Ways to get hired

One of the ways to get hired these days into a permanent position is through a temporary assignment. Employment agencies have alot of clients on their books so this will increase your exposure to more companies. As well, you can "try" out a job for the duration of the assignment - its an excellent way to get a feel for a company's culture as well - is it a formal company, do the employees seem happy there and so on.

One of the differences between working an assignment now as compared to 10 years ago is that the clients of the agency will often want to interview you face to face. In the past, the agency simply told you of an available assignment and upon accepting it, you started working. Part of the reason for this change, according to a comment, from an agency that I am signed up with is the competition for jobs -unemployment is still over 9% in Connecticut (this only accounts for those still receiving unemployment benefits - those who have exhausted their benefits would probably add another 3% to the nine % figure). There are alot of people looking for work and quite a few are assigned to agencies. This surplus allows companies to work with a few agencies and to be able to pick among many candidates to find a close match for their needs.

Temporary work is one of the bright spots in the employment picture these days. Companies are more willing to "try out" a potential employee before risking the expense of hiring an employee to a more permanent position. As well, they aren't required to provide benefits - health, dental, 401k, to temporary employees thus saving them money.

When you contact an employment agency, they will want you to come to their offices to interview and to assess your skills. This is done through an interview, answering written questions and computer tests to assess your software skills with products such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Your skills are then "matched" with a job from one of the Agencies clients. You have the option to accept or refuse an assignment once it is offered to you.

Depending on the agency, some offer health benefits after you log a certain number of hours working for their clients. As well, training is offered for sometimes hundreds of skills.

Well, this is just a bit of information that I hope will help. Some of the good agencies out there, in my humble opinion are :

OfficeTeam: www.officeteam.com They are part of Robert Half

Adecco - www.adecco.com

Kelly Services - www.kellyservices.com

It's a scary scenario out there in the employment world, but there are still some choices to keep that three headed monster (despair, discouragement and depression) at bay.