What is a temporary employment agency?
It is an agency which recruits, trains and assigns temporary workers. These agencies deal primarily with support positions, allowing managers to increase and decrease their staff as demand dictates. Barnard College undergraduates and alumnae may want to use temporary agencies to find interim employment opportunities. You can register with them to find daily, weekly, monthly or longer positions. Virtually every profession is represented in today's temporary workforce. If you are interested in a particular industry such as law, fashion, consumer products, hospitals, finance, etc. you should seek temporary work with the agencies that your selected industry uses.

Why would I want to work as a temporary employee?
As a temporary employee, you work for and are paid by the agency, but you actually work at one of their client sites. You might want to work as a temporary worker for a variety of reasons: as a method of exploring different industries, for flexibility and money while you job hunt or find yourself between jobs, to get inside an organization to see how it really works, to make contacts and network within a specific industry, to gain work experience, as an interim solution when you move to a new location, as a bridge to full time work or to support yourself as an actress or other creative type who needs short-term assignments. Before beginning work as a temp, it is important to ask yourself if you are the type of person who can learn quickly, adapt to different situations well, and move on when necessary.

Where do I find the names and numbers of temporary employment agencies?
This fact sheet contains a list of temporary agencies that Barnard women have used. You can locate more agencies by (1) asking your acquaintances, (2) calling the personnel office of an employer you are interested in working for as a temporary employee and asking which agency they use, (3) looking in the yellow pages of the telephone book or (4) looking through the classified ads in the newspaper, and (5) searching on the internet.

How will they know if I'm qualified? Are there any steps I should take?
You should call ahead to verify the location of the agency, insure that they deal with the type of employers you are interested in working for and make an appointment, if necessary. Plan on visiting a number of agencies to see which you prefer and to insure a variety of jobs. You should dress professionally and bring appropriate documents (e.g., your resume, a list of references, proof of eligibility to work in the United States). You should be prepared to discuss your abilities with various computer systems and software and you should ask if the agency provides any training in software that can improve your skills and hence your pay. They may test your software ability, typing, spelling, grammar or mathematics. They will also want to know your time frame, i.e., whether you are interested in daily, weekly, monthly or longer assignments or if you want non-traditional hours (evening or weekend). The agency will evaluate your skills and should be able to tell you what the prospects are for placing you in an assignment. The interview is a two way street; ask questions and make certain you are comfortable with the temporary-help agency. Once you have found a few agencies that you want to work with, call them regularly to let your contact know that you are available and eager to work.

Selected List of Agencies Recommended by
Barnard Students and Alumnae