Like anything else, there are definitely advantages and disadvantages for becoming a short-term employee.
Being a temp can be the perfect solution to career and/or personal needs, or temping may simply provide a way to pay the bills until a better job is found.
The jobs typically range in length from one day to several days or a few weeks.
For details on what a temporary job is, how to get one, and how they work, read Guide to the Temporary Work Options.
[Longer temporary jobs, lasting several weeks or months, are often called freelancing, contracting, or gigs.]
These days, job seekers have many reasons to take a temporary job:
All of these are valid reasons for taking a temporary job. Particularly if you have been unemployed for more than six months, a temporary job can be your best options.
A temporary job definitely offers advantages to the job seeker:
With luck, a temporary job may provide all of these benefits and more.
Of course, a down-side exists for temporary work:
The good news is that these jobs are, by definition, temporary! The atmosphere and people change with every job. So, if one job is unpleasant, the next one may be great. Read Turn Temporary Work Challenges into Opportunities for more information.
It's a balancing act. For some people, being a temp is perfect for them. For others, being a temp is a hopefully short stop before a full-time "permanent" job is found.
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
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