Another way to turn a temp job into a full time job is to get the company where you want to work to request you as a temp. In order to do that you need to find out what staffing service the company uses for temps.
If you go to a company where you want a full time job you may be directed to the company's personnel office. The personnel office may tell you the company is not taking applications at that time. What you can do if you really want to work there is ask if the company uses temporary employees. If the answer is yes, find out if the company has its own in house temporary pool. If the company has an in house pool of temps, it interviews, recruits, and manages people who work temp there.
But if the company tells you it uses a staffing service, find out which service is used. Then go sign up with that staffing service. Be very specific when you sign up with the staffing service and tell the service you chose it in order to be placed as a temp with a specific business. Explain to the staffing service that you want to be sent on temp jobs at that business and that you prefer temp jobs that have the possibility to go permanent.
However, you should not limit yourself to only temp jobs at that business that are temp to perm. Try to be open to taking any temp job in the company you want to work for permanently so that you can get exposure to the company. The more you work as a temp in the company, the more people who will see you. The more people who see you, the better your exposure will be. If you do a good job, you will increase your chances of getting a permanent job in that company. Many times getting the permanent job you want is the result of being in the right place at the right time.
Don't forget to check in with the personnel office on a regular basis while you are temping in the company where you want to work full time. Do not make a pest of yourself; calling or stopping by the personnel office twice a month is a good rule of thumb. This will show the personnel office you are serious and eager about working at the company full time. Make your visits or phone calls short and friendly; do not waste the personnel office's time.
Remember to check in with your staffing service on a regular basis about your progress with the company where you want a full time job. If the staffing service has you working somewhere else, make sure you are only obligated for a short term job so that you can be ready to go on the next available temp job the staffing service has with your target company. Your other temp jobs should be no longer than a week in length.
If you are already temping at the company where you want a full time job, ask the staffing service for a progress report. Get the staffing service to talk to its contacts in the company and see what kind of feedback the staffing service gets from the company. If the company tells the staffing service you are a good temp but are not going to be a match for the company on a permanent basis, get the staffing service to find out why. If the staffing service can give you feedback that will help you meet your goal of full time employment, you should take advantage of it.
Peter was a newly licensed CPA who wanted a permanent job with Merged & Acquired Bank. When he asked the personnel office if he could submit his resume and fill out an application he was told that Merged & Acquired Bank was not taking new applications. The personnel office told him it would keep his resume on file for six months and call him if there was a job opening that matched his qualifications during that period. The receptionist also told him the bank had a phone line that was dedicated for job openings; he could call that phone line to find out what the bank might be actively recruiting for.
Peter was serious about wanting to work for Merged & Acquired Bank; he had learned that Merged & Acquired Bank had a reputation for promoting people who worked hard. He asked the receptionist whether the bank used temps, and the receptionist replied that she was a temp from Quality Staffing Service. He then inquired whether Quality Staffing Service provided all of the temps for the bank. The receptionist was not sure, but suggested Peter try to check the sign in sheet at the guard station where all temps had to sign in each day and also list which staffing service they worked for. Not all check in stations are easy to check for temp listings. But Peter was persistent, and he was able to see that 10 temps had signed in to work on that particular day and that 6 of the 10 were from Quality Staffing Service, 2 were from Superior Staffing, and 2 were from Backup Staffing Company.
Peter then registered with all three staffing services. He was very direct with each of them, explaining that he was temping to get his foot in the door of Merged & Acquired Bank. He requested temp jobs that had the potential to go full time but said he would not rule out any professional, executive, or technical temp assignment at that particular bank.
Quality Staffing Service told Peter the only job it had open that day with the bank was as an auditor in a job that would last only 10 days. The service expected to get more jobs open with the bank but was not sure when. Superior Staffing Service told Peter it could offer him a temp job with the bank assisting the collections manager starting the next day and lasting about a month. Backup Staffing Service said Merged & Acquired Bank called them only when Quality Staffing Service or Superior Staffing Service could not fill temp jobs, but Backup Staffing wanted to offer Peter a temp job at another bank that was long term and could go full time.
Peter had a decision to make. He had already decided to focus on getting a permanent job at Merged & Acquired Bank. Which temp job would help him achieve his goal? He decided to take the Quality Staffing Service offer and see what other types of jobs it had to fill for the bank in the future. Peter's decision was based on the fact that Quality Staffing Service sent more temps to the bank than any other staffing service; he therefore believed he had the best chance of getting a full time job with the bank with this staffing service.
About a week after working the 10 day auditor job, Peter received a call from Quality Staffing Service saying there was an investment analyst position available in the trust department of the bank. The temp position with the bank was available because the trust department had several extra projects to do and the bank was reluctant to hire more full time employees to do the work. The bank decided to get the projects started by hiring temps and then see if the amount of work would justify hiring these temps full time.
Peter accepted this temp job with Quality Staffing Service. His research had told him the trust department was a very prestigious place to work in the bank. Peter knew he could meet many movers and shakers in the bank, because the trust department was responsible for a lot of money. He decided to dress like the other full time bank employees and to copy as many of the good work habits of his coworkers as he could.
Peter worked as a temp for three months at Merged & Acquired Bank. During those three months he talked to his supervisor, Pamela, at Quality Staffing Service at least once every two weeks. He asked her to give him any feedback about what his chances were of being hired full time by the bank. He wrote a letter each month to the bank personnel office to remind them of his interest in joining the bank. He also checked in with the personnel department of the bank twice a month in person. He was friendly and professional.
In addition, Peter wrote a thank you note to his supervisor at Quality Staffing Service. He knew Pamela supervised a lot of temps at the bank and he did not want her to forget about him. Pamela appreciated Peter's enthusiasm and professional attitude, and she did not receive any complaints about him from the bank. He was good at his work, punctual, dressed appropriately, had good work habits, and took direction well. He also asked questions when he neeaed direction.
When after three months the bank decided to end the projects in the trust department that meant Peter's temp job in that department of the bank was concluded. Because he had continued to remind Pamela how much he want to work at that bank, she went out of her way to find another job for him there.
The bank personnel office told Pamela the bank had a full time job opening in the internal audit department. The bank was impressed with the skills Peter had shown in the trust department. Pamela talked the bank into trying Peter out, and so the bank agreed to try him in internal audit for a period of eight weeks. At the end of that time, if the bank and Peter were working well together, Peter would become a full time employee of the bank. And that is what happened.
