Why do people like to temp? Over the years as a consultant filling temporary positions, I have met all kinds of candidates. Each one has a unique story and a different reason as to why they want short-term work. The obvious ones who we expect to find in temp roles are students, travellers, working mums (and dads). Less recognisable, but often highly proficient, are the part-timers, in-betweeners and career temps.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, at last count part-time employees made up 40% of the Australian workforce, with almost 22% employed in casual roles. From my experience placing candidates in Professional & Office Support roles, I’ve profiled the most common traits of temporaries and categorised them into four groups.
The Part-timer: They’re trying to fit work around lectures or day care. Whether it’s a few days per week or peak hours, Part-timers are always in high demand. Students and working parents rule in these working situations. Finding the right job match for someone with a fragmented schedule is sometimes a challenge, however there’s always a client with an equally demanding brief. Recently I had an aspiring actor in need of 2-3 days per week to work around her auditions. Due to various scheduled audition times, she needed flexibility. After proving her value to the company, they were able to accommodate her. They love her so much, they have booked her for another 6 weeks in July.
The Traveller: Here for a good time, not a long time, they’ve arrived in Oz most often from the UK or Europe with only a backpack. Not afraid of a bit of hard work to fund their next adventure, our Travellers are highly motivated, ready to start work right now. I once had an Irish chap who was willing to do anything – I’m not joking… After a two week assignment document shredding, he had made such a great impression with his friendly and positive attitude that my client offered him a three month assignment working in their customer service team. He couldn’t believe his luck!
The In-betweener: They’re prepared to wait for just the right permanent role and they’ll temp while they hold out. That’s our In-betweeners. One candidate who comes to mind was working as an Executive Assistant for a CEO for many years. She felt it was time to move on and was looking for a career change. Temping completely re-energised her. She was able to request assignments where she could utilise her significant experience, testing new working environments without a long-term obligation. She enjoyed it so much she became a regular on my availability list, eventually settling again in a permanent role in an organisation suited to her skillset.
The Career Temp: Repeat assignments are their bread and butter and our clients will specifically request them for an assignment, over and over. Career Temps, will have a deep and meaningful relationship with us. I can think of a candidate in particular who I’ve been working with for over five years who just loves the lifestyle temping affords – the flexibility, the variety of work, the people she meets and the different industries she has been exposed to. It certainly works well for her. She’s competent and reliable, I couldn’t ask for more.
All sorts of people temp for all sorts of reasons. And most people have a story about temporary work from some stage in their career. We’d love to hear about your experiences.
