Know thyself
Should you consider temp work?
Online, in newspapers, and seemingly all over the airwaves, you don’t have to look very hard these days to find depressing news about the US economy and the country’s job market. As talk of a full-blown recession has crept into the national conversation, unemployment rates have begun to inch upwards – recently crossing the 5 percent mark for the first time in 25 months, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Overall, though, the job market has remained remarkably resilient in the face of economic volatility. The simple fact remains that there are still plenty of great jobs to be had – especially if know what you are looking for.
The behavior of job seekers in a number of US markets was studied recently by Veritude, a Boston-based human resources firm. The research focused specifically the role that a job seeker’s subconscious has on the types of positions he or she chooses to search and apply for. The study found that many job seekers share a similar subliminal process of mentally walking through a series of very basic psychographic questions, essentially conducting a subconscious self-audit, to determine their ideal work environment. However, the answers to these basic questions rarely seemed to influence a job seeker’s actual search criteria.
The study found this disconnection to be even more pronounced when job seekers were asked to describe the type of work – temporary or permanent – that was most appealing to them. The lack of alignment between what job seekers wanted and the requirements of the positions they were applying for was often the cause of prolonged, frustrating job searches, and, in some worst-case scenarios, bad new hire fits. Success stories were most likely to occur in situations where the job seeker’s wants and the job’s requirements were in alignment.
Sounds obvious, right? Perhaps in theory, but we all know that searching for a job can be a trying and stressful experience.
It comes as no surprise that the number-one trap job seekers tend to fall into is replacing quality with quantity. Often being very active will make job seekers feel they are getting closer to accomplishing their goal. The trick is to slow down and conduct a smart search.
By making sure your wants and needs are aligned with the parameters of the type of work you are pursuing, you’ll be maximizing the effectiveness of your job search and minimizing the amount of time spent searching. Think about what’s most important to you and only pursue leads that meet your criteria. Set parameters for your job search by asking yourself the following five questions before you begin:
1. Do I prefer to work as a member of a team?
2. Do I prefer the security that comes along with following a clearly defined career path?
3. Does a structured Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. work week help me manage my time and maximize my productivity?
4. Do I like to take advantage of formalized learning and development programs as means to gain experience and acquire new skills?
5. Do I value a compensation package that features a slightly lower salary but includes a full suite of benefits (401(k), bonus, insurance, etc.) rather than a higher salary with fewer benefits?
If you answered “no” to the majority of the questions above, you may want to consider pursuing temporary work. All too often job seekers rule out the possibility of being a temp without stopping to consider if the benefits of such an engagement will better address their most important needs. A thorough understanding of the various factors that are important to you in a job will help focus your search.
Information is based on focus group research conducted by Veritude.
--Tom Egan is vice president of talent acquisition at Veritude.
