What should I know about staffing agencies?

That you have to call in daily to get work from them. This is even when they say they will call you because often they do not. They give jobs to those who are persistent and call in when they are supposed to.

To find legit ones I would use local companies that are well known in your area. You can also go to the local employment agency and ask them which ones they recommend. They can give you other advice as well.

Good luck with them, i’ve never had success. I would rather suggest just finding a part-time job that sounds somewhat interesting to you vs. using a temp. agency.

You do not have to be “loyal” to one agency. You can sign up with as many agencies as you want to, and keep checking with them every day. When looking for a job, use as many sources as you possibly can, and make sure that all your family and friends and contacts know you are looking.

It’s been many years since I used temp agencies but I found them a good way to keep in the job market until I found permanent work. @YARNLADY gives good advice. If one agency alone isn’t finding you enough work, sign up with more.

Sign up for more than one and GO IN TO THE OFFICE. Don’t just sign up online or send them your information. They’ll be more likely to help you if you go into the office. To start off, I would stay with national brands and ask at the office if there is specific work they specialize in placing (some only do secretarial, food prep, sales, etc). If this is your first “real” job, I would ask to be placed in a variety of areas so you can find what you like to do.

Stay in touch with them, but I wouldn’t call them every day unless they ask you to do so.

The staffing agencies I’ve used in the past tended to pay more attention to job seekers, in this order:
1) People they’ve already successfully worked with
2) People with high verbal test scores (they’ll test you) who call and check in once a day, every day

Also… when an agency (before you come into sign up) says “we have a job available, come on in”, it is a lie. Go in to sign yourself up, but do not expect the job they talked about to actually be there. (Some agencies are more ethical than others about this).

Expect to spend about 4 hours when you make an appointment at one of these places.
Refresh yourself on common misspelled words like “itinerary”, “discipline”, “labeled” “laundromat” and other common trick words, because you’ll have a spelling test on these types of words.

Like Yarnlady said, don’t make yourself unduly loyal to one agency. Using a combination of your age, marital status, and work history, and the job at hand, these places will come up with how much they’ll pay you. You will make less than married people and older people who have the same job. Just be happy that you’ll like that when you get older, but not now.

If you are told to take a “personality” or “ethics” test… then you may want to walk out right there… since these tests are no more accurate than astrology, and any employer that uses them, is probably not very intelligent, which can frustrate intelligent workers.
Authority is only tolerable when it’s intelligent.

Although the concept of “dressing for success” does very well come into play… honest, good people who dress casually can still get hired by impressing with their knowledge, honesty, or down-to-earthness. Many managers take dress into account, but they do not place it as an all-important factor.

Showing up too early is annoying to them, and showing up late makes them suspicious. Show up 15 minutes early. Leave your house an hour early, though, to make sure you actually get there with no issues. Then just sit in your car or get some coffee once you arrive, if you’re too early.

Have names and phone numbers of friends and professionals who can vouch for you. They’ll want that.