Capture Real-World Career Insight & Advice That Will Prep You for The Big Time

I once worked for someone who got a nice FedEx package twice a week. Filled with pot.

Everytime a stranger came to the office, I was convinced we were under investigation. I was always scared to sign for the package.

In the end, I became more paranoid than my pot-smoking boss.

Posted by darryl lydon on October 26, 2007 9:17 AM

I had gotten a job through Spherion working for Dell at a local Mall. The people there were just too funny. Never was a dull moment there. Then when we had technical problems the guys there were so cool about it that you would have never thought there was a problem. It's not very often you find a great job and cool people to work with.

Posted by Michelle on October 26, 2007 6:34 PM

People wonder if you can ever get "good" assignments with temps. My best assignment was 12 hour days for 1 month straight setting up a powerplant expedition. I was paid overtime, doubletime and got to meet over 150 brilliant engineers from all over the world and see how the world gets electricity power. They worked around the clock, it was a GREAT assignment and I was an important part of it.

Posted by Melynda Mee Vang on October 26, 2007 6:45 PM

I joined five other Spherion temporary employees engaged in a most challenging & exciting Spherion assignment, graduating from a Northwest Airlines flight attendant school during the summer of 2005.

During my assignment, I attended rigorous FAA certified classes, passed my written & oral examinations & earned certification as a NWA flight attendant.

Upon graduation, NWA deployed me to Frankfurt, Germany. While @ the Frankfurt Airport Hotel, I met US Air Force and US Army personnel being deployed to Iraq, visited Goethe's rebuilt home, attended the Muse festival in Goethe's honor & walked beside a crew removing spent artillery shells from World War II.

My return to Chicago co-incided with Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans & Spherion's client filing for financial re-organization.

Posted by Mark A. Fredrickson on October 26, 2007 7:03 PM

I tried for over a year to get a job at a large Nashville insurance company. I applied for several jobs and even used alumni contacts to speak to their hiring managers. Nothing worked.

Then one day I got a call from my temporary agency, and they asked if I would be interested in a long-term assignment at a large Nashville insurance company. As it turned out, it was my target company.

After two months on the job, they offered me three different permanent jobs.

Temp work got my foot in the door that had otherwise been closed.

Posted by Vic De-Ville on October 26, 2007 11:38 PM

I took a temp job answering phones and filing. The two office people gave me exact opposite instructions for filing service requests. They both said by the month, but one said from largest service request number to smallest while the other said smallest number on top. I had to do the complete book over filing all the service requests in each month and post agreed upon instructions for filing at the beginning of the book! No wonder they couldn't find all the service requests in that book.

Posted by Sandra Gossett on October 27, 2007 2:55 AM

I arrived at my temp job at Duke Power believing it would last 6 months and involve some data entry and proofreading. Little did I know it would also involve something else. A few weeks into the job my phone rang unexpectedly and the caller said he had found a dead fish on the side of a nearby lake. He said he was calling to have it cleaned up. I told my boss about it and he told me to call the Haz-Met team. I couldn't believe my ears......to clean up a dead fish? To my surprise I learned later such an incident was considered a hazardous spill!

Posted by Frank Phibbs on October 27, 2007 6:26 AM

I was placed with a large company (contract to hire) by a tech company for a long term printer upgrade project.
My 90 day trial came and went. We all came out of our "Town Hall" meeting, where it was announced we had just won a 5 year contract for our excellent performance, with excitement and pride for our company's growth and direction. The following Monday, I went into a one-on-one meeting with my boss and the HR director expecting a contract offer. Instead I was given a two week notice!!!!! I can't describe here how ridiculous it was, the shock and betrayal I felt. The project was not over and no one had been trained to do what only I had been doing. It would have brought the whole project to a screeching halt. Luckily for me and our customer, a key player (customer side) found out about it and said, "Absolutely NOT"!!! I was offered a permanent position a week later. Yes, I took it. I love the work, my co-workers and the 6% raise I just received after a year and a half of dedication to a company (management) that I cannot trust! But, being a single mom, you do what you have to do!!!!!

Posted by JTECH9 on October 27, 2007 8:11 AM

It was my birthday and I was working on the third shift with about 10 other temps. The night was dragging on because there wasn't a lot of work to do. A lady that was working across from me said, "I don't want to be here; it's my birthday."
"Mine too," I said.
Our supervisor heard us and he got up and left without saying a word. When he came back about 30 minutes later, he had a chocolate cake and was singing "Happy Birthday." Everyone in the room joined in. I really wasn't expecting it.

