Welcome To The World Of Temporary Recruitment

Where to from here

For the first decade (or so) of my career I have worked in many permanent full-time roles in a variety of industries. I thought at that time in my life that was the only way to get experience, gain invaluable skills and diversify and grow. Oh, my how wrong was I.

Welcome to the world of temporary recruitment! Due to my (young) age I have only spent approximately 10 years specifically within the recruitment industry but as an industry we have seen many changes. Including, clients being more open and completely on-board with starting a candidate on temporary, whether it be to fill a temporary gap, help assess their current situation to ascertain if there is a need for the extra FTE, or to simply trial someone to give both them and the candidate the opportunity of assessing the actual ‘fit’ for both parties.

As a recruiter I see hundreds of CVs a week, and a vast majority of these CVs might show candidates that have had four plus jobs in a year – all permanent. Simply because one job was not what they were after, they go to another, and another and so on.

Broaden your horizon

By undertaking temporary roles, you do have the ability of ‘broadening your horizon’. I understand that some people might fear the ‘temporary recruitment market’ and whilst there is no guarantee of hours etc. It really does come down to the individual (most of the time). The number of clients we see now that take on our candidates permanently is great. But it also means that you can try your hand to many different roles, companies and industries. As a company, Adecco has many candidates across New Zealand who only want to be employed on a temporary contract, this is because it also gives them the flexibility. Most consultants will work their pool of candidates very well, so if we have great candidates working and we know their assignment is coming to an end, we will already have their next assignment ready to go. It also might mean taking a holiday is easier when you are on a temporary contract, or with some of our candidates it is a chance to reflect after being in a very high stressful role; looking for that time to find themselves and focus on rebuilding their career.

Try before you buy

Temporary recruitment can also be a great solution for companies. We understand the risk, the time and money that can be involved in recruiting someone permanently, I am not bagging the permanent recruitment methodology at all. As a 360 consultant (temporary and permanent across both blue and white-collar sectors) myself, I understand that there is a time and place for any new hire and our role is to consult our clients and work with them to build a proper recruitment plan and to determine whether or not temporary, fixed term or permanent is the best solution.
Don’t get me wrong, the “trying before you buy” is not just aimed to the client, but most certainly the candidate too. I, myself have worked for some companies where I think ‘if only I knew what their culture was before I took on a permanent role’. As a consultant there might be come companies that we choose not to work with due to their values not being in line with ours, different ethics, being completely oblivious or having non-existent Health and Safety protocols just to name a few. Would it not be nice to know that you are working with a company that has already completed a lot of the ground work for you, helping you to make the right decision or help you gain more experience and utilise your skills? As a client would you not want to partner with a company that not only has your best interests in mind but the candidates? Welcome to the world of temporary recruitment.

Angela Ralm is the Branch Manager of Adecco Personnel Limited Hamilton.