Feature Article: Turning A Temp Job Into a Permanent Position
Special Feature: Temping Your Way to a Career Change
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
This issue we revisit a topic that we last looked at in our second year of publication
(2001). Temping is worth a new look, especially in the summer when students, teachers, and
others with summers off consider temporary work.
But temping is good for more than just earning some summer cash. It can be a very
effective path to a permanent job, as we discuss in our feature article, as well as
a tool for career change, as explored in our special feature by regular contributor Maureen
Crawford Hentz.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Temp-to-Permanent Tips
Turning A Temp Job Into a Permanent Position
by Katharine Hansen
Temping can be a good opportunity in any economy. Job-seekers having
difficulty finding permanent work in a recession can almost always
turn to temping. And as many as 18 percent of temp jobs annually are
converted to permanent jobs at the client firm, according to the
American
Staffing Association (ASA).
Although these temp-to-permanent leaps are said by the Economic
Policy Institute to have been not as quick to materialize in the
early 21st century because of the huge number of jobs created during
the Clinton years, the staffing industry was characterized in the
first part of 2004 as a "bright spot" in the employment market,
reports the ASA Web site. Also noted on the site: "One analyst
predicts that temporary help employment will increase by 9.3 percent
this year. And longer term, the industry is expected to create more
new jobs than any other."
Employers that have been under hiring freezes in recessionary times
frequently will not immediately look externally when vacancies
finally open up -- they will look at the temps who've already been
working on the inside and whose work they already know.
Temping is often regarded as a stop-gap income-producing
strategy until a "real job" can be found. For those considering
a career change, however, temping can be an
extremely effective way to break into a field. It's important, however, to understand
that the best way to use temp experiences is intentionally.
Sure, you can file and photocopy in some back office all
alone -- but you can also structure your experience to
serve your career change well.
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
Catherine writes: "I am unemployed and trying to get temporary
work to stay marketable and pay my bills until the right full-time position is offered to me! I am going to attend
a career fair for sales/marketing jobs and want your input on how to sell myself as a potential temp, part-timer,
freelancer to get my foot in the door for full-time employment. How do I come across as not desperate when my unemployment
will be running out in a month or so and I need to start a job right away?"
Vicki writes: "I was fired from my office manager/accounting job
without being given a specific reason. The management
position was then eliminated. I am now unemployed and seeking a new job. How should I state situation this to my best advantage on
applications and in interviews when asked why I am no longer employed with my previous company?"
Sharon writes: "I desperately want to jump into a new career. I am a Licensed Practical Nurse with
some college in business management. I am looking for a career in pharmaceutical sales. My question is how
can I get my foot in the door."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
As more and more workers consider temping and other flexible forms of employment, the online-auction
arena is attracting many to its ranks. eBay says that 100,00 people make their living selling
products through the online auction site, as reported by Susan Strother
Clarke in the Orlando Sentinel in 2003.
Home-based business in general are on the rise as workers seek more flexibility. There is a
growing trend for budding entrepreneurs to turn their hobbies into successful home-based businesses.
Learn
more from the Boston Globe.
In a recent survey by Execunet of 952 executives, respondents ranked networking with personal and business
contacts as the most helpful strategy in job search, following by searching and responding to Internet ads
and networking with search firms.
41 percent of executives surveyed said they secured
their current or most recent job through their personal
or business network, compared to 26 percent who were
recruited by a search firm.
31 percent reported that networking was the single
largest source of their interviews.
20 percent reported their interviews came from
responding to Internet job postings, although only
9 percent of their jobs came from Internet postings.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
Ad: Electronic Versions of Documents Included Free
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WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dining etiquette
* Career Focus Quiz
* Pre-Employment Testing
* Mastering Second (and Subsequent) Interviews
* Interview Damage Control
* 10 Interview Mistakes
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Job Satisfaction Quiz
* Job-search Time-Management Skills
* Reinvent Your Career at Midlife
* Working Beyond Retirement
* Workaholic Quiz
* Building Your Brand
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Make Your College Application Shine
* Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* College Admissions Annual Report/Panel Discussion
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
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Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
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And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
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As more and more workers consider temping and other flexible forms of employment, the online-auction
arena is attracting many to its ranks. eBay says that 100,00 people make their living selling
products through the online auction site, as reported by Susan Strother
Clarke in the Orlando Sentinel in 2003.