Posted by Joe Neisen on October 27, 2007 8:30 AM

Temporary positions are not always temporary.

In 1978 I was offered a 6 month contract position. I left that contract in February 1987 (8 1/2 years later) to accept a 9 month contract. The client for my 9 month contract decided to not renew my contract in April 2004. Yes, that's right, 17 years later the nine month contract ended. Needless to say, I'm looking for another short term 'temporary' position.

Posted by Del Sellers on October 27, 2007 9:55 AM

I was offered a temp position starting the following Monday. I found out that the company was looking to hire someone and to apply. I was told that they decided not to choose me after all. 3 weeks later the supervisor told me to apply again. I received a call from the manager with an offer. I was shocked at what offer I was given. It was a less than my current salary. I had no choice but reject it. They asked me to wait, and then they offered me a deal I couldn�t reject. I GOT THE JOB!

Posted by Luwanda Castro on October 27, 2007 2:35 PM

Have you ever experience some client have a strange attitude, when I said yes" maam" to this Lady, supervisor, she said, don't tell that to her again,can you believe it.

Posted by VAn , Justin on October 27, 2007 5:22 PM

My first assignment, needed to prove myself, took a 3rd shift position downtown. It wasn’t the best part of town, dark, spooky with a full moon. I buzzed in and was greeted by a guy in a hat pulled down over his eyes, a single bulb lit the room. He told me the office was upstairs. So I went in. I still swear to this day there was a dead body rolled up in carpet off to the side. It was a 24-hour copying company, everyone laughed the next day after the service questioned the rolled up carpet.

Posted by Cindy Norton on October 27, 2007 8:49 PM

The problem with alot of seasonal intern jobs is that some organizations have no clear cut program to which they hire interns. One such instance was over this last summer. A company hire me to intern where the program consisted of filling in for people that went on summer vacation. I worked mainly in accounting and IT. I learned more about business in this role than any other job I had before, even though it scared me to pieces not knowing what I was doing. So the way I see it, the best jobs are the ones that throw interns into the deep end, either you sink or you swim.

Posted by I can Do It All on October 27, 2007 9:31 PM

Spherion gave me a temp position after searching for work for about 3 months. I gained employment with a financial company that offered me a permanent position based on Spherion's recommendation.
In my opinion, Spherion is the best Temp Service in the Charlotte area.

Posted by Zina Wright on October 27, 2007 9:34 PM

I received an assignment with a life insurance company for a temp postion "up to a year" and i only worked there for about a month because the supervisor told one of the co-workers that he felt like some of his OWN workers on his team were prejudice and he knew that they were. and i complained to spherion about it because they had been giving me problems and shortly after i was the only one whose assignment had "suddenly ended" , and then the supervisor at the job hired his "wife's" sister permanently in the temporary position i had just been removed of. Talk about coincidental!!!

Posted by Arthur Glover on October 27, 2007 10:59 PM

I took a temp job several years ago working for an insurance company. I was sort of an errand girl, doing copies, delivery of mail both ways, doing FAXes. Within a short while I knew all 60 people by name and it was fun going around to all the offices. I think the job was for 1 week to begin with, but it was extended another week, another week, etc., until I was there for 2 months. All the people said they wanted me to stay even after that because they had gotten spoiled having me do all the 'dirty' work. But, as it turned out, they weren't able to create a slot for me, so I left after the 2 months.

Posted by Leola Hays on October 28, 2007 11:01 PM

Just a few days after I interviewed for a job position that interested me, I unexpectedly received a completely different assignment. I was asked to work as a Pharmacist technician, a position that was completely alien to me. The assignment initially was to speak only English while talking to customers. My boss soon asked me if I spoke more languages. I told him that I spoke a total of five. He brought me a pile of papers that happened to contain hundreds of phone numbers. He asked me to call and talk to the patients in all five languages! Just few days after the assignment he gave me an increase of nine dollars! I was shocked and ecstatic. About two weeks later, the same company called me to say that I was going to be hired full time as a bilingual customer service representative, but my salary was going to be cut down 25%! They said I should be happy for getting health insurance and 401K. One month later, the person who hired me full time quit. I am still working for my temporary company, I still make twenty dollars an hour, but nobody will tell me when I am going to be hired permanently.

