Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with temp

Need money now thankyou.

drjimmy11 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:15 -0800

What are some good tech-centric temp agencies in L.A.? Hi! Yet another in my long series of job-trauma questions.

I'm currently between jobs- I'm a web/software developer, specializing in flex/AS3 but with years and years of doing html/js/ajax/php type stuff too. I have a pretty strong resume, I like to think, going back about 10 years.

I'm currently getting contacted by a lot of recruiters and going on a lot of interviews, but it's a very drawn-out process. Basically I need a gig to bring in some money now- cutting up PSDs or whatever is fine, I'm not proud at this point. I'm curious if anyone knows any decently reputable agencies who could get me something like this soon. Specific names of agencies are appreciated, referrals to specific people are even more appreciated. (meMail me if you like).

(I'd also be interested in where I can advertise myself as a flex freelancer, but I'm more inclined towards W2 right now for a few reasons.)

Thanks!

Denver Temp Agencies

moonroof — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:52:44 -0800

Best temp agencies in Denver? I'm looking for temporary work in Denver and have no idea what agency to go through. Has anyone had positive/negative experiences with any particular agency? I don't have any particular skills, I'd probably end up doing office work, if that helps.

Brrrrrr.

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:41:55 -0800

Is my perception of being increasingly freezing cold a sign of something wrong with me? I've always been colder than most other people, but lately it's been increasing to the point that I am starting to wonder if I have some underlying illness. I realize you are not my doctor, I should go to my doctor, etc... but I am just hoping to be better prepared with information when I do see him.

I am a woman, 35, normal weight (BMI 20), healthy diet. I don't exercise as often as I would like but walk around quite a bit. I have been fairly stressed out lately, FWIW.

I am pretty sure I have Reynauds (never formally diagnosed) which I am aware will affect my extremities. But this goes beyond that. For example, the other night I went to bed, it was about 60 degrees in the house, and I was freezing in flannel PJs under three blankets... I had to get up and put on another layer of fleece on top of the PJs. It seems like I feel colder than I remember ever feeling in the spring. Even when it's 75 degrees I need to put on a sweater, especially in the shade.

Any thoughts?

BoiseNetWiz

Red58 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:16:39 -0800

I was looking in my TEMP folder in a wave of paranoia related to the conficker virus and I found these two files: BoiseNetWiz.his and BoiseNetWiz.txt. I didn't find the text file too illuminating nor did a Google search help too much. What is this file for? Should I delete it?

How can I study for the OPAC?

limeswirltart — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:54:43 -0800

Has anyone taken the Office Proficiency Assessment and Certification (OPAC) test recently, or have documentation on what exactly it tests for in Word and Excel? At the end of May, my husband and I will be moving from Chicago to a TBD city for grad school — possibly in Michigan, California, or Colorado.

I will not be in school at all, and am instead looking for full-time office work.

One of the temp services I'm looking at uses the OPAC. In the early-'90s I did poorly on a similar test, because I didn't know the exact features that it would test on ahead of time, and it didn't allow me to work like I normally do for things I don't know (such as, quickly check the help menu when it asks me to make block quotes).

I have a lot of office experience, but the memory of flubbing the test is sticking with me.

Online I've found a syllabus from 2002, an expensive testing booklet from 1999 (would it be worth it?), and general descriptions on the OPAC website.

Does anyone have recent, firsthand experience?

Thanks!

Help with hot summer nights.

carsonb — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:17:07 -0800

Why is my bedroom consistently 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house, and what can I do to cool it off? Here's a rough diagram of my apartment's layout. There are 4 vents for the AC, and the one intake is in the ceiling of the living room. I have vertical blinds on my south-facing window that I keep closed all day, and an oscillating fan that blows into my room from near the door. Trees block the morning sun onto my window, but noon to sundown I get direct sunlight. The vent in my room blows cold, and is not blocked at all as far as I can tell. The problem persists throughout the night. What can I do?

