How Temping Really Works

When you’re out of work and need to pay some bills, the goal is typically to get a new full-time job as soon as possible. To bridge the gap, we tend to think of gig economy jobs—DoorDash, Uber, etc—as the obvious solution. But there’s an old school, tried-and-true option to keep in mind too: Temping.

Temping remains a huge part of the modern workforce—back in 2018, the temporary labor market was valued at close to a half trillion dollars. It offers a few advantages over gig work:

Of course, temp jobs have downsides, too. You usually don’t get benefits, since you’re not officially on the company’s payroll. Temps tend to get the worst assignments, and both agencies and the hiring company can treat temps pretty badly, since it’s understood they’re not going to be there long. But if you need a quick income infusion, temping is worth looking into. Just know what to expect.

How temping works

Getting started temping is pretty simple: You contact a temp agency (sometimes you’ll actually speak to a recruiter sometimes it’s all handled online), and fill out a lot of forms listing your work experience, various skills, and what you’re interested in/willing to do. There’s often a background check as well. If you’re accepted, you’re put into the agency’s system and they’ll start contacting you when your profile matches a client’s temporary worker needs.

Temping is more than office work

When you think of temping, you probably think of menial office work, and you’re not totally wrong—60% of temp jobs are classified as clerical. But the list of industries that use temp workers is pretty broad. When I temped back in the day, most of the jobs I got were warehouse jobs, doing physical labor for a day or two at a time.

Aside from various desk-based jobs, you can find temp jobs working in a lot of different fields, including:

Obviously the temp jobs you land will depend on the skills and certifications you bring with you. It’s vital to make sure you list all your possible skill sets when you’re onboarding at a temp agency. Any experience or training you have might make you eligible for a temp position that’s a bit more interesting and better-paying than warehouse work or data entry.

That also means you need to decide ahead of time if you’re down for physical labor. Most temp agencies will explicitly ask about this, but even if they don’t you should know going in what you’re willing—and able—to do.

Be flexible

Like the rest of the business world, temp agencies run on a weekly schedule. After signing up and onboarding, you’ll typically get the call early every Monday morning asking if you want to claim a job for the next few days or weeks. You’ll need to decide right then and there—but keep in mind that these jobs get filled pretty fast. If you aren’t prepared to jump at an offer, you will often find that by Tuesday afternoon you’ll stop hearing from the agency and you’ll have to take some less-attractive jobs or wait until the next week to jump back in.

There are exceptions, of course—temp jobs can open up at any time a company experiences a need. But often if you’re not ready to leap into action on Monday morning, you might as well take the week off.

You’ll also need to be clear about how far you can travel. Depending on where you live, temp agencies may want to know if you have a car and can drive to various locations. If you can’t, you’ll be much more limited as to the employers they can place you with.

Your experience will vary

The nature of temping means you’ll have a varied experience. You might love your temp agency because they treat you well, but you have no idea what kind of work culture you’ll be dealing while on a temp assignment. Some managers treat their temps really well, and some workplaces are friendly and fun. Some are...not. But the bottom line is that your experience depends on the place you’re working, not necessarily the agency managing you.

You can quit a temp job, and it won’t necessarily mean you never get another one. But for the temp agency you’re working with, you are the product. If you skip out on an assignment, you’ll float to the bottom of their list and become a last resort, which will hit your income pretty hard.

The biggest issue with temp work is that there’s simply no consistency. Every place you work will have a different culture and a different approach to managing temps. When I temped, I had managers who bought us lunch every day, and I had managers who acted like we were a burden.

Temp agencies take a lot of money off the top

Finally, keep in mind that temp agencies make money by marking up your services—typically between 25% and 100% of the typical salary. So if you’re getting $15 an hour to do clerical work or warehouse work, the agency might be getting $30 an hour. Also keep in mind that while some employers do offer benefits to their temp workers (especially if it’s a long-term gig with full-time hours), most don’t. You’re getting a bare-bones paycheck, and that’s it.

In practical terms, that means that you’ll never make as much doing temp work as you would with a full- or part-time position with that same employer. Even if you’re the sort who likes the unpredictability and flexibility of temping, this is a big reason why it’s normally a short-term solution for folks who need an income boost, rather than a lifestyle.

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