what are the cons of going through temp agencies?

SCfuji · #1 06-23-2005, 05:13 AM

i keep hearing different things about agencies... do they take a % from your paycheck directly like taxes or does the company just pay you less since they pay the agency to find employees? has anybody found a cool job they liked through an agency? are some agencies way better than most?

thanks,
eugene

BOTW · #2 06-23-2005, 06:49 AM

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the company just pay you less since they pay the agency to find employees

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But, you might find a good job this way. The big ones will find you a job faster, the smaller ones (more headhunter-style) will find you a job more to your liking better.

raisethatmofo · #3 06-23-2005, 07:12 AM

FouTight · #4 06-23-2005, 08:19 AM

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I've done Temp agencies and never again. I don't recommend them.

There's a reason why the job is a temp. And in my opinion, 99 % of the time, the job is going to stay temporary because the position doesn't require someone there all the time, 365 days/year. I got a job once and freaking every week was wondering when the company would hire me on full time so I could get benefits. I was jumping through hoops for the guy in charge but it didn't matter. Not sure where you are at but in my opinion,

I'd rather be working at Mcdonald's 30hrs/week PLANNING for something better like starting my own business or something like that than trying to get into a really nice company so you can eventually meet people you hate and start hating the job you have to show up to everyday.

I work for myself now. I don't make a ton of dough right now but I have plans and I'm happy.

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Ditto

Plus, the regular employees where you are working generally treat the temps like ish.

And the part of this that drives me crazy is the regulars are usually complete morons, but still maintain an some form of elietism over the temps, not a fun situation, unless you like wanting to punch someone.

sfer · #5 06-23-2005, 09:21 AM

The principal downside to using a temp agency is that you end up working as a temp.

Rhone · #6 06-23-2005, 09:24 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i keep hearing different things about agencies... do they take a % from your paycheck directly like taxes or does the company just pay you less since they pay the agency to find employees? has anybody found a cool job they liked through an agency? are some agencies way better than most?

thanks,
eugene

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The company pays the temp agency an hourly fee. The temp agency pays you an hourly wage. Obviously the former is greater than the latter.

If you're unsure where you want to work or exactly what you want to do, temping might expose you to different jobs and different environments, and that might be a good thing for you.

That said, the worst job I ever had was through a temp agency. Summer right out of high school, proof-reading the yellow pages.

Line by line.
Ad by ad.
Page by page. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

steelcmg · #7 06-23-2005, 10:19 AM

Im currently working for a temp angency called aerotek. But the job im working for went thru them because they where just starting down where im at. But they have already signed on for there lease for another 1year so it looks like ill be done with aerotek and being hired on full time. Atleast i hope so since it wont be benefical for them to rehire someone else.

teamdonkey · #8 06-23-2005, 11:10 AM

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has anybody found a cool job they liked through an agency?

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the job i have now i was originally a temp for. The big downside for me was the lack of benefits. Temp agencies typically don't give you anything until you've been with them a while (6 months before i got medical) and what they do give you is crap. When the company did hire me on they gave me a small raise, but with benefits the bump was pretty significant.

OtisTheMarsupial · #9 06-23-2005, 12:27 PM

1. much lower wage than you'd normally get
2. weird ass jobs you don't want
3. annoying skills tests and drug test

The Goober · #10 06-23-2005, 12:41 PM

Temp agencies have their place. If you looking for something short-term and are reasonably computer-literate, then they are generally going to pay much better and be less work than than slinging coffee at the coffee house or working for McDonalds. I've worked one temp job that was awful - a combination of data entry and stuffing envelopes all day. I've also had friends with temp jobs where they literally had nothing to do all day.

Its basiccally a lottery what you will get. Some companies use temps as a way to "try out" employees before bringing them in full-time, some don't. Some jobs are like 6 months, some are less than a week.