I frequently swear I'll never temp again, then I end up doing it anyway when I need money. It's godawful thankless, soulless work.

I have countless anecdotes, but most of them make me to bitter to recount. Better I should give you advice, I think:

Don't forget that the agency is getting something out of you - they'll sometimes prey upon your good protestant work ethic (I was raised in Minnesota too, remember) and make you feel like you owe them something - most likely silence when you get job that's something like getting coffee for an executive whose leg is broken (whoop, there's an anecdotal tale!). You owe them nothing but good work doing whatever it is you want to do.

Best o' luck!

Hmm, yes. Something I will definitely need to keep in mind - that, um, let's see... the idea isn't 'selfishness'... but rather 'self-preservation.' I need to not give myself away, as I tend to.

I called Manpower today after I posted the entry, and shortly into their preliminary queries it was recommended that I use Manpower "Pro" - an officeless, web-only system for people who are somehow above being a bumper-chromer. Didn't really think I was... but I really would rather not chrome bumpers again.

Back to the resume.

I made a mistake that time. They said "No relevance", not "No relatives".

Sir, I temped through Manpower for about a year after I exited American Express and had many an adventure. I found that a lot of my temp employers were afraid of me because they realized I just didn't care about their particular company. Also, I found after arriving at the job site people expected me to know a job after an hour of training even if a regular employee would be trained for 2 months.

Jeremy is correct, though: you don't owe the agency anything but a good job. I also walked away from assignments that made me uncomfortable or weren't what the agency described to me.

My last bit of advice is this: Always introduct yourself thusly--"Hello, Americans, this is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news!" And when asked about your previous job always end your tale with "And now you know the rest of the story."

Heh!

Another friend of mine temped for quite a while and explained how he'd always arrive late, so - when his absence was noted because things weren't getting done, his importance would be obvious.

And Manpower (headquartered internationally here in Milwaukee) sucks baby corn.

I have to agree somewhat about Manpower. At first it seemed cool because they got me a $16/hr job doing nothing. After that it went quickly downhill and sometimes it would take them a few weeks to find jobs. And very disorganized.

Don't know if you have Volt Temp services in your area. We hire temps from them and the people we get are happy with what Volt gets for them.

I worked for Volt (who haven't I worked for?), can't remember where. My lack of memory about them means I have no gratingly bitter memory of them - which probably means they were okay.

Also, I temped for MacSpecialists when I lived in NoVa. I think they've gone, been bought up by MacTemps, but that was a good place, FWIW.

I think I was a Kelly Girl in DC, too...

Thanks all! Much good help and commentary. "Page... two." Begin the beguine.

Will work for $$.