Why Temping Agencies Should be Part of Your Job Search Strategy

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After graduating from university I had plans to relocate to another city. But I had a few months of rent and other bills to cover before the big move date. I needed some temporary employment that would tide me over and temping agencies provided a perfect, quick solution.

During this period, I was placed with an accounting firm. I was told that I was one of several temps who the agency had placed in the position without success and they were hoping I would be the last. The job required a keen attention to detail and very fast typing skills. It turned out to be a perfect fit for a new graduate with hundreds of pages of typed essays behind her. A couple of weeks into the placement I was pleasantly surprised to be asked by one of the owners if I would like a permanent position as their office manager. Needless to say, I was very flattered and pleased that my work ethic and quality of work had made a good impression. Had I not had plans to move, I would have strongly considered the offer.

I'm a big fan of temping agencies for many reasons. For those of you who have never heard of them or used their services, temping agencies, or temporary employment agencies, find workers to fill the temporary employment needs of companies. Contracts can range from one day to several months, or even longer, although typically they are of a shorter duration.

While the selection and specialities of temping agencies is expectedly more diverse in larger cities, even small communities tend to have at least one or two agencies that job seekers can register with.

So why do I consistently recommend that my clients register with at least two temping agencies? They provide numerous benefits to job seekers:

• The agencies are working on your behalf, prospecting you to employers, while you're taking other action in your job search (i.e. you're leveraging their time and resources)
• Applying to temping agencies gives you interview practice
• Temp jobs give you a chance to test drive employers with no obligation on your part
• Temp jobs give employers a chance to test drive you. If they like what they see, job offers often result.
• If you're unemployed, they're a great stress reliever because they keep money coming in while you're looking for that perfect job.
• If you're open to relocating, connecting with temping agencies outside of where you live is a great way to get opportunities in other regions.
• Depending on your background and job placement goals, you'll be required to complete tests that assess your skill levels. These are free and help you to know where you stand in these areas (good information for your resume and to share in future interviews).
• Having a reason to get up and get going in the morning is important for good mental health. Temporary employment helps reduce job-related anxieties.

How to Find the Right Career? Find Yourself First.

It's a scenario that's repeated by millions of people around the world each day. Your alarm clock wakes you up (proof that it's not Saturday), you try to remember how many times you've hit the snooze button and upon realizing you've hit it 4 times, you swing one leg out of bed while trying to remember how many more days you have still have to work this week before the weekend comes and you get to do what you really want to do. Sound familiar?

One would think that with all of the emphasis on education these days, not to mention the access to information afforded by technology, that more and more people would be carving out career paths that are very closely aligned with their interests, values, passions and dreams. Unfortunately, that's simply not the case. Before kids know it, they have to decide on post secondary majors or find a job in the work world if they decide not to continue with their education. Time and again, critical decisions about their futures are being made without adequate time for self analysis and consideration of suitable career paths. And then before we know it, we're thrust into the world of work, bill payments, mortgages and family. Before long, our jobs become something we're shackled to in order to keep up our lifestyles. They become the thing we have to do instead of wanting to do.

Self-analysis is a key and necessary first step to developing a rewarding career path. Without it, we end up like the millions of people described above: workers who aren't excited about going to work and, worse, delay getting out of bed as long as possible to avoid it. Is that any way to start your day? Is that any way to live your life?

It's rewarding to look at the career stats on google and see that "personality tests" and "career assessments" are two of the most commonly googled search terms. There are many free ones, but use some discretion as not all provide detailed reports with career path recommendations. It's great to have at least a starting point of careers that you can use as a jumping off point for consideration and exploration.

My advice? Take your time and take a few personality tests. Here's a modified search term that will kick out a lot of excellent free and fee-based tools for career-based personality tests: "best career personality tests". Doing more than one will help you to identify trends in results as well.

Developing a rewarding career path begins with knowing yourself, your interests, talents and desires.

To your success.

Which Job or Career is Best for You? A Personality Assessment Can Tell You.

Knowing which career path is the right one for you can be one of life's greatest challenges.  Particularly in western cultures, we're expected to make critical career choices in our late teens and early twenties, and then invest thousands of dollars in post-secondary education, or not, depending on those choices.  But looking back, how many of us made those decisions with 100% certainty?  How can we truly know what we want to do for a career when we're just entering adulthood and the long journey of getting to know ourselves. 

We're not yet who we're going to become so we make life-impacting decisions based on who we are and who we think we're going to be.   Make sense? 

