Transcription

00:00:06 Introduction

Welcome. You're listening to Links at Bain and Gray, a catalogue of podcasts centred on all things business support in the workplace. Our aim is to bring you interesting and relevant content that will keep you up-to-date and thriving in your role.

00:00:21 Tray

Hello, this is Tray Durrant and today we are discussing how to be a successful temp. I'm here this morning with Betsy Grigson. Welcome Betsy.

00:00:30 Betsy

Thank you, hi Tray.

00:00:32 Tray

Betsy is a consultant on our temporary team, and Betsy is uniquely placed to discuss how to be a successful temp because she's both been a temp and is now looking after a team of temps that she's placing within her clients, so you're perfectly placed to answer our questions this morning. Thanks, Betsy. So let's just kick off with, in your opinion, what makes a good temp?

00:00:51 Betsy

I think one of the most important things is just being super adaptable. We work across such a wide range of industries, from sort of finance, corporate, all the way over to your design studios. And I think you can be put in all different industries and all different environments. So just to being being able to be adaptable in those places is super important.

And I think another one is having us real muck-in attitude. Those short term bookings you're going in and you've really got to hit the ground running. So just to yeah, exactly muck-in attitude.

00:01:22 Tray

Exactly, muck-in attitude. So that's two key elements. And do you think that's that's fair that they're across all different levels of experience? I mean, I suppose in all of those you've got to hit the ground running, whether you're on front, front desk doing the reception booking or even if you're, you know, working for the the C-Suite, I guess -

00:01:36 Betsy

Definitely, definitely.

00:01:37 Tray

- it's kind of keeping your wits about you and and getting stuck in. So, do you think in that's in terms of the sort of soft skills, do you think there's any way candidates kind of can keep them up-to-date on the on the technical skills side?

00:01:50 Betsy

I think, what do you mean more so how they're doing in in the -

00:01:54 Tray

Well, just I think you know that's one element of skills keeping yourself adaptable. I I think you know, candidates kind of come to these roles and lots of different companies and organisations are gonna have lots of different requirements. I think you've got to be quite techy, would you agree? To be kind of a good temp and sort of keep yourself up to speed with current trends in the workplace and what's going on? Do you think that's fair?

00:02:12 Betsy

Definitely, definitely. And I think workplaces they change so much. So just really, as you can say, keep up-to-date with everything that changes in the companies as well and research where you're going before, really know what you're getting yourself into.

00:02:26 Tray

And use your use your temp consultant. Yeah. Ask questions. Yeah, exactly.

00:02:26 Betsy

Just so you can exactly. Yeah, yeah. That's why we're here. To be your point of contact and to sort of make the temp as easy, the temp role as easy as possible for you as well as for the client. Yeah, that's why we're here.

00:02:38 Tray

Yeah, definitely. I mean, who temps? You know why, why do people come to temping do you think?

00:02:43 Betsy

We get so so many different reasons. There's actors who sort of in between their acting jobs, we get grads who are sort of maybe waiting for a grad role or undecided what they want to do permanently, so they temp to sort of get a gist of different industries and different roles. Career temps, those are people who just really enjoy temping. They might love going away, they might love travelling. So yeah, they temp to sort of fund their travels.

00:03:10 Tray

Or they might have another another sort of side hustle going on, I guess and yeah.

00:03:13 Betsy

Yeah, people who have their own business, obviously sometimes it's not always ongoing your own business. You need something on the side. Look, there's so many different reasons people temp.

00:03:22 Tray

Yeah. Yeah, I think one of the challenges when you're sort of temping and and sort of continually going through different roles is how you keep your CV looking good. And it's quite a it's a bit of a a, a fine balance between keeping your your CV up-to-date with everything on it, as well as making sure that future clients, should you be looking for a permanent role further down the line, don't see it as too jumpy or and you know sometimes the feedback we get from clients, isn't it?

So I suppose there's a couple of questions there sort of - one thing is you know, is it best to highlight every single role? And I suppose the second thing is you know, how do you put across that you know reasons why you might have done it, and perhaps that's the answer, but reasons why you might have done it and especially if you're looking for something permanent further down the line?

00:04:10 Betsy

I think you don't need to have every single role in there. If you've done some short-term temp bookings, they can sort of be grouped together. It's very dependent on where you're sending your CV and what industry you're going into, or which role you're going into. If you're going into more of an Executive Assistant role to really put those diary management or the main ones in there.

The the other issue is you don't want to have loads of gaps in your CV as well, so just putting the most important ones might suddenly look like you haven't done anything for the last few months, even though you had a hospitality job or front of house job, um I think -

00:04:44 Tray

I think your point on grouping is key, isn't it? And and and I think that's really important if it's industry specific as you say, if you're going for certain types of roles that you slightly tweak it relevant to the role I I think is is the key point.

00:04:55 Betsy

Yeah, definitely tweaking it relevant to the role and that's also why we're here as well. So we can sort of tweak it. We do a write up on the side so we can bring your CV to life and show that when you've been missing things out, what you were doing, where you were, that you were still working, maybe you were travelling.

00:05:11 Tray

I think I I think it's well the the sort of profile or summary or whatever you might call at the top of your CV, that's just highlighting a bit more of you as a person can explain some of that story. I think with a temporary candidate much more so than it might do if it's a if a candidate looking for permanent roles. But I think it can just explain you've covered a series of temp roles over a period of time because you've been doing XY and Z, or travelling as you say, all those things.

00:05:30 Betsy

Definitely. Yeah, definitely.

00:05:33 Tray

So what do you think are the main benefits of of temping?

00:05:36 Betsy

I think the one of the main ones is it just opens so many doors to industries that you've never even thought of working in before. I I think that's yeah, one of the main ones. Widens your experience. That's also one.

There's sort of the temp to perm opportunities so you can go in as a temp and the role could sort of go into a permanent, quite unexpectedly, and you could be in a role that you never thought of doing a year before. Yeah, there are so many benefits, but I think those three are probably the main ones.

00:06:04 Tray

Yeah, I think that that point around different industries and exploring that, I think that's especially relevant at the junior end of the of the market people coming into the workplace. It's a brilliant way, you know, post-university or post-secretarial or business support qualification to come in and and work out what industry you want to be in via temping because there's nothing better than sort of really experiencing it first-hand isn't there?

00:06:26 Betsy

Yeah, I mean, that's why I did it. Yeah, because I left and I didn't know what I wanted to do. Yeah. And it was a perfect way to find, yeah, new things.

00:06:33 Tray

And you did you did you go into all sorts of different industries and that's what helped you decide?

00:06:36 Betsy

Yeah, so many. So many. I went into sort of insurance, never thought I'd be sitting in one of them. So it really does open so many doors that I've never even thought of looking at.

00:06:44 Tray

And it and it sort of breaks downs of preconceptions, doesn't it? Cause I think you definitely have ideas about what insurance looks like. What boutique financial services company or more creative industries look like, and they're not always quite what they seem on the surface.

00:06:56 Betsy

Not at all, not at all, I so agree.

00:07:00 Tray

So how to how to get the best out of temping in terms of the best out of the experience, and I suppose you know, I'm asking really if you had to put a guide together for how your temp ought to, you know, conduct themselves during the term of their assignment, or indeed when they’re looking for work, what would you say to that?

00:07:17 Betsy

I think be super open. I mean we're, we're trained, we we have your best interest at heart. So be open to roles we send you. If you suddenly see that it's creative and you think oh, I don't wanna do that at all, just be open to it and yeah be open to hear about new roles.

Be quite transparent with your consultant we we need to know what you want and don't want. So be super open, super transparent, and definitely don't feel bad for saying no because not everything's right for you. So yeah, yeah, you can say no to us.

00:07:46 Tray

I mean, communication is everything isn't it?

00:07:49 Betsy

Yeah, communication is key.

00:07:49 Tray

And often times we're quite quickly trying to turn something around. So that's really important to come back to us as quickly as possible. And if if we've had to fill something super quickly, then there will be something else coming along, won't there? So just keep us up, keep us up-to-date on what you're doing and -

00:08:02 Betsy

Yeah. And even if you're, if you're got another temp role through a different agency or something else for a week or something, just keep us up-to-date because it saves us ringing you and you picking up the phone and having to tell us. It's all, communication and transparency, is all we ask for.

00:08:16 Tray

Yeah. So if I asked you, perhaps for, I don't know how many you might have two or three or even more top tips, what would they be to sort of advise someone who's looking to temp?

00:08:25 Betsy

Oh. Keep your phone on you. Check your e-mails. Check your phone.

00:08:29 Tray

Good one! Keep your phone on you. Perfect.

00:08:30 Betsy

Yeah, definitely. Temping moves so quickly. I mean, we could have a role come in in the morning and it, we need it filled by this afternoon.

00:08:37 Tray

Mm-hmm.

00:08:41 Betsy

So just keep your phone on you, check your emails.

I know I've already said it, but be open to new industries. I I nearly said we know best, but I'd like to think we know pretty -

00:08:46 Tray

We can advise best.

00:08:47 Betsy

We can advise best, yeah. Um, always sort of have maybe suitable office attire somewhere in your cupboard. Because you never know what role you could go into –

00:08:54 Tray

Mm, that’s a good one. That last minute, yeah.

00:08:57 Betsy

That last minute role next week, you might suddenly need a some black trousers or something. Yeah, I think they're my top two!

00:09:03 Tray

That’s, that's your top ones. Brilliant, Betsy. Thank you. It's been great to talk to you this morning. We hope that's been helpful for everyone listening. Thanks very much.

00:09:10 Betsy

Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Bye, everyone.