The Varieties of Temp Agency Front Desk Fauna

One of the funny things about looking for work through an agency is the plethora of interesting receptionists you come into contact with on a daily basis.

To wit:

The giggly, distracted one who sounds like she's five and loses track of how to spell her name when giving her e-mail out for you to send your resume. "S-M-um,-I!*giggle* (sorry)-T-H@tempsahoy.com.!"

Or:

The guy who answers the phone sounding like Elmer Fudd and Captain Kangaroo all rolled into one, who likes to use words like "okey dokey" and "you betcha!" after every sentence.

(In my opinion, the words okey dokey are not really professional language. But hey, that's just me, the lone kid who didn't get invited to the Tempskateer Playhouse with Mickey and the other Disney Friends).

Or even:

The guy who answers the phone and before you're even done telling him your name simply blurts out "okay, you're added to the list!" in a pissed-off, breathless way.

(My name is Steve Johnson, not really a name that's going to stand out on a "call me!" chart. At least have the dignity to let me pronounce it fully before I "get on the list.")


All this leaves me with is the sense that anyone can do reception. Anyone. Except me, of course, even though I'm on the list supervised by Giggly Girl at Temps Ahoy, Captain Kookaroo at Temps R' Us, and Angry Man at the front desk of Temps? What Temps?, Inc.

It doesn't do me any good mentally to know that in order to get hired by these agencies, I have to get past people like this. As if the job was locked away in a vault somewhere in the Kingpin's Holdout and he's throwing all the expendable underlings at me to sap my will before the final confrontation.

"Yeah, send a hundred of the Giggly Girls at him before he even gets to the front door! If that doesn't work, well then..., he'll just have to meet my sidekick, Capt. Chucklehead! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You'll never get that primo position now, Mr. Stan Johansen of Redville, WA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Stay tuned....