By Katharine Hansen
Many career counsellors say you should acknowledge the role of the temp or staffing agency, but list as your main employers the companies for whom you actually did the work.
QuintZine regular contributor Maureen Crawford Hentz favors a resume listing like this:
Assistant, Total Renal Laboratories, DeLand, FL
Temporary placement via Kelly Temps, March 2000 to present.
"The important thing is to ensure that lots of small-duration jobs that are temp jobs don't give the wrong impression to sloppy resume reviewers," says Hentz, who is associate director for the visitor experience and manager, volunteer programs and internships, for the New England Aquarium.
On the other hand, some experts advise avoiding the word "temporary" altogether. "I would not highlight the word 'temporary' so much, as I would argue that a 'temp' job is really not much more temporary than a lot of supposedly 'permanent' jobs these days," suggests Janet Scarborough of Bridgeway Career Development. "I favor this format:"
Assistant, Total Renal Laboratories (Kelly Services), DeLand, FL, March 2000 to present.
Adds Hentz: "For a temp-to-perm placement, I am in favor of it looking something like this:"
Assistant, Total Renal Laboratories, DeLand, FL
March 2000 to present. Temporary placement via Kelly Temps; hired full time by TRL June 2000.
Length of time in a given temping assignment is an important determinant in how the assignment is portrayed on the resume.
"Since it is important to show consistency in a work history, and if possible, at least a year in residence at each employer, I recommend listing the work for temp services based on a variety of factors," notes Lyn Hood of Cabrillo College. Hood's advice:
"If the jobs have been very brief, but employment through the temp service or services has been steady, I might list [this way]:"
1999-2001 Manpower Temporary Services, San Jose, CA
Product Testing and Quality Assurance for a variety of high-tech companies, including Variotech, Micromechanical, Veriwire and Marcoware. Received excellent performance reviews, etc. etc...
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