I was advised to temp, but as a result it’s impossible to find a permanent position
My university careers service told me in 2008 that the best way to gain enough experience to get a permanent job was to take on temporary work. Since then, that’s what I’ve been doing. I am beginning to lose track of the half-decade of temp work I’ve had, all over local councils and varying public service administration. Last year I was lucky enough to be sent on a post that has lasted for more than a year – but they kicked me out at Christmas.
I’m finding temporary experience is worth nothing. Everyone dismisses my applications with the message that, in their eyes, I’ve never worked.
I’m fed up with temping. People are friendly but I’m forever reminded I’m not one of them. I’ve been let go several times for getting a cold in winter. I don’t get references, which is another hindrance. Temp-to-permanent does not exist any more; the agencies are vicious; and my Christmas present this year is unemployment again.
Is there anything I can do with my temping when only permanent will do?
Jeremy says
This is a dispiriting story. The advice you were given all those years ago may have been sound enough then, but it clearly hasn’t served you well. However, the skill with which you’ve described your predicament suggests at least one approach that might help you to break out of this self-perpetuating cycle.
What you’ve learned over these years of working for a multitude of different organisations, must be extraordinary; and potentially, to a few thoughtful employers, extremely valuable. I suggest you spend quite a few hours recalling and listing the best and the worst employment practices you’ve encountered. I’m certainly not suggesting a catalogue of criticism; more an intelligent analysis of simple things that employers get wrong, with an equal analysis of things they get right. You don’t need to name names.
In this way, I believe, you can turn your many years of temping into a positive advantage. You will have seen the inside of many more organisations than any permanent employee – and will be able to share that with any company sensible enough to take you on. From the style of your letter, I believe you’re more than capable of conducting such an exercise – and incorporating a taster of it in all your future applications. You might even enjoy doing it. It will certainly mark you out from all the others.
Readers say
• The next time a possible employer tells you that, in their eyes, your experience is worth nothing and that you have never worked, you smile sweetly, take a deep breath and tell them all that you have learned since leaving uni and how this will make an essential difference to their organisation. Aranzazu
• Don’t stick to the public sector – it’s been shrinking since 2008 and there are fewer and fewer permanent roles. A sector making a third of its workforce redundant is not looking to recruit. Horatio93
• Make sure that you are emphasising all your skills in your CV rather than a list of positions and duties. jewell79
• From my perspective as an employer, it wouldn’t be the temporary nature of the work itself that was a problem, rather the impression this might give that either you’re not good enough to get a permanent job, or you are a bit of a fly-by-night person not willing to settle to anything. SParr3
My job is fantastic, but hours of unpaid overtime are now taking their toll
I have worked in a small architects’ office for the past eight years. It has fantastic advantages – flexible hours, a family friendly boss (I am a single parent of two teens), interesting work and only a five-minute commute. I know I am incredibly lucky.
However, I do quite lot of unpaid overtime. Because of the nature of the work, and the fact that my role is to produce drawings, I often need to do longer hours to meet deadlines. We are often seriously behind, so I do many extra hours, voluntarily. My boss sometimes does not draw a wage, so I find it hard to ask for more pay, and time in lieu is not practical. The long hours do not suit my family life. I have not had a raise in some years due to the recession.
I was on a 20-hour week, but last year, due to an unmanageable workload and the welcome chance to earn more money, I suggested doing a 30-hour week. My boss agreed immediately. However, it was hard to juggle my family life, so last month I reduced it to 25. Over a year, I do about 15% extra hours unpaid and while I don’t mind doing some extra, they are usually compressed into about a third of the year.
In addition, I resent the fact that the administrator is on the same pro rata wage. He takes extended holidays, quite often arrives late, leaves early and takes personal and sick days. When the boss is not there, the administrator does his own personal business, sometimes spending the whole day at it or meeting friends for an extended lunchtime drink. Should I tell my boss? They are quite good friends.
And should I ask for a wage review?
Jeremy says
The combination of working for a small, friendly company and your own super-conscientious personality is a dangerous one: it means you hesitate before making an entirely reasonable request for a salary review.
I’d be pretty certain that your boss feels you’re so committed to his company that he can, more or less, take you for granted. I’d also be pretty certain he’d be devastated to lose you: he knows he can trust you to perform an absolutely critical and skilled function.
Forget the fact that he sometimes doesn’t pay himself – and forget the administrator’s behaviour: they’re nothing to do with your own case. Keep any sense of injustice you may feel well-hidden and don’t even imply that you might leave: it shouldn’t be necessary. Just make your request for an increase quite unapologetically – formally, in writing, with facts and dates to support your case. You’re worth it.
Readers say
• If you’re doing 29 hours of work a week but being paid for 25, I suggest you ask for a zero-hours contract where you’re paid by the hour, at the same rate as at present. This will give you the flexibility that you and your employer both need, while ensuring that you’re paid for the hours you work. DrPlokta
• As your employer readily agreed to increasing your hours to 30 when you suggested it, perhaps s/he would be amenable to paying overtime for the hours worked over the current agreed 25. walkinginthesand
• If you are working more than the hours you are paid to work you should be compensated. Don’t worry too much about whether your boss is occasionally not drawing a wage; assuming he is the owner of the business, he is treating it as a long-term investment; for you this is your monthly income.
And if your admin colleague is a friend of the boss you don’t know what arrangement they have, so I wouldn’t make too much of it. It only becomes an issue if it is disrupting your ability to do your work. ollybenson
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