Career personality assessments (often called "tests" but I don't like that term because you're not being tested - there aren't any right or wrong answers) are a timeless and critical tool for career or job path decision making.  These tests are based on the principle that we each have inherent personality traits that make us inclined to enjoy certain types of work over others.  They usually aren't industry specific so much as task and job title specific.  So, for example, your personality assessment might suggest a list of careers in administration and management while someone else's assessment might recommend work in the trades.  Yet another personality assessment might suggest a suitability for work in the creative technical arts, such as architecture or landscape design.  Any one of these people could find work in the construction, horticulture or retirement living industries.  There would be jobs for each of them in these industries.  But their personalities would determine which jobs they're most suited for.  Of course, ideally, and as I encourage my clients to do, the industry you work in should reflect your own personal interests and values. 

Taking a personality assessment should be one of the very first things you do in your career path planning.  It doesn't take long and it yields critical information to kick-start the planning process.  After all, what will you base your career action plan on if you don't know what you're best suited for in the first place?

Ruth van Vierzen, owner of ReViVe Career Services, is certified to deliver the KTS Personality Assessment.    For more information, click here.

Let the Ease into Your Life

"Ease" has been the dominant theme for me this past week.  I attended a leadership training day on Saturday and the trainer, Kevin Smith (check him out on facebook - he does great work in his community and Africa), had us write down intentions for our lives that began with the words "Why is it so easy...?".  My husband and I began Kevin's homework on Monday of writing down an intention each day for 30 days.  We're beginning each intention with "Why is it so easy..." and it certainly is helping us start the day in a mindset of ease.

I did a yoga class today and the teacher (and owner of kalico healing arts centre)* encouraged us to ease into the postures and also to simply be at ease and open to what comes from the yogic experience.

So much of our everyday existence is rooted in thinking that life either is or must be hard.  We say we want to achieve our goals but then get bogged down by our reflexive thoughts of perceived or imagined obstacles that may have to be faced.   Rather than shift into a habitual state of ease, we make things appear too hard in our minds before we even get started. 

Instead of looking at things as being too difficult, see them instead as challenges that can be met with a mindset of ease.  Challenges push us outside of our comfort zones and encourage necessary growth.  Challenges are best faced head on - whether you do that with a mindset of ease or difficulty is up to you. 

*Any name dropping is purely intentional for promotional purposes of my business associates.  Hey, I'm big on referrals - they make the business world go round in a wonderfully karmic way.

Important Message about Fear in Bruce Springsteen's Lyrics

When I was in high school, Bruce Springsteen was topping the charts with hits like Born in the USA and Glory Days.  I enjoyed these songs but never became a die-hard fan.  Even his incredible good looks couldn't lure me into investing in one of his records.  Fast forward to 2010 and I found myself not just enjoying his songs when they came on the radio, but cranking the volume, singing along and contemplating actually buying a CD. 

I want to direct readers to one particular song that I came across a couple of months ago - the title track from his Devils and Dust CD (2005).  Now the music itself is incredible with its powerful building and Springsteen's beautiful harmonica playing.  But it's the lyrics that ultimately captured my attention when I first heard it.  He wrote the song in 2003 at the start of the Iraq war and his lyrics about the darkness of fear are profound:  "Fear's a powerful thing  It can turn your heart black you can trust"... "Fear's a dangerous thing  It can turn your heart black you can trust". 

I've included a you tube link to the video that was made for this song.  I encourage readers to watch it and really listen to the words and reflect on fear itself and the incredible and usually negative impacts it has on our lives.  Fear can paralyze us or lead us into actions that have unintended consequences.  As Caroline Myss writes in "Anatomy of the Spirit" (Three Rivers Press), "Even when choices made from fear lead us to what we desire, they generally also produce unwanted side effects." 

Consider all of the actions you've taken or haven't taken because of fear.  What were the unintended consequences that you're aware of because fear was the driving force?   Fear can both propel us into action and hold us back from doing the things we know we need to do in order to achieve our potential.  I encourage you to listen to the song at the link below.  Whether you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen or not, I hope the lyrics will give you pause to reflect as they do for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG8ZQkeZvzc

Endless Opportunities Await You

A common concern that arises with my clients is that, because of the person's experience, skills, background, circumstances, etc., there is a lack of job opportunities.  Add to this a sense of competition from other job seekers, and my clients are often starting the process with a feeling of defeat.  So it's my job as their career coach to assure them that there are as many opportunities as there are unique individuals in the world.  No two people are the same, and that's exactly how you want it to be when it comes to the job market.  I have yet to work with clients who overlap each other in interests and job goals.  And this is because every single person is unique.  That's the beauty and reward of the work I do.  I get to meet so many interesting and talented people, each a product of their own unique interests, abilities and goals. 

When you focus on carving out your own unique career path, you essentially eliminate almost all of your competition because it is highly unlikely another person is going to have the exact same career plan as you. 

And thus begins the starting point for your career plan and job search - this recognition that the plan you develop will be unlike anyone else's.  Even in the height of the recession, there were job opportunities for my clients because we had developed such a clear plan based solely on their unique profile as a job seeker.  Endless opportunities await you specifically because there is only one you.