Once in a while, I need someone (in addition to my permanent employee) to help me on a temporary basis, say, cleaning some equipment or doing some other general kind of work.
I do not know where I can post such ads in English. There is a Russian website with a job board that I know, which works pretty well, but I wanted to also find one in English. Craigslist charges $25 for job ads (show stopper) and I have a feeling that it is slightly risky to advertise jobs there anyway, due to security concerns.
So, does anyone know where I can advertise for temp jobs in English. The area is Chicagoland.
Local newspapers may be the best be for this, and being local should help reduce the potential volume of scammers. Another possible option would be the local unemployment office which likely accepts job postings.
I've been hiring LOTS of temp employees for 30 years...
I won't go to any want ad, craig's list, or temp agency. You just end up hiring somebody that will steal, or mine employment comp. or scam social securtiy, etc. Just not woth it. My honey just gets on the phone and starts calling to see if any friends have friends looking for work. Especially in this economy, you can find sombody quickly this way.
Just my 2 cents.
If you like,we can start a thread exchanging horror stories about bad egg employees.
I've used a local temp agency, Confident Staffing. It costs $13-15/hr for a minimumish wage semi-skilled laborer. That includes their