Do you find that you spend too much time working on simple tasks like filing, typing, emailing, billing, and corresponding with clients? Do you think that your time could be better spent marketing your business or actually providing the service or product you are best skilled to provide? If your answers to these questions are yes, it is probably time to expand your company by hiring additional help.

One cost-effective approach to hiring someone to provide office assistance is to hire a temporary employee. The individuals who temp are from all walks of life with all different skill levels. Many seek part time hours while others need full time employment. A good temporary employment service will provide you with candidates who have the skills you need, when you need them. They will take all of the time and effort out of advertising, interviewing, and screening. The service will test applicants for data entry, typing speeds as well as evaluate their skill levels with most software packages. The service will conduct reference checks. They will provide the employee with a paycheck each week and take care of all employer taxes and compensation insurance.

If you decide that you need a full time employee, not a temp, you can mention this to a service and they will allow you to interview candidates prior to starting them on the job. You can make an offer to the candidate through the service. If the candidate accepts, the service will break down the annual salary to an hourly or weekly rate. The service will be the employer for a determined number of weeks until you are certain after observing the candidate on the job that it is a good match. Temp-to-hire is a cost effective way to hire employees. Many of our growing companies in the area use this method time after time to add staff to their companies.

In order to work with a temporary service, you need to have a good job description, know the hours you would like the candidate to work, and have a good idea of your budget for an individual. (Employment counselors can give you an idea of what hourly rate is reasonable for the job description you describe.) Be sure to list the software used in your facility as well as the proficiency level. For instance, if you need someone for basic correspondence you need someone with the basic skill, but if you need a mail merge you need someone with a more advanced skill level.

The temporary service will bill you for their service by marking up on the hourly rate paid to the employee. The rate you will be charged should be clear prior to the employee working on your premises. You will be billed for the hours worked by the employee and approved by their supervisor on the time card. This will be considered a business expense. Whether your business is growing or seasonally busy, you should become aware of temporary employment services and how they can assist you with your staffing needs.

Barbara Davis
Barbara Davis Employment Services
Red Bank, NJ

The Star-Ledger, October 31, 2002