In these times of change and uncertainty, temporary roles become more popular - most obviously, they can help to sustain income in the absence of permanent opportunities, but there are many other advantages to taking on temporary work that may not be so well understood. 

Temporary roles can cover any length of time from the odd day to several weeks. They are typically paid on an hourly rate and generally feature for more junior roles.

If you are interested in pursuing temporary roles in professional services firms, think about what how such roles might support your development. It may be that a short-term role could act as a useful stop-gap until permanent opportunities pick up once more. But it could be more than that. Shorter term assignments can be ideal ways to get stuck into critical projects, work with a number of different businesses and/or gain breadth of experience and new skills in a relatively short space of time.

The 5 Benefits of Temporary Roles

  1. Gain invaluable work experience and skills as well as an ability to adapt to different situations and demands. For example, you may find yourself having to use a new system or technology at short notice, and develop considerable ability in thinking on your toes or gaining confidence in asking for help! You may find that in fairly quick order you develop a raft of skills across areas like CRM, databases, pitching, social media and digital marketing. The variety of temporary work can really help to improve your CV (and be fun to boot).
  2. Flexibility - try it out on a temporary basis first! Not only do you get a good understanding of what the role entails, you also gain invaluable work experience.  
  3. It can often lead to a permanent role. Not only might your role become permanent, but you will also be in the best place to hear about other new roles in the firm, and the firm will already know you, potentially giving you an advantage.
  4. Get a foot in the door in perhaps a new industry. Temporary roles can be a fantastic way to quickly get a feel for a sector as you work with different types of firms, cultures and organisational set-ups. After a few temporary assignments, you will probably have a far better idea of the kind of firm you would like to join permanently.  
  5. Temporary roles can build your contacts and networks and gain valuable references for future roles.

There are many benefits to temporary work. If you're looking for temporary work as a career choice or as a stepping stone to something more permanent, Totum is ready and able to help. Our current opportunities can also be found here and for more information on temporary, contract or interim here.

Contact Lacey.Near@TotumPartners.com if you would like to know more. We’d be happy to provide more information on the roles we cover, chat through your options, and support you in any way we can in the weeks and months to come.

Interested in temporary roles in the professional services sector?