Posted by Sergio Correia on October 28, 2007 11:07 PM

Just a few days after I interviewed for a job position that interested me, I unexpectedly received a completely different assignment. I was asked to work as a Pharmacist technician, a position that was completely alien to me. The assignment initially was to speak only English while talking to customers. My boss soon asked me if I spoke more languages. I told him that I spoke a total of five. He brought me a pile of papers that happened to contain hundreds of phone numbers. He asked me to call and talk to the patients in all five languages! Just few days after the assignment he gave me an increase of nine dollars! I was shocked and ecstatic. About two weeks later, the same company called me to say that I was going to be hired full time as a bilingual customer service representative, but my salary was going to be cut down 25%! They said I should be happy for getting health insurance and 401K. One month later, the person who hired me full time quit. I am still working for my temporary company, I still make twenty dollars an hour, but nobody will tell me when I am going to be hired permanently.

Posted by Sergio Correia on October 28, 2007 11:11 PM

I worked a temp. job for a local hospital in their records department with a different temp. agency. I was told that they might offer the job to me after a certain amount of time. I performed the job with little problem and had developed a good routine; when they brought in new temps from a new company. This made work space very cramped and we had to share and wait turns to use certain equipment. That was two days before I got the call that my assignment had ended. It took me two extra weeks to get my final paycheck because I was not given the chance to get a signature from my on site supervisor. What a nightmare that was just to get paid! I was offered another short term position with this company, but choose to look for a more permanent position. I found a good job where I had made some good life long contacts. Although again I am looking for a new job. I am glad to left that offer of another temp job. However I do see the potential that a temp position can bring. Sometimes being a temp.leaves a lot to be desired. since some folks do not see us as equals.

Posted by Kimberly Lockhart Calpito on October 29, 2007 12:43 AM

I accepted a temp to perm position as a full charge bookkeeper paying 10% more than my permanent position. I was told that this was the way all employees were hired in. I asked the normal questions of my supervisor, a 20 year employee, such as when and how the payroll taxes were paid, where she wanted unpaid bills filed, and how long she felt it would take to get up to speed. Everything was answered with I don't know and I don't want to do this job. I left on Friday, thinking, well, I made it through week 1. I came in on Monday and was told" Oh, I am surprised you are here". I was told that she decided to end my job because I "asked too many questions she couldn't answer". The agency never let me know, and because I did not work three weeks at my new job, I could not collect unemployment. Lesson learned- I will never again take a temp to perm, if I have a permanent job.

Posted by Kelly Pfister on October 29, 2007 8:57 AM

I was placed by a tech recruiting company in a 90-day contract-to-perm opportunity to fill a recently-vacated position. After 3 weeks, the company told me that their needs had changed, but in 6 months they would have the perfect job for me (when they were no longer obligated to the recruiting firm). Sounds unethical, eh? I had spent the three weeks reading their documentation and learning their infrastructure and was planning to ask that day about assigning me some more work to do but didn't get the chance.

Posted by RB Sherman on October 29, 2007 11:45 AM

The end of Aug 2007 I signed up with a temp agency and thought they had the perfect job for me. First day on the job the only employee working in the warehouse had me doing all of the order selecting for three days while he packed what I picked. Ok, what happened to team work.
Things would only get werid and werider. One day I went on break and the door slammed, don't let the door slam. Don't punch in from lunch and then go to the bathroom, the owners do not like that. I was placed in the office after 3 weeks and after 3 weeks placed back in the warehouse. The owner said I heard that you are very unhappy, yea, but we need accurate orders. His wife comes out to pick orders and screw up the invoices and packing slips, forget to pick the items. But you need me to be accurate in picking orders.

Friday, Oct 26, my cellphone rings and it is the temp agency informing me that Mrs. Pam rejected my timesheet. I only worked 36.27 hours. She said I took 15 minutes for my break instead of 10 and 5 minute bathroom break. While the other employee said she was told that she could go to the bathroom anytime she wanted and as much. Ok even knowing this I still worked my shift. As I punched out for the day, the temp agency called and informed me that my service was no longer needed. And she wanted me to submit 35.5 hours for my time.
I know she was lying about the breaks and the bathroom, but no one stood up for me. The temp agency thanked me for staying as long as I did.

