THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A TEMP AGENCY AND A STAFFING AGENCY

In our previous blog post, we discussed the fact that you CAN find a direct hire position with a staffing agency.
One of the problems that job seekers encounter is that they often think that a temp agency and a staffing agency are one and the same. That is not the case, and in this post, we’d like to spell out the differences and further illustrate how a staffing agency can aid your career.
It is true that a temp agency and a staffing agency do perform some of the same tasks and provide some of the same services. For example, they both:
Have a pool of corporate clients.
Receive requests from those clients to help fill job positions.
Refer to their database of workers and search for qualified candidates.
Fill short-term or temporary positions for their clients.
Let’s examine the nature of the temp position, since it’s one of the common denominators between temp agencies and staffing agencies. An organization seeks to hire on a temporary basis for a number of reasons, including the following:
Busy periods, such as over the holidays or other times of increased business activity
Maternity leave, which creates employments opportunities lasting several weeks
Illnesses and/or absences, which many mean filling a position for a single day or several days
Meeting of deadlines and/or the completion of special projects
Temporary positions provide organizations with a certain degree of flexibility. They allow companies to respond to the ever-changing nature of the employment marketplace in their ongoing efforts to maintain maximum levels of productivity. Temp positions hold value, not only for the employers, but also for the workers who eventually fill them.
However, just because a temp agency and a staffing agency provide some of the same services does not mean that they are the same entity.
That’s because staffing firms also focus on the longer-term needs of their clients.
What does this mean for you, the job seeker? It means that staffing agencies offer more than just temporary assignments. They also offer temp-to-direct assignments, and in some cases, they offer direct hire assignments.
In addition, staffing agencies typically operate within more industries than temp agencies. For example, a staffing agency can provide temporary administrative or labor workers for its clients, and it can also help those clients fill longer-term positions in the areas of manufacturing, accounting, healthcare, and information technology.
So when you boil it all down, there are two main differences between temp agencies and staffing agencies:
Staffing agencies offer both temp-to-direct and direct hire positions.
Staffing agencies offer employment opportunities within a wider range of industries.
Do not think that a temp agency and a staffing agency are the same. Staffing agencies can and do offer more to job seekers.
Find out how much more by searching through Time Staffing’s current job listings.