One more word about jobs, and then you can go lie down for a bit.
Absorbed into the department. Ah... the sweetest words to ever vibrate the eardrum of a temporary employee. Nothing, and I mean nothing can compare with finding out that your current assignment is being "absorbed into the department."
Allow me to explain. There are a number of reasons that you may be brought in to temp at a particular company. I’m not talking temp-to-hire here, I mean a true temporary position. Your agent will say "They need you for two weeks." Period. You get your end date when you get your start date.
You may be there to fill in for someone on vacation, no big deal. You may be there to fill in until they find someone else. You may be there because Jones is having surgery to remove a painful armpit fungus. In all of these cases, either an employee will be returning, or will be eventually replaced.
However, there are instances when an employee is leaving a particular job, and the job itself will then cease to exist altogether. The present members of the workforce will then take over the responsibilities of the transferred or retired or deceased or whatevered employee. The position itself will be absorbed into the department.
Rejoice, fair temps, rejoice, for this is what temping is all about. Your workload? Almost non-existent: remember, the staff will be taking as much off your hands as possible, preparing to assume the tasks themselves. Training? Little to none: why train you when you’ll be doing minimal work? Responsibilities? Ha! The desk you are occupying won’t even be there after you’re gone, and during your stay people will come and clean it out for you. Your freedom...? Limitless.
Come in late, leave early, stretch those breaks like taffy. Stroll about the office, whistling, hands in your pockets. Catch up with old friends via e-mail, or even better, with free (free!) long-distance phone calls. No longer will your lunchtime be a quick bite and some hasty flipping through a magazine. Take in a movie. Have a few beers. Go home and sleep. And most of all, dear temps, make each day count. Be as lazy and irresponsible on this job as possible, friend, for they do not come very often, and they do not come any better.
