There’s a wide variety of reasons why temping can provide valuable experience at any stage of your career. Here we look at the benefits of doing temporary, interim or contract work and how it can give your career a real boost.
With temporary work you are fully in control of when and where you work. You may be at a point in your career when you wish to further your education, take on personal projects, travel, spend more time with your family, volunteer, or learn some new skills. Temping or contracting gives you the opportunity to take time out when you wish. Some temporary assignments are part-time or based on shifts, which can help with childcare, family arrangements, part-time education or volunteering. They often have a finish date, so you know you can take time out at the end for things like holidays or if you have exams coming up.
If you find yourself out of work due to redundancy or similar, temping can be a quick way to get back into work, you can still search for permanent roles while you are temping, and from an employer’s point of view it can make you a more attractive candidate if you are currently working. It also gives you more experience to draw upon at interviews.
Most temporary roles will expose you to learning new skills within varying working environments, it is a great way to enhance existing skills and add completely new ones to your CV which can lead to future work or even new opportunities you hadn’t considered before. You will get to try new ways of working and upskill on various software and databases at the same time.
If you have recently finished your education and are looking to get on the career ladder, temporary work can be a great way to get into an organisation and learn new skills, which can often lead to permanent work. Many non-profit organisations will hire a temporary worker on a permanent basis, which means you get to test what it is like working for that organisation. You are of course under no obligation to consider or accept a permanent job offer if you decide it is not the right role for you.
Temping and contracting are a great way to network, especially in the non-profit sector You will meet a lot of people and if you do a good job it can often lead to more work and referrals. Many interim candidates and contractors will go straight onto further work from referrals. You can build up a valuable network of professional peers within your given sector or specialism that can prove very beneficial throughout your career.
Sometimes people are unsure about their ideal career, or feel a change is needed and what to explore new opportunities. Temporary work allows you to experiment and try out different roles, organisations and working environments and will help you decide what you really enjoy or in fact, dislike. In order to hit the ground running, you will need relevant experience when applying for a temporary role, so think about the skills you have and how they can be used for the role you are applying for.
Starting a new job can be nerve wracking, but if you do it frequently enough it will help increase your confidence. You will be building people skills and gain soft, hard, and transferable skills. You will develop the ability to pick up systems/ processes quickly and to think on your feet when needed, as well as meet new people along the way, which will also give you confidence and a support network.
An added bonus of temping through TPP is being paid weekly. Some people find this more manageable, as you constantly have money coming in. You can often expect a higher salary for interim/ contract roles, than permanent roles, which allows for possible gaps where you may not be working.
It is worth remembering that you are protected in a temporary assignment. You will accrue holiday, receive regular pay, and receive the same working conditions as your employees and use of any shared facilities. After 12 weeks you also have the same pay and working conditions as someone employed directly, such as equal pay.
If you are interested in a temporary or interim role, please contact us on 020 7198 6000 or info@tpp.co.uk.
