment, give yourself plenty of time to complete the required government forms and possibly an application. A good rule is to allow at least two hours for every service you visit. Even if you have the skills most in demand, you will still be required to complete required paperwork by staffing services that conduct business in an ethical manner.
Allow yourself time to finish the application, take any required tests, and complete your interview. Do not schedule your appointments too close together in time; make sure that you will not be rushed going from one service to another. This includes phone interviews as well as in person appointments.