Posted by Yvonne Hicks on October 30, 2007 5:49 PM

I started my temp job at this local social service agency in 2001 this "temp" job ended in 2007. When I show my resume to diffrent employers they are like wow a temp job that lasted six years. It was a wonderful six years. I met wonderful people and we still get together now and then for luncheons. My supervisor at that company was a wonderful women and the ladies which my co-workers weren't half bad either. I miss them dearly.

Posted by Marianela Ortega on October 31, 2007 11:22 AM

I once had a short term temp position my title was " Marketing Sales Associate". That was the biggest joke ever I was actually required to stand next to a video vending machine and pass out a movie selection list and explain the rules. As if the touch screen device could not explain for itself. Last but not least I worked a total of 45 hours and was paid 210 after taxes when the position was suppose to be $10 an hour. So go figure!

Posted by Shondra Godbolt on October 31, 2007 3:14 PM

I worked for CareerStaff at Bowtie for a temp to hire sales support postition. After 1 1/2 months, I was laid off for no apparent reason. I noticed that other sales staff were being let go at the same time. On Careeerbuilder, I noticed that positions for this company, have not been filled for almost two months and few people have applied for these jobs. why with the high unempoyment does no one want to work there?

Posted by Jayne Orlowski on October 31, 2007 7:57 PM

Sometimes the pitfalls of working for a temp agency is the way employers may treat you. They see it as a non-commital type of position in which people who couldn't otherwise get a job are given an opportunity. Another viewpoint may be the loyalty factor, besides the pressure of can you do what the company asks for. I am currently working the 3rd shift for a downtown document office. Just when I was ready to give up,(the night shift is killing me!) They offer me full time employment! I figured it wasn't going to work out,but tomorrow is my 90th day. Cool!

Posted by Kevin Richardson on November 12, 2007 11:53 AM

I worked as a temp for an insurance agency, and had a good repore with the people that I worked with. One day my boss asked me if I would train a new temp. I said that I would and then introduced myself to Susan. I began showing her around and explaining the various duties that she would be doing. Each time I would begin to teach her a procedure, she would suddenly interupt me and say things like, "Okay, okay! I know! I've got it!" She seemed to think that I was bossing her around, when I was actually just stating the facts in a pleasant tone of voice. I went to my boss afterwards and said, "I'm not sure how much she got out of that, but I tried." Later, when I was about to be hired full time, I left for three days to take a training class. When I came back, Susan was sitting in my seat, and if fact had taken over my desk. I felt somewhat irritated, since she knew it was my area, but decided to let it go. I asked her, "So, where are my things that were in the drawers?" She said,simply, "I threw them away." At this I was really angry. Books, pens, pencils - who knew what she had simply tossed out. A co-worker heard our exchange and put her hands on my shoulders. "Breathe, Robin... breathe!" My boss made her apologize to me the next day, but I still couldn't believe that anyone would do such a thing - for no reason! It didn't surprise me when she was let go a few weeks later because she couldn't get along with any of the employees.

Posted by Robin Johnson on November 17, 2007 12:03 PM

One of my most memorable temp assignment was for a small but conventional property/builders company. Since it was small and family run, they had a very friendly terrier named Zuni--but was more like 'Marmaduke'. I got along with Zuni better than the other two co-workers that I worked along. He never gossiped or tried to brag. I actually enjoyed his company more than the cliques in the office. Needless to say, after he passed on, I stayed a while then moved on to other assignments. I shall never forget 'Zuni' as the best I ever worked along.

Posted by Agnes Asela Barila on November 26, 2007 11:37 PM

I was recently divorced and desperate for work. I took a temp job with a company that assembled spiral notebooks. We stood at a makeshift counter all day, screwing the spiral things into the papers and covers. It was a huge warehouse, filled with paper, cardboard, and boxes - a fire hazard waiting to spark. They did everything there. They printed the covers for the spirals, they (we) assembled the spirals, and they packed them up and shipped them out. I had only been there a few hours when lights and bells and whistles went of, and the smell of smoke permeated the air. As I frantically looked around for the nearest exit, I noticed that everyone else was still calmly going about their various tasks - completely ignoring the fact that at any moment the whole place would be an inferno, and nobody would get out alive. One of the workers noticed my distress and said, "Oh, don't worry about that. One of the spiral covers must have gotten stuck in the printer again. It happens all the time." (AGAIN?? ALL THE TIME???) "Just keep working; they'll let you know if you really need to get out."

