Here on the temps and freelance desk, we know how tricky temping can be for newcomers. That’s why we’ve put together some helpful tips to guide you!

• Listen up

It’s your first day. You’ve just met the team. They’ve been doing this job for a while now, how do you make a good impression? Listen closely. The sooner you understand exactly what’s required, the sooner you can get started. Temps who respond quickly and effectively are a dream for our busy clients. If you can hit the ground running, you’ll never be out of work!

• Get to know people

This one’s pretty straightforward but it doesn’t just apply to your team or your line manager. Get to know the company, the different departments and what they do. Being a temp is like being the new kid at school – you can make this a lot easier by getting to know your colleagues across the board. An anecdote here, a joke there, soon you’ll be joining them for lunch or a cheeky drink at five in their beloved local.

• Remember your timesheet!

If you’ve never temped before, this is quite an easy mistake to make. You’ve showed up, you’ve done the work, it’s time to go home, right? Afraid not. As a temp, you’ll need to submit your hours every week for approval. The smartest thing to do is set a calendar reminder to submit every Friday. That way, it gives your line manager time to approve and prevents you having to make a panicky phone call to your agency at the eleventh hour. Most agencies have a very straightforward process for this so it only takes a minute – get it out of the way and enjoy your weekend!

• Prove yourself 

Volunteer for extra assignments. Check if your line manager needs a hand with anything – they don’t always delegate everything and it can impress them when you ask for more than they’ve given you. This makes the right impression so when it comes to hiring a permanent employee, they realise the perfect person has been with them all along. We’ve placed lots of temps who ended up going permanent because they went the extra mile.

• Stay in touch with your agency

This is important because as an agency, we are in touch with HR all the time. We feedback to you and let you know when they’re happy with your work – and, most importantly, if they’re considering keeping you on longer. We can also let you know about other roles we have in that might interest you so you can move smoothly from one position to another with as little fuss as possible. We’re here to help so give us a call or drop us a line at any time.

• What are you good at? What do you like?

The beauty of temping is discovering what you’re good at and what actually interests you. Temps often carry out a lot of ad hoc duties, sometimes providing support to different departments. This can help you to figure out what you enjoy the most, whether it’s communications, administration, financial aspects, data analysis – and once you know, you can set your sights on that specific role. You can let us know too and we’ll be sure to let you know if we have any suitable jobs in.

• Holiday

Finally, holiday. As a temp, you won’t have a set amount of holidays like a permanent employee. Instead, you will accrue holiday at a percentage of your hours. Your agency can let you know how much holiday you have to take so you can save it up or use it to cover that long-awaited trip of yours. The longer you temp for, the more holiday you’ll accrue so it’s good to plan ahead.

That’s it for handy tips. But remember, when you temp with us, we’re always here to advise and guide you so if you’re not sure, just pick up the phone!

The Temps Team:

Kellie Millar, Manager (Temps/Freelancers)

Tel:    020 7034 7897         Email: kelliemillar@atwoodtate.co.uk

Alison Redfearn, Temps/Freelancers Consultant

Tel:    020 7034 7922         Email: alisonredfearn@atwoodtate.co.uk

Michael Lawlor, Temps/Freelancers Administrator

Tel:    020 7034 7899         Email: michaellawlor@atwoodtate.co.uk