It’s only temporary!

When we talk about today’s economy, trendy metaphors are everywhere. Here’s a sample:  Weather: stormy, cloudy, dark; Movement: reeling, roiling, turbulent; Health: ailing, sick, aching.

If you think about it, each of these metaphors implies a temporary condition. Weather clears, movement slows down, people heal. During this temporarily tough time, sometimes the best way for unemployed job seekers to handle this is by getting a temp job.

You guys are smart (obviously, since you’re being proactive in your job search), so you probably already know what temp jobs are. But we’ll go ahead and tell you anyways. When employees are out for a bit (with health problems or on leave) and work still needs to get done, companies often hire temporary employees to fill in the gaps. Other companies make it their policy to hire temp workers that eventually become permanent positions.

There may be lots of reasons why you temp. If you’re out of a job, temping helps you pay the bills until you find a more permanent position. Temping also allows you set your own schedule (if you want to take a couple of weeks go see the lovely Vermont foliage with Uncle Morty, go right ahead), add skills to your resume if it needs a boost, and try out different positions if you’re not sure about which industry you might be best suited for.

EmploymentCrossing has over 90 sites listing jobs–temporary, part time, and permanent– in tons of different industries. Project management positions, compliance jobs, even nursing jobs.

So as you weather the storm, brace yourself for the turbelence, and drink some chicken soup for the economy, remember that tempin’ may not be easy. . .but it can help get you where you need to go.