At this point, I'm not sure how they could convince anyone to leave, if the bells and whistles and alarms, not to mention the smell of smoke, don't get anyone moving.

Needless to say, I didn't last there very long...

Kathy
http://www.realraise.com

Posted by Kathy on November 27, 2007 9:59 AM

I just moved to a new area and I started working at a packing place. Packing highlight supplies for teachers. Well I worked there for a few months and my boyfriend was looking for a job. Well he went through the same temp agency as me and he got hired to work at the same place I was working at. Well his 3rd day of working he got laid off including all the other temps. We all got laid off cause they ran out of work for us. Well they call us back a week later and want us to work. That was my second time being laid off from there and his first time. Well after that I got laid off again and my temp agency sent me to another place and then my boyfriend got laid off from the highlight place again. Then later he gets a job. Then I get laid off again cause they also ran out of work. Well my temp agency decides to send me back to work at the highlight place and so I get to work with my boyfriend again. So would you think we are tired of being laid off? Hopefully we don't get laid off again. But you know companies don't seem to like to hire temps because it seems to be a endless cycle of being laid off.

Posted by Elizabeth on November 29, 2007 9:57 PM

My last position did not fit the job description.
I was told that I was going to do some computer work, such as data entry, and Receptionist duties.
Upon arrival I was to report to the mailroom, and that I was to sort mail, deliver and pick up mail from all the companies' departments. There was no work place for me I was to sit to one side and wait for work.
If that wasn't bad, I also had to relieve the Receptionist for morning break, lunch and last break, and that I was to use my own transportation to shuttle my self to the other worksite several buildings away.
I was uneasy with this, since the company had their own company cars, and their employees were covered by company insurance should anything happen to them, to and back from the other buildings.
I was eager to work at what ever, but I knew my limitation as a temp.
It was after I informed my agency of what I was expected to do on the assignment, that I was relieved.
Apparently some one was misinformed, and was not given the full details of the work assignment, and had they known of this I would have never been sent to fill the position.
Since then I have been very leery of Agencies calling and informing me that they have a job matching my qualifications.

Posted by Adriane A. Halaby on November 30, 2007 6:11 PM

All of the temps were sitting in a park having lunch when we saw a chicken walking around. A chicken was the last thing you expect to see in the middle of a business park. I was curious and walked up to the chicken. When I got close to it the chicken jumped up and pecked me. This startled me and I leapt back. The other temps watched this and saw I was afraid of a chicken. One of the temps yelled "hey, don't worry we've got your back" if I fought the chicken. Everyone, including me, laughed.

Posted by Joseph O'Sullivan on December 2, 2007 1:29 AM

The most bizarre temp job I ever had was working for Pillowtex which is located in Hanover, Pennsylvania. I was young just out of high school when my twin sister and I worked for this company through a temp agency. They had us doing jobs nobody else would have wanted to do and had always chosen us. They had given us several jobs while we were there, but the most extraordinary job I ever had was working down in a dingy, dirty basement, stuffing feathers through a big machine to have them crushed. We had to wear face masks that would not stay on properly around our nose because when we would (always) sweat they would fall down. We did not have a choice to wear these masks because the smell of burning feathers, WAS SOOOOO BAD, it would make anyone sick. That machine did not break down as often as we wanted it to because we did not like what we were doing but it was a job. When the machine would break down we would go beat feathers around in comforters. We worked there for almost 4 months. And as we look back now, we do not know how we stayed there doing the work they had us doing.

Posted by Lorraine Rice on December 7, 2007 11:16 AM

I saw an Ad at Jobing.com for a Light Assembly Position offered by a temp agency. I called their office and was told to come in at 8.30am on 12/07/2007.I spent 2 hours filling paper work and listening to online training.The secretary did a quick inferwiew, handed me her Business card and said "Have A Merry Xmas".Nothing was mentioned about the job,she told me this is holiday period---Nobody celibrates Christmas on 12/07/2007.I was a horrible experience.I walked out jobless and disappointed.

Posted by Betty Achonwa on December 11, 2007 7:32 AM