Questions to Ask
No matter how you are greeted by the business on the first day, try to make the best of it. Ask questions and get instructions from whoever your supervisor is. If your supervisor is very busy, try to time your questions for when he or she appears to be less busy.
Organizational Chart
Many companies have an organizational chart that they give to temps. This will help you learn names and who is in what position, as well as learn how the company is structured.
Ask for Feedback
Even if you are working in a very busy, fast-paced environment, it is important to find out as soon as possible whether you are doing your job correctly. If your work needs to be corrected or you need to change the way you are doing things, it is better to find that out sooner than later. Most businesses will appreciate your initiative and your willingness to try to do the right thing to please them.
Breaks
Some businesses have a set time for you to take a break. This could be a 15-minute break in the morning or a 15-minute break in the afternoon. Or, you may be expected by the business where you are temping to say when you need a break. Make sure you talk to your service and find out how you are to document such a break on your time card.
Lunch or Dinner
There may be a set time that you are expected to take lunch or dinner in order for the office to be adequately staffed. Find out when you are to take lunch so that you will be informed (and your stomach will know when it will be fed). Are you to take 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour for this meal? Be sure to document on your time card the time you are not working.
Telephone Extensions Directory
If you are going to be on the assignment more than a day, it will help if you have a list of people's extensions so that you know how to call them.
Use of the Phone
Some companies are very strict about the use of their phones for personal calls. If you need to make a phone call, play it safe and ask permission. Your service may want you to call when you have arrived at your place of work. You may need to give a member of your family a number where you can be reached. Do not abuse the use of the phone. Nothing aggravates an employer like having an employee talking on the phone with personal business during work hours instead on concentrating on work.
Get Help
If you start a job and don't understand it, stop and ask for directions. If you cannot get any feedback, make a call to the staffing service and ask the person who placed you on the job to help you. Many times the service can get feedback for you very quickly, because it has worked with the business before and may be familiar with the tasks you are doing.
Janet was assigned to a temp job by Quality Staffing Service. The service told Janet she would be working for Better Financial Services as a reference data administrator.
Quality Staffing Service and Better Financial Services had a contract that said any temp sent to Better Financial Services had to read an employee handbook and sign a document saying the temp had read the book. It was the responsibility of Quality Staffing Service to make sure the temps read the book and signed the document. That meant Quality Staffing Service was responsible for the orientation of any temps the service sent to Better Financial Services. The hand-book explained the mission and philosophy of Better Financial.
Janet reported to the receptionist at Better Financial on her first day. The receptionist told her the vice president, Paul, would come and escort her to the place where she would be working.
Paul walked Janet to the work area and Janet noticed it was very busy, that each employee had his or her own computer station. Paul took Janet to the station where she would be working for the next week and showed her how to turn on the computer, how to log in, and how to use the phone set. He also introduced her to some of the people working around her. He showed Janet where his office was and told her to come and get him or dial his extension if she needed help.
After three days, Janet showed Paul a preliminary outline of the changes she proposed for the company's common reference data. Janet asked Paul to review her work so that she would know if she was on the right track.
Paul noticed one mistake and showed Janet how to correct it. He thanked her for taking the initiative to show him her work. He reviewed her work at the end of the day and made very few changes. By taking the time to ask someone to review her work and by asking questions, Janet was able to remove some of the stress and anxiety she was feeling.
It is a fact that some companies do not make it easy for temps to do their jobs. This lack of support is especially hard for people new to temping who want to do a good job and make a good impression. Some people view temps as second-class coworkers and do not think it is worth their time to communicate with temps and give them feedback on their jobs. That is a loss for people with this type of attitude, because temporary workers are here to stay. The more people communicate with temps and give them feedback about their job performance, the better the output for everyone at the company.
Do's and Don'ts
IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO BE TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT.
Do-be punctual and on time to work. If you are late on the first day, that may be the only thing your supervisor remembers about you, no matter how well you perform your temp job.
Do-observe the dress code. Try to fit in. You do not want to be conspicuous and stand out because you wore the wrong clothes. Your good work will be overlooked if you are not dressed appropriately.
Do-be friendly, smile, and introduce yourself. If you have the right attitude, the people where you temp are more likely to help you succeed.
Do-pay attention to the instructions your supervisor where you report to work gives you. Make sure you understand what you are asked to do. Your assignment will go much better if you do not have to repeat a task because you did not know how to do it right the first time.
Do-ask questions; be persistent.
Don't-be rude or have bad manners. People will remember how you misbehaved long after you are gone.
Don't-smoke indiscriminately. Many buildings have policies against smoking on the premises. If you want to smoke, make sure you know where the designated smoking area is. If there is not such an area, do not smoke at all.
Don't-read newspapers or magazines at your workstation unless you are on a break. If someone sees you reading a book (other than this one) that does not relate to work, the company may question its need for your services and say it cannot afford to pay someone to read instead of work. The business could then call the service and send you home because you do not appear to be busy.
Don't-suffer in silence. If you really do not like something about your job, call the service as soon as possible. It needs feedback from you.
