If you've built up your resume by temping, how do you portray your temping background during your job search for permanent employment? How do you handle your temping experience on your resume and in interviews?

It is possible to become pigeonholed as a temp and to be viewed as someone who can't or won't hold down a long-term job. That's what happened to long-time temp Cecelia Hittle, who says she has been frequently asked in interviews, "why haven't you landed permanent employment?" Explaining that she did temp work when her children were young, she says, "I did this style of work to give me experience and flexible scheduling." After divorcing, she found a permanent employer. "They were the first place that saw my diverse background as an asset. I was in heaven," Hittle recalls.

But Hittle was downsized from that company and now laments, "I am once again caught in the temp world loop seeking regular, full-time employment. As I have gotten older and the market has changed, I find I am caught in a temp cycle."

Career counsellors say deft portrayal of temp work on your resume and in interviews is the way to avoid getting caught in the temp cycle. The approaches for a resume fall into several schools of thought, listed in bold type in the next page: