I had my interview yesterday in Hartford at the agency that finds temp jobs for writers, designers and other creative types. But before seeing "Rich" to discuss things, I had to complete a gauntlet of forms, paperwork, and a little computer quiz to satisfy all their requirements. (Hate that stuff.)

"R" seemed pleasant enough, although personally I found the interview a little dull. He really didn't delve into anything too deeply, just did a perfunctory review with me of each of the jobs I've held.

He seemed to feel they could get me some work. I asked what % of applicants get work through them and he said only 4 out of 12 or so, which surprised me somewhat. It sounded like the people who are good get repeat assignments.

We talked a fair amount about compensation. He said several times that employers are paying less now in this economy than they did while things were booming. I have to wonder, though, if the agency's strategy of offering up employee temps for a lower hourly figure to win the client's business only hurts the employee, not the agency nor the employer. Cus whatever hourly rate I make, I can be sure the agency has already taken their cut, right? And the employer is getting a discounted rate.

I've worked for this group once before. It's basically a take it or leave it offer. They tell you the pay, and you can either accept or decline. They also tell you next to nothing about the company or the job, so you really have to be on your toes and do what you do well, IMO. Because unlike a regular employee, you don't have a chance to get to know the company or its products over a period of weeks or months, or get training from coworkers. You just have to be able to dive right in, be confident that you know what you're doing and do it well.

I remember declining one or two temp jobs years ago because they were just too far away or I wasn't confident it was the kind of work I could do, and I'm guessing now that even if I had a legitimate reason, declining even one job made the agency less inclined to call me back again with other jobs. I think there's a point where you go from being a hot, new job candidate they want to market to one they pass over because you're too fussy or particular.

So I'll have to be cautious in that regard. The one job I did for them years ago was a proofreading job at a book publisher about an hour away from me, on the shoreline. It lasted for a few weeks, as I recall. I never got a lot of feedback about my work and I assume it was ok. It was pretty basic work and didn't exactly give me a chance to showcase my expertise, but it was a paycheck.

While the agency often stresses that hey, if they love your work, they may want to hire you full time, it doesn't always work that way.

If you've ever temped anywhere, you may remember how people may kindly ignore you because 1. they know you're only going to be there for a little while, so why go out of your way to get to know someone, and 2. they assume that if you're a temp, your work background is inferior to theirs (so not true!) That's what I remember, anyway, from that one assignment.

I was annoyed to have to pay $9.50 in the parking garage for about 2 hours of time.