Life as
a Temp_


By Fraser Gibb_
E
ver wondered how the hell some people land in the jobs you see them in? Ever
been to a concert or festival and seen people like yourself working behind the
bar and thought, ‘Dammit, I could be doing that and getting paid to watch these
bands!’? Ever felt so horribly and pointlessly stressed in a crappy little job and
desperately wanted out of it...but still need the cash?
Temping is one of these mysterious job opportunities that answers all of these
questions. It’s also one of these jobs that seems to come with an unwanted stigma
of being desperate and unqualified. In many ways, temping is one of the most
liberating jobs you could ever find and by all means one of the most interesting and
varied you could possibly do alongside your studies.

Speaking from experience, the temp life gives you the most flexible hours you could
imagine. It’s almost as if the whole system was designed for students. The basic
idea is simple – you get a text saying there’s a shift if you want it; you reply saying
yes or no. Done. No bargaining with bosses for time off, no pressure to take or refuse
the shifts, no reason needed if you can’t do it. A job that literally fits around your
lifestyle. Now, there aren’t many bosses out there like that, are there?

See, your boss is a contractor who is only really interested in providing the staff for
an event, be it hospitality, bar work or any other contractible job type (which, just
out of interest – and something I’ve only recently discovered from doing the job – is
a very large percentage of jobs out there). They send you to a job, you do the work
for someone else, and you get paid by your recruitment office. As do they, usually
anything up to £12 per hour for your services depending on the job.
Despite this considerably inflated rate, you, the worker, receive minimum
wage which can feel like a bit of a bump when you’re the one ‘at the coalface’.
However, this rate of pay is pretty standard and in some cases more than
similar jobs. And includes holiday pay. Holiday pay?! For what? Exactly.
Nothing. Money for free. Even if you’re only getting one shift a week.
Another fascinating aspect of the job is the people. As mundane as the job description
may be, the range of people working for temp agencies varies like no other. This is
the stigma I mentioned; despite what we say, we are all a little racist and are very
quick to point out that these jobs appear to only be taken by immigrants. Untrue. I’ve
met hundreds of likeminded students, middle-agers looking for a second income and
others treating it as a full-time job, as well as French, Spanish, Polish, Lithuanian,
Australian, African, Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Glaswegian... Some ropey English
maybe, but the assortment of cultures, stories, experiences and lifestyles you
become exposed to seeing and hearing is something which really opens your eyes
to the differing situations, both financial and social, which people find themselves in.
You learn not to be a snob about these things and in a strange way build a tolerance
for a demographic of the public you had never really considered. I’m sounding a bit
heavy here – I think too much about these things – but it’s important, and temping is
one of the few jobs that brings together such a diverse array of people. No place like home

Granted, temping isn’t for everyone. In fact, many will hate it. But what intrigues DiD you know…
me about these jobs, unlike others, is that very few, if any, become cliquey. What …that your landlord should give you 24 hours’ notice before calling round?
do I mean? I mean that you won’t find arsey groups of friends sticking together …that even if you don’t have a written tenancy agreement,
like back in school. I mean you won’t feel like you’re a loner – far from it once you still have rights?
you start chatting away. And there aren’t incestuous style relationships intertwined …that you can find everything you need to know about housing on
within the job. So if you don’t like someone, you’ll probably never see them again Shelter’s website?
anyway. But for me, and many people I have befriended during my time behind the
bar/desk/kitchen/door/bus/train/field/stadium, it’s a keeper, and as far as we’re At Shelter, we don’t just help people who are homeless. Our website helps all
concerned, it’s the easiest, most straightforward, fairly paid, liberal job you may kinds of people with all kinds of housing issues, from finding student digs to
ever find, allowing you to put your foot in the door of loads of different companies. dealing with landlords, getting on with your flatmates to managing money. So
If you can handle not having a consistent source of income and working with whether you need practical solutions to tackle a problem, or simply want to know
different people virtually every shift, then go sign up. more about your rights, make http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/getadvice your
home on the web.
_www.scotcampus.com
_27_Substance
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