Graduate Careers Advice by The
CV Centre, the UK's leading CV consultancy.
After you have emerged from the long hard slog of your final exams, the
next item on the agenda is likely to be launching your career. Temporary
work can be a great way to bridge the gap - both in terms of experience
and finance - between full-time study and your desired position in the
workplace.
Be Specific About Your Needs
Temping is by its very nature a flexible way to work and so it can be
worth using this to your advantage. Make sure you are clear in your own
mind about the hours, location and type of work that you would like, and
of your ultimate goal. Are you looking for a stopgap purely to raise funds
or are you looking for industry-specific experience? Temping contracts
can also vary enormously, from a few hours, or days, a week to several
weeks or months. This flexibility means that you could request to work
for a few days each week, so that you can use the rest of the week for
intensive job hunting for example. You may also have a specific timescale
in mind, for example a planned trip around the world, or a contract, which
you are committed to later in the year, giving you with the opportunity
to take up temporary positions in the meantime.
Which Agency?
There are many temping agencies to choose from, particularly dealing
with administrative and clerical positions, but there are also many that
deal with specific sectors, for example, IT, media, charities and the
arts, finance, legal, bilingual, etc. There are even agencies which deal
specifically with part-time positions. Consult the Yellow Pages or the
Internet for lists of local temping agencies and the employment pages
of local and national newspapers which usually contain adverts from agencies
detailing positions they have on offer. Try using these to select the
type of agency you are looking for, and then check their websites for
further information. It is usually possible to join more than one agency,
giving you the widest possible opportunity for obtaining work. However
this can also cause difficulties if several agencies are constantly calling
with opportunities for work. If you find you have too many agencies to
deal with, it might be a good idea to decide on a couple which you have
found provide the work you need, and inform the remainder that you are
unavailable for work for a while.
Selling Yourself
Make sure your CV is up-to-date and presents your qualifications, skills
and experience as effectively as possible. It is particularly important
that the agencies can contact you quickly and easily by phone or by email.
As a recent graduate you may not have a great deal of experience in the
workplace. However, you are likely to have a wealth of experience which
you have gathered in other ways - Remember the organisational feat of
co-ordinating 15 minibuses full of freshers at freshers' week? Or the
administration of the fundraising campaign for your degree show or field
trip and the time management skills acquired through juggling pub work,
study, travel, etc. These may not all be things you would include in your
CV but they might be useful examples of experience which you could cite
in your interview with the agency. If you are having trouble deciding
exactly what to leave in and what to leave out of your CV it is worth
consulting The CV Centre.
We can make sure your CV hits the right note and presents your skills
and experience in the best possible light, so that you have the best possible
chance of reaching the all-important interview stage.
The Interview
Use this as an opportunity to impress upon the agency not only your skills
and experience as described above, but also your general attitude - they
are likely to want hard-working, reliable and flexible candidates. Make
sure you present yourself appropriately - it is usually a good idea to
wear a suit. If you are applying for a temp-to-perm position, regard your
interview with the temping agency as the first round of an interview with
a potential employer, as it is at this stage that the agency will begin
to decide who to put forward as potential candidates for the temp to perm
position. It is also often useful to be clear about your intentions, and
to let the agency know whether you are prepared to undertake work in any
field, so that you can maximise your short-term chances of finding employment.
This is perhaps particularly useful if you have a limited amount of time
before a new project begins (e.g. another contract or travel). If the
agency knows your plans, they should be able to offer you work of the
appropriate length, and you won't have to let them down by leaving halfway
through a contract.
Temping Etiquette
Once you have been accepted onto the books of an agency you will usually find
that they will begin to call you with offers of work and if you accept
the work there a few things to remember to make sure things run smoothly.
Don't be late! - make sure you find out from the agency where you will be
working, who to report to when you arrive, and, if necessary, the best
way to travel there. Dress Code - ensure you know the dress code - wearing a suit in
the wrong environment can be as bad as turning up in jeans to work as
a front line receptionist. Take notes - it can be useful to carry a notebook with you to note
down the specific tasks and procedures of your current job. When you are
working in a series of different places it is easy to confuse such details
and taking your own notes will ensure you don't have to constantly pester
your temporary employer for repeated instructions. Time Out - find out whether you are expected to take a lunch break
and for how long - don't assume you will automatically be paid for working
through your lunch break. If you are a smoker check your temporary employer's
protocol for when and where you can smoke. Reliability - one of the key qualities an agency looks for. If
you agree to take on a contract make sure you fulfil your obligations.
However if you do find you cannot carry out any work you have agreed to
take on, (and sometimes this does happen due to sickness or other unforeseen
circumstances) make sure you inform the temping agency as soon as possible
so they can find a replacement. Don't burn your bridges - Always try to maintain a good working
relationship with your temping agencies. If you have struck up a rapport
with a particular agency and you come back to temping in the future, you
may well find that you can save a lot of time and effort by returning
to an agency where you already have established a good track record.
Professional Help
Temping can be a rewarding way to earn money, gain experience, meet a
wide range of people and work in a broad variety of different environments
and it could help you to determine how you would like your future career
to progress. Of course, a professionally written CV is the first stage
in securing the positions you want. So, if you would like to make sure
that your CV doesn't let you down - and leads you to the opportunities
you are looking for - then Click
Here to find out how The CV Centre, the UK's leading CV Consultancy,
can make sure your CV gets you where you want to be.
