In today’s modern career world, the traditional vertical career growth experienced by Generation X is yesterday’s news. Instead, firms are increasingly looking towards building fluid competencies within their workforce meaning horizontal growth is often the way forward for employees.
In other words, rather than starting from the bottom and working their way up, earning flashy new job titles and a concrete set of skills, workers are moving across organisations, gaining experience in multiple departments as well as a set of rounded skills, enhancing their overall value to future employers.
Put it this way, vertical growth is like climbing a ladder that’ll help you reach new heights in your career, however, as you ascend, you focus solely on developing one set of concrete skills and you risk hitting a standstill in your upward progression. Horizontal growth, on the other hand, is the equivalent of opening multiple new doors on the floor that you’re already on to discover enriching experiences and opportunities.
Temping is no exception to horizontal career growth. Through temping, individuals can open doors to new opportunities, gaining a multitude of valuable skills that enrich their CV and their value to future employers.
Discover your passion
As well as gaining new skills, temping provides you with the perfect opportunity to work within a variety of different organisations, roles and work cultures. By doing so, you can learn about and test drive different industries and jobs, enabling you to find out what you like and identify the right career for you.
Adaptability
Working in a range of jobs and companies enables you to learn how to adjust to new work cultures and environments. Employers hugely value adaptability and agility in potential employees as they expect them to be able to deal well with new challenges that come their way in their careers.
Moreover, there is evidence that tomorrow’s leaders will be better equipped to inspire and lead if they have a background of working in the industry being represented.
Resilience
Similarly, working within different work environments in which you face various challenges will help you become resilient to future pressure, uncertainty and adversity that you are likely to experience in your career. Employers increasingly look for resilience in workers who can deal well with the stresses and demands of the workplace.
Networking
It’s not all about what you know. It’s also about who you know. Temping can provide a myriad of opportunities to build your support network, steering your career in the right direction. Not only can these valuable contacts provide you with references and offer their expert advice, but, they may also recommend you for roles.
Moreover, whilst in a temporary role, there will be an opportunity to shadow someone in a position you could see yourself emulating. By sitting alongside a mentor in meetings, you can model their behaviour and therefore, enhance your skills and suitability for the role in question.
Permanent work opportunities
Once your solid reputation and worth have been firmly established in a company, your employer may offer you a permanent role. Going above and beyond in your job, showing initiative and always being reliable is the way to go if you’re looking to gain a long-term career from your temp job.
Flexibility
Set your own schedule. Choose when and where you work. When taking on a temp role that suits your lifestyle, you have the freedom and time to focus on developing your long-term career whilst earning an income. Taking on temporary work is the preferred option for many to supplement income whilst studying.
Fills a gap in the resume
Often employers may prefer to hire people who are currently in employment as their skills will be up-to-date. Therefore, to increase your chances of sustaining a permanent job, temping enables you to fill gaps in your CV and demonstrate your willingness to work. However, you should temp with a company for long enough that your experience adds real value to your CV through projects worked on and skills gained.