9,968 Easy Steps to Temping
Temping is weird for a plethora of reasons, one of which being nobody gets to know you well enough to know you like to use words learned in your 1993 SAT prep class in everyday conversation. Especially when you're out of work, it's nice to use big words to remind yourself that you know things.
Another reason temping's weird is because random jobs come about in all sorts of ways. Sometimes a law firm wants to review my resume, meet with me, test me, then have me back a second time to meet with the specific attorneys I'd be temping for, and then think about it for a while. It can be a two-week process. Other times I'll get a call at 4:48 p.m. on a Tuesday asking if I can be at a firm at 9 a.m. the next morning. Even worse are the calls that come at 8:56 a.m. asking how soon I can get to the Financial District.
Living this way means it's hard to make plans. All plans have to be prefaced with the reminder that you may ditch your friends last minute if a job comes through. Which always feels terrible to say, no matter how kind and understanding your friends are about it. You feel like a bad person when you start hoping your phone won't ring because you're really looking forward to meeting friends from out of town for breakfast. You feel like a shitty babysitter when you tell your friend you'll watch their kid two days from now, but contact a back-up sitter just in case.
You can't just say no to a temp agency when they call you. If you have a great relationship with an agency maybe you can get away with it once, but if they call and you're unavailable, they'll simply stop calling.
I've given up being able to tell how things are going in an interview. Too many times of thinking it's gone well only to find out the firm went with someone else. Too many times of walking out sure they hated me only to have someone run after me at the elevator bank. I've lost perspective on what the deciding factor is also.
Last Friday I got a call about a temp assignment that is to start tomorrow. I was told the firm would want to test my skill level in a few different areas, then based on test scores meet with me (or not), and then they'd make a decision. Today, after several technical snafus (none of which were my fault), I was told to just go to the interview and they'd test me at the firm.
Normally I don't believe in signs. I always wonder if I should though, and when something might be one. As I stood in the lobby I looked at the Christmas tree that didn't have enough ceiling and wondered if that was a bad sign. When the HR guy came to reception to greet me after less than three minutes, I wondered if that was a good sign. We talked about my experience working at an accounting firm and he had my resume pretty much memorized. Good sign? One awkward silence. Bad?
Now, I'm no fancy pants, so this was less than ideal. Having to sit around in my 10 year old Interview Dress while taking test after test? No thanks. That's exactly what I wound up doing though, sitting in a tiny, windowless office taking four timed tests after meeting with an HR guy in a different tiny, windowless office and agreeing with or laughing politely at, every single thing he said.
I went to do the testing, and the mouse pad was the type that's screwed into the side of the keyboard, where you can't just move it if you happen to be (me) a lefty. There were four tests, and I left certain I bombed two. On the way out I spoke with the HR guy again, and he asked if I got test anxiety. I don't, but sure I did poorly, lied and said yes, hoping that would explain away my low scores.
After walking out, I sat on a bench and first called my contact at the temp agency and then a friend, telling them how it went. I told my friend there was no way they could hire me after that. Arriving home I hung my Interview Dress back up and had barely pulled on my jeans when the temp agency called me. When she said she had good news I initially thought I was going to hear about a different temp gig. It took a few minutes to sink in when she told me the firm wanted me to start tomorrow.
Gotta go iron my First Day at a Temp Job outfit now.
Another reason temping's weird is because random jobs come about in all sorts of ways. Sometimes a law firm wants to review my resume, meet with me, test me, then have me back a second time to meet with the specific attorneys I'd be temping for, and then think about it for a while. It can be a two-week process. Other times I'll get a call at 4:48 p.m. on a Tuesday asking if I can be at a firm at 9 a.m. the next morning. Even worse are the calls that come at 8:56 a.m. asking how soon I can get to the Financial District.
Living this way means it's hard to make plans. All plans have to be prefaced with the reminder that you may ditch your friends last minute if a job comes through. Which always feels terrible to say, no matter how kind and understanding your friends are about it. You feel like a bad person when you start hoping your phone won't ring because you're really looking forward to meeting friends from out of town for breakfast. You feel like a shitty babysitter when you tell your friend you'll watch their kid two days from now, but contact a back-up sitter just in case.
You can't just say no to a temp agency when they call you. If you have a great relationship with an agency maybe you can get away with it once, but if they call and you're unavailable, they'll simply stop calling.
I've given up being able to tell how things are going in an interview. Too many times of thinking it's gone well only to find out the firm went with someone else. Too many times of walking out sure they hated me only to have someone run after me at the elevator bank. I've lost perspective on what the deciding factor is also.
Last Friday I got a call about a temp assignment that is to start tomorrow. I was told the firm would want to test my skill level in a few different areas, then based on test scores meet with me (or not), and then they'd make a decision. Today, after several technical snafus (none of which were my fault), I was told to just go to the interview and they'd test me at the firm.
Normally I don't believe in signs. I always wonder if I should though, and when something might be one. As I stood in the lobby I looked at the Christmas tree that didn't have enough ceiling and wondered if that was a bad sign. When the HR guy came to reception to greet me after less than three minutes, I wondered if that was a good sign. We talked about my experience working at an accounting firm and he had my resume pretty much memorized. Good sign? One awkward silence. Bad?
Now, I'm no fancy pants, so this was less than ideal. Having to sit around in my 10 year old Interview Dress while taking test after test? No thanks. That's exactly what I wound up doing though, sitting in a tiny, windowless office taking four timed tests after meeting with an HR guy in a different tiny, windowless office and agreeing with or laughing politely at, every single thing he said.
I went to do the testing, and the mouse pad was the type that's screwed into the side of the keyboard, where you can't just move it if you happen to be (me) a lefty. There were four tests, and I left certain I bombed two. On the way out I spoke with the HR guy again, and he asked if I got test anxiety. I don't, but sure I did poorly, lied and said yes, hoping that would explain away my low scores.
After walking out, I sat on a bench and first called my contact at the temp agency and then a friend, telling them how it went. I told my friend there was no way they could hire me after that. Arriving home I hung my Interview Dress back up and had barely pulled on my jeans when the temp agency called me. When she said she had good news I initially thought I was going to hear about a different temp gig. It took a few minutes to sink in when she told me the firm wanted me to start tomorrow.
Gotta go iron my First Day at a Temp Job outfit now.
Labels: Overthinking, Pounding the pavement, Temping
posted by Green at 12/21/2009 07:34:00 PM
7 Comments:
YAY!
Hi found you from Brazen. I like your writing. Best of Luck
Susan
Congrats! Is it a long-term gig?
Slackmistress beat be to my comment, except I was going to spell it "YEA" now I'm wondering if one is more correct...but the thought is there.
woohoo!
I never know whether to spell it 'yay' or 'yea' so I generally go with "Congratulations!" which is longer to spell but a lot less complicated otherwise.
Since I can't even spell "beat", "congratufnlations" is out of the question.
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