It is hard to be a temp if you are the type of person who likes to be friends with your coworkers and enjoys socializing with them outside the workplace.
Temps often suffer from social isolation because they are not necessarily treated as one of the gang. This may differ for someone on a long-term assignment: but those temps whose assignments are, for the most part, of short duration find this to be a common problem.
Go to work prepared to brown-bag it for a while. Coworkers are more thoughtless than malicious, so don't get hostile because you haven't been asked out to lunch with a permanent employee. Temps are in and out with regularity, and few people will take the time to get to know you as a person. Temps tell us there is a real camaraderie among temps (from the same or different services) while on an assignment. "You sort of seek each other out like people from the same state while on vacation in Europe."
The best solution is to smile and be friendly. Follow Judie Collard's suggestion of keeping a jar of candy on your desk. Lots of temps tell us the way to even the most unfriendly hearts is through the stomach, and so they bring in home-baked cookies or a box of doughnuts and invite others to share in this treat. You might also offer to lighten a co-workers load if you have the spare time. As a temp, you will get nowhere if you don't make the first move. Don't expect others to be your buddy. If you do develop a rapport, follow up your assignment with a note to your supervisor or coworker saying how much you enjoyed yourself and that you would like to be called again if they ever need you (a humorous card is always well received). Be sure to tell your temp service you want to go back to the company, if possible. We know of one temp who is always called whenever anyone in a particular department is out. She says it's like old-home-week when she's there. And because of the frequency of her visits, she has become familiar with their routine, customers, and personnel in other areas.
If you are on an assignment and you are invited out to lunch, we advise you to go. Beside the possibility of enjoying yourself, it will be to your advantage politically. If you go once and hate it, it is okay to say no the next time-you already made the effort; but do be pleasant.
On the positive side, some temps are so loved by their temporary employer that they get a good-bye party when their assignment ends. One temp told us her coworkers gave her flowers and a card. "Sometimes you do find a kindred spirit . . . and there is instant chemistry."
Problem 2: Work Isn't Always Available When You Want It
This is not true at the time of this writing, but it can and does happen in a tough economy if you are a temp who wants to work every day, tell your temp service. Orders are always coming in. If your service says it has nothing, say that you are flexible about using less-than-maximum skills and receiving a lower pay rate. We are going on the theory that some work is better than no work.
You might also ask your service whether it wants you to be a standby temp.
These are individuals who report to the temp service first thing in the morning. They have yet to be given an assignment, and usually they wait in the service's reception area to see if an order which they can be sent out on comes in.
Emergency replacement calls are made daily from clients, and there is always the inevitable no-show temp. You can save your services reputation by going right out in a pinch. Standby temps are usually paid for a minimum number of hours regardless of whether they are sent out or not.
Most temp services say you can never make a pest of yourself by calling in twice a day and saying you are available. Now is the time to build loyalty and credibility with your service if you plan to temp for a long period. In the future, if we experience any kind of recession, there will be many more temps competing for a smaller number of jobs.
Problem 3: Getting dumped on unfortunately
We have heard this complaint on more than one occasion. Permanent employees find it relatively easy to make the temp their own slave. Sometimes the dumping is in the form of too much work (for example, "Let’s give it to the temp, ha-ha!"); and at other times, the dumping is done by making the temp a scapegoat. It's common for a trusted permanent employee to put the blame on the temp if the permanent worker makes an error. They'll say things like "The temp did it," or "It wouldn't have happened if the temp hadn't messed me up."
Don't let the permanent staff?, bully you. If you let it happen, you will be taken advantage of, particularly if you happen to be competent at what you do. Speak up. Usually one person has the ultimate responsibility for the temp (this is typically the person who will sign your time sheet). Ask this person if you should be doing the nine different things everyone else has given you to do. The answer will probably be no! If you are feeling completely abused by a client company, call your temp service and let them know the story. Usually, they are only too glad to act as the intermediary.
