Employment Opinions

Temporary Jobs: Take The Chance

Written by Rebecca Cotzec
part time work

Temporary Jobs: Take the Chance – be a busy-bee

After one temporary job ended, I found myself again scrolling through the endless jobs that stated ‘experience required.’ I’d volunteered, I’d completed internships… but despite the spiel from various careers advisors, it wasn’t enough. Most ‘entry-level’ jobs in my industry needed between one and three years’ experience.

Then, as I half-heartedly clicked onto the next page, one took my interest. I’ll be honest – it wasn’t a ‘this is my dream job’ kind of moment; more of a ‘meh… It’ll pay the bills’ moment, so I scanned through the job description and created a CV. Then it hit me. It didn’t say how or where to apply.

I re-read it. I read it again. I read it to my boyfriend. He read it for himself. There was no advice on how to apply. I googled the company, and found the address. It was almost half an hour away, which meant a bus fair that equated to an hour’s wage. I wasn’t impressed. After all, it was only temporary, 20 hours a week as an office assistant, with minimum wage and no guarantee on how long the position would last.

After a bit of a moan, and a good brew, I decided to take a chance on it. It might mean missing out on jobs if the employment agency rang me (you don’t answer the call, you don’t get put forward for the job) and after paying for bus passes and board money to my parents, there wouldn’t be much of a wage. Call it a gut feeling if you will, but something told me to go for it, even if I might miss out on the call for my dream job.

I arrived at the office, to the surprise of the managing director, who interviewed me there and then. She explained she had left off details of how to apply as she didn’t want masses of applicants, but since I turned up and seemed like I could do the job, I’d start tomorrow.

The people were nice, the job was ok… though not challenging. But even after a month I didn’t know if I would be coming back the following week.

Then the MD asked me for a quiet word; heart pounding, I knew what was coming; I was no longer needed. Thankfully, I was wrong. She wanted to offer me a full-time permanent position, on better pay as well.

That gave me the confidence I needed to put forward the skills I had gained through volunteering and internships. Within three months of me first starting as a temporary general assistant, I was promoted. Not just from temporary to permanent, but from office assistant to marketing assistant, with a pay rise and the offer of funded professional development.

The moral of this story? Take a chance! Even if the job is nothing like the career you have in mind, it might evolve into a dream job like mine, or at the very least, it’s some more experience to add to your CV.

MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR: 

1. What I Learnt From My Weekend Job

2. “Why Didn’t You Get The Job?” “Google Me Baby!”

3. Being a Commuting Student: Pros and Cons

About the author

Rebecca Cotzec

Whilst studying for her degree Rebecca undertook various extra-circular activities, internships and volunteering placements to try and gain experience in the communications sector. After graduating with a BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing 2:1 she took a part-time job as an office assistant and was promoted to marketing assistant within months. She is now striving to learn more about marketing and push her career further.