More and more students are looking for work opportunities that they can easily combine with their studies and at the same time feel financially secure. And this, of course, is in radical opposition to permanent eight-hour employment. That is why the concept of 'temporary employment', or 'project work', is coming to the fore, which is quite wide-ranging and extremely useful. We invited Victoria Naydenova, HR Consultant - Temporary Employment from our team, to share more about the doors that project work opens for young people in the labor market.
What are the main benefits for people without experience in the form of temporary employment?
Victoria: It also provides the opportunity for an income of our own, which invariably makes everyone feel more financially stable and looking ahead to future career directions.
Often people associate 'temporary employment' with part-time work, working on certain days of the week and work that is technically easy to do or does not require specific professional competencies. This is very much the reality, and the main reason why students and schoolchildren seek out these types of engagements is to experience a real working environment and experience first-hand the duties and responsibilities of the working world.
Although a temporary part of the team, the project activity gives young people the opportunity to build work habits, develop their teamwork skills, and try out in practice what type of work they like best.
What professional qualities does it bring to the future development of a young person at the beginning of their career path?
Victoria: Temporary employment builds no different skills and qualities than permanent employment. The difference is that it gives you the flexibility to combine it with other activities or commitments. Whether on a 4- or 8-hour day, it is key for any professional - starting their career or not - to have the necessary skills and practical experience.
Work habits related to accountability to set tasks, on-time performance, and maximum productivity in the work process are the foundation of success in a work environment. And these can be safely built even if the job is part-time, aligned with university lectures.
Even the need to combine your studies with work helps build professional competencies more quickly, as it requires focus and combinability on several fronts simultaneously. Thus, in just a few months, theory can be turned into practice, analytical thinking can be strongly developed, and organizational skills can be improved.
And what are the myths candidates usually associate with temporary employment?
Victoria: Often candidates are extremely prejudiced and associate temporary employment as a low-skilled, low-paying, low-satisfaction job. It is a well-known myth that in order to be employed in this format, you should necessarily have previous experience in some professional field, it is mandatory that you are not a student or that you are not tied to another activity. None of that is the case. On the contrary, more and more employers from all industries, and sectors are offering flexible formats and project-based engagement at different levels of their organization.
Candidates are also extremely skeptical about whether a temporary job will transform into a permanent one and they will be forced into a long-term commitment to a project. I can safely debunk this myth as well and assure the skeptics that flexibility is entirely in their hands.