Oh hai~I can haz umploymentz?

sully75 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:01:19 -0800

I just finished a 3 month temp assignment. I'm in the great state of Maine. Can I collect unemployment? I just finished a 3 month temp assignement. It was miserable, but that's another story. I called my temp agency to see if they had another assignement and they said they'd get back to me. From my experience assignments around here are few and far between. I should note that the assignment ended, I did not leave voluntarily, even though I was planning to anyway.

The complication is that I've had a longstanding 1 month vacation planned, starting in 2 weeks.

So can I collect unemployment? Will this piss off the agency and make them never hire me again? Will they just try to stick me with a stupid assignment so that they don't have to deal with the unemployment? I've never collected before in my life so don't have any ideas about this.

Finding a summer job in New York

goingonit — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:49:54 -0800

What are good ways of finding temporary non-retail jobs in NYC? My girlfriend has the summer free before starting grad school, and she's going to be spending it in New York City. What can she do while she's there? She'd like to take a break from working in academia (so research assistant is out), but would rather not work retail if possible. She's got lots of tutoring experience, and a fair amount of clerical experience, and is a fast typist.

-How hard is it going to be for her to find something to do for 2 or 3 months?
-Where are good places to look? Craigslist? Temp agencies? Something else?

Thanks!

Lend me your earbuds

bove — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:36:58 -0800

I just bought my first MP3 player and I need some advice on earbuds and song selection. I just bought a Sansa e280 and I like it fine. However, now that I am starting to use it there are two issues that I am unable to figure out.

Earbuds: I don't like the included earbuds because they don't feel good in my ears (they feel too big). I have looked at prior threads on what good earbuds there are, but how will I know which ones will fit right in my ears without putting them in my ears? Stores don't let you try them out do they? Seems like a costly trial and error process to buy lots of pairs to find ones that fit right?

Song selection: I read in the NYTimes that listening to music at a specific tempo has been found to help people exercise longer and more intensely. The article mentioned that music that was 125-150 bpm was the most effective. I know which songs I have that are generally uptempo, but is there any way to actually view the specific tempo of a song?

...because no one is going to pay me to study. Temp or part-time?

doppleradar — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:07:18 -0800

Temp work 101: Is temp work just a part-time job on my own terms? Graduated. Moved to Boston. Taking the LSAT in June.

I decided that a full-time job could too easily turn my life into work/commute and not leave me with the time I need to study (or the time I want to enjoy the city before law school). I have the savings to only work part-time until July and don't know what advantages (if any) doing temp work has over a part-time job with the same duties.

My questions for current/previous temps are:
1. How much control do you have over your schedule?
2. Is the pay predictable (frequency and amount)?
3. How accomodating are temp agencies placement-wise to those reliant on public transit?
4. If I have good employment history in a specific field will a period of temp work adversely affect future job prospects?
5. Any health insurance/benefits typically provided?

Weekend War

josher71 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:54:00 -0800

I'm interested in finding weekend work in NYC. Can anyone steer me in the direction of a good temp agency that might have some sort of focus in that department?

It's hard out here for a temp.

Metroid Baby — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:22:07 -0800

I’ve been at my current job – as a temp – for over a year. I want and need a more permanent job, but I’m concerned that my temp status might look bad to prospective employers. It was supposed to be temp-to-perm, and after ninety days they would hire me. It’s been more like four hundred days. Since then, I’ve had a decent (though not stellar) annual review and several promises of “oh, we are definitely planning on hiring you, but it’ll be another month or two/we’re having a hiring freeze/we’re talking to so-and-so and we’ll let you know.” Nothing concrete. It doesn’t help that nearly half my department started here after I did, and nearly all are permanent employees (some started as temps from the same agency, in positions identical to mine). So I strongly suspect that they’re not really planning on bringing me on permanently. I’ve been periodically asking my supervisors for updates on hiring, but I’m worried that if I badger them too much they’ll let me go entirely.

Ideally I would like to stay at my current job and be a full-time employee, but I’m growing less and less confident that this is a possibility. So I’m thinking it’s time for me to search elsewhere. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to find a similar position with full benefits at another company, provided I invest a good amount of energy in my job hunt, but I’m worried that “I’m a temp” will give hiring managers pause. It came up during an interview I had last summer, and I didn’t handle it well. I know it will come up again.

