Temporary staff ‘must be focused’

Recruitment agency Hays has recommended that workers hired by companies on a temporary basis should ensure they are extra inquisitive to help them gain the knowledge necessary to do a successful job.

A spokeswoman for the firm explained that interim staff are faced with an additional set of challenges to permanent employees and are expected to hit the ground running regardless of the task they have been charged with.

"Successful interims tend to be highly focused, have strong interpersonal skills and are able to be sensitive to the needs of the business," she said. "You have to be willing to ask lots of questions in order to fill in those knowledge gaps."

The representative added that short-term workers view performing their duties to the requisite standard as their "greatest accomplishment", but acknowledged that temporary jobs can be particularly tricky.

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Last week, figures released by KPMG and REC revealed that October's growth in interim appointments was the weakest for 14 months.

Posted by Hayley Edwards