Jobs for the boys

STEPHEN Chamberlain was temping at a Brighton fundraising office when he endured what he describes as his most embarrassing moment. "My manager, Jenny, and the Adecco [temping agency] rep suddenly appeared in the office with big beaming smiles. They gave me a handful of music vouchers while everyone stared at me. I'd won Temp of the Month!" His advice is: "Keep it to yourself if you get Temp of the Month," yet he admits he'll be posting it on his CV. "I think it will look good, don't you?"

Hired as a data entry clerk, he took on more and more until his job covered various interesting projects. At 21, his skills include using PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

Chamberlain is a student at Sussex University and plans to temp through all his holidays.

More and more men are choosing to temp and excelling at it. Janet McGlaughlin, of Pertemps, says: "Male temps are very flexible and are doing remarkably well. Ten years ago there were just a handful of them in the office; now it's 50/50. Men tend to use more computer packages and, with their natural desire to take machines apart, they play around with IT more.

Women seem to be a bit more conservative in the office: men will take more risks. Women welcome men in the office and will look after them too. It's good to have a balance."

Male temps can expect to earn more than pounds 7.50 an hour for office admin work in London. "There is plenty of work, though not so much in the financial sector, which has been hard hit, " says McGlaughlin. "Call centres and legal and commercial firms are looking for temps now. Male temps who are flexible, with good Microsoft, Excel and competent IT skills, plus, for call centres, a clear, controlled voice, are particularly sought after.

"There is always a strong possibility of temporary to permanent promotion for good workers in London."

James Dean, 23, is temping as a site secretary with the Interior property development company near St Paul's Cathedral. Every evening and weekend he is at drama classes, training to be an actor.

"The flexibility of temping enables me to take my acting degree course. I can choose the hours I want and leave on the dot," he explains. "I hope to get my Equity card in 2003 but until then I will temp. I enjoy the job, which involves taking pictures of sites, wordprocessing minutes, filing and handling architectural documents. I couldn't train to be an actor unless I was temping, since I need to take time off for productions and auditions."

Dean is on the books at Adecco and staff there describe him as "simply sparkling: nominated for Temp of the Month".

Temping is also useful as an entre into a permanent job.

Former diplomatic residence butler Matt Blount, who was with the American government in London, is temping as a PA with Kalido, a data warehousing company near Waterloo.

Blount, who is in his 30s, describes his temping job as "like being a butler but at a desk". He handles the marketing vice- president's diary, her travel arrangements, admin and liaison and word processing. "I learned computers and keyboarding on a 10-week course that I put myself through when I left the American government job," he says.

"But I found my butlering skills were highly transferable. In this PA job I have to be professional and organised all the time: just as I did when I was a butler."

He is hoping to be offered a staff position and recommends temping as "a good way in to any company". He says: "You meet lots of different people and deal with a variety of departments." If you are doing a career U-turn, as he did, temping is a firstclass way of testing the water at different firms, he advises.

Michael Botham, a 41-yearold Adecco Temp of the Month from Colchester, says he has had about 100 temporary office jobs in 15 years. "I spend three or four months of the year travelling so, although I don't earn a lot, I am buying freedom with what I do earn," he explains. He is a keen walker and spends many holidays walking in Spain, where his girlfriend lives.

"I take basic data input and clerical jobs and will work up to 45 hours a week," he says.

He was at Consignia dealing with redirection of mail when he was voted Temp of the Month.

"My most unusual temp job wasn't in an office but driving a new car from Ipswich to Chester, along with 15 other temps doing the same," he grins.

"I've been with the same temping agency for a long time and I would recommend staying with the same one for continuity."

But what about future financial security? He says he is not worried about his lack of a pension, although several temp agencies do now offer stakeholder plans. He says: "I will think about that later. Temping enables me to buy time and freedom for travel: that's important to me."

Norrie Milton, 39, of Queens Park, has a degree in modern languages and was a highflying sales manager, but he prefers temping. "The pressure was too much," he says. "It made me ill. If you have a highflying job, you can't switch off, but with temping you can.

"Now I can also concentrate on music and writing. I have done a dance-music tape on my own label and I'm writing a book about alternative London." In addition to handling the full Microsoft Word software he can use QuarkXpress and web design packages, both useful temping skills.

National Secretary of the Year Robert Laird, PA to the principal of Aberdeen College, points out: "In the 1920s it was, in fact, very unusual to have a woman secretary in the office.

There are very good prospects today for the male PA."

He urges boy temps in the office to "throw away that conventional to-do list and be very proactive". He says: "Planning well ahead, not just the day before, is the key." And he adds that you should always be willing to take on more than the tasks covered by your job description, never be scared of change and always make full use of IT.

Temp tips

Take on more responsibility: suggest more projects you could manage. Time goes quicker and the job is more satisfying the more you put in Be social: go for drinks with fulltime staff

Show interest in the entire company, not just your department Have a sense of humour and don't be too intense

Adecco's Christopher Seal says: "Go to the agency dressed for work: wear a suit not casuals. Take neat copies of your CV in with you and behave at the agency as if it were a job interview. Always be punctual."

Essential toolbox

Full knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel

Good IT skills

Confidence when meeting new people

QuarkXpress, desktop publishing and Web design are first-class extras Cable-guy skills help: could you trouble shoot a colleague's PC?

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.