Is it necessary to reveal temp status up front? Is it as much of a red flag as I fear it is? How can I talk about it during interviews and still make myself look good?

(And am I right in thinking that permanent employment at my current company is pretty much a lost cause?)

Temp or retail

slow graffiti — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:55:59 -0800

What do I do to tide myself over until my next real job? Shitty retail work or temp work? I quit a bad job with a local publication in San Diego. It was my intro to the editorial world, and I was often praised for my work, I have a good recommendation from my old boss, but they treated me badly and there was no where to go in the company (I'd be surprised if they still exist in 5 or 10 years). I quit without anything new lined up, since I have enough money to be jobless for a few months.

Since I got that job so quickly and easily straight out of college, I didn't think it would be too hard to find something similar. Now after a month and a half, it seems that's not the case. Craigslist, mediabistro, and my university's job boards have not turned up much I'm qualified for. Since it looks like it could take a very long time to find a new job in my city, and I don't want to dip into savings if I don't have to, and I'm getting bored, it's time to consider the crappy retail job or temping. I don't know which would be better in this situation; am I likely to make more with an agency versus Borders or similar? Will an agency be able to give me any work that's vaguely editorial? I don't care too much what I do, as long as it's something I can quit easily when a real job comes around again. Specific recommendations for temp agencies in San Diego and getting back on the real editing job track are appreciated.

Yes, that's me, your friendly temporary employee!

sondrialiac — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:29:28 -0800

Have you worked for a temp agency in New York City? Which one? If you had a decent experience with a temp agency, please tell me which agency. It doesn't have to be the best agency in the world, just decent.

I am looking for office work ASAP. I am qualified to work as an office manager and have a 4 year degree.

If you could give me an idea of what they offered you per hour, that would also be appreciated.

Help Me Hunt a Headhunter

foxy_hedgehog — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:14:15 -0800

I'm a post-Ph.D. (not computer science, alas, but history) and have decided to seek my fortune outside academia. I have lots of experience organizing and researching and analyzing and presenting and teaching all sorts of things in all sorts of contexts, and have made my CV into a resume that shows I'm not just another egghead. Unfortunately, I'm coming up empty handed after several months of a full-court press, and I'm thinking it's time to contact headhunting/recruiting agencies that might be interested in someone like me. I'd love your thoughts and suggestions on which firms to contact in the New York area. By "people like me," I mean people who don't know C++ but can learn how to do pretty much anything short of figure skating and gymnastics quickly and do it well. And of course I'm also very grateful for any general job-related/New York-ish advice, including suggestions for temp agencies that might have especially challenging jobs for someone who is good at reading and thinking and writing.

Pre-emptive eternal gratitude.

How much should they pay me?

anaelith — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:23:09 -0800

In Northern Virginia, for temporary office work through an agency, how much should I ask the agency for, per hour, in USD? How much will I actually reasonably get? I'm in Northern Virginia, Chantilly/Centreville area. I've never had a job (not even flipping burgers) before. I have an A.S. in Computer Science and an A.S. in Science/Mathematics. GPA is not terribly good, but not failing. I can type, do basic computery things, use complete sentences, etc. Mostly I am just sick of school and would like a no-heavy-lifting job without being taken for a fool or an easy mark. So how much should I ask for, per hour, in USD, and how much should I actually expect to get? (And a bonus question, are there other trick questions I should prep for?)

Temping in Chicago?

AceRock — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:51:22 -0800

Temping in Chicago I'm planning on doing some temp work while waiting for interviews to pan out. Please recommend some temp/staffing agencies/head-hunters that service Chicago. Any general advice about leveraging future temping experiences into long-term career prospects would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks very much for any help!

Is it legal to employ skilled workers as temps for many years?

Charlie Lesoine — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:18:21 -0800

Is my employer breaking the law by keeping people as temps for several years? The work is skilled and many people work for 3 or more years as temps before being made permanent employees. The company does it's own hiring on site, but once hired, employees have to fill out paper work with a chosen "temp employment agency". This seems like a scam. Any lawyers out there know if this is illegal? This is in California.

Overheating PC problems - is my sensor lying?

twine42 — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:23:10 -0800

Overheating PC problems - is my sensor lying? A while back one of our PCs decided to commit suicide. During normal use it suddenly powered down and refused to do anything when it powered back up. No drives span up and no bios reports despite the graphics card reporting correctly. It was tracked down to a blown motherboard which was replaced.

Ever since then the PC has been prone to power down because it's getting too hot - but I think it's lying.

Two virtually identical systems side by side (Felix and Cutty). Cutty starts at 27c and climbs to about 40c in five minutes and sits there happily. Felix starts at 52c and climbs to about 64c in the same time, then sits there. Current bios shutdown temp is 65c which means a little graphical load and Felix powers down.

Obviously, I'm thinking that the sensor on Felix is damaged, but how can I check? Is it safe to assume that both machines are going to be running at approximately same temperature? Most importantly, if I disable the sensor shutdown sequence, what risks am I taking with this machine? Am I merely risking releasing the chip spirit or is the a chance I'll destroy the mboard and connected cards?

"virtually identical systems" meaning Athlon 64 3000 vs 3400 processors, but otherwise identical mboards, fans, cases, etc...

How much is the Temp Agency that I work for getting paid for my services?

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:50:26 -0800

How much is the Temp Agency that I work for getting paid for my services? I have been temping for a company for the last [X] months, they recently offered me a full time position. I would like to know if the amount they offered me is in line with what they were paying the temp agency for me. Is there any way to find this out? If I find out it was considerably more than they offered me, is there any way to use this information to encourage them of offer a bit more?

What's up with floaters/internal temps in companies?

staggernation — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:45:31 -0800

What can you tell me about "internal temps" or "floaters" at large companies? I once worked as a consultant for a Fortune 50 client that employed what they referred to (informally) as "internal temps." Instead of using a temp agency, they had some number of floating admin assistants who were employees of the company, and would be assigned to fill in for any admin who was out on a given day.

Has anyone encountered this type of job before, or better yet worked in it? If so, please tell me anything you can about it:

In what types of organizations would you find them?
What would the position called, officially?
Unofficially?
How, when, and by whom would one be notified of an assignment?
Who would be one's actual long-term supervisor?
Is it more or less desirable (or for different reasons) than a normal admin job?
How, if at all, would one tend to fit into the social culture of the company?
Etc.

Thanks!

looking for DC legal temp work agencies

ibmcginty — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:02:14 -0800

Any suggestions for a DC agency for temporary legal work? I'm 1.5 years out of law school, passed the MD bar, looking to get back to DC. Doing temp work sounds, to my uninformed mind, like a way to get down there, get paid some money, meet some people, perform some tasks, etc. Suggestions on companies (this post recommended Trak Legal), the plusses or minuses, war stories, etc., are all welcome.

D.C. temp agencies

hazelshade — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:07:16 -0800

Recommendations for D.C.-area temp agencies? Bonus points if you've had good experiences with one that led to a permanent job at a corporation, foundation, or non-profit.

What is the real value for my work?

slogger — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 21:54:07 -0800

Freelance filter: How much of a cut do temp agencies like Aquent get? I'm a freelancer using an intermediary staffing agnecy (like Aquent) for creative work. The company they've placed me in is interested in hiring me, and now I need to negotiate a salary. I figured a good leveraging point for negotiation would be to compare the salary I want versus what they would pay me if they had to continue using an intermediary. Thus I would like to have a ballpark understanding of what the intermediary makes off of my services. Are they taking 25%, 40%, more?

Help me be a temp-er

SassHat — Fri, 12 May 2006 23:14:11 -0800

Temp agencies in Toronto... The ol' job hunt isn't going as swimmingly as I would hope. Can any Canadian MeFites recommend a temp agency in Toronto? The usual job sites have list upon list of agencies, but choosing one seems like a shot in the dark.

If you've done temp work with an agency, or know someone who has, please feel free to share the usual anectodes (for or against). Thanks in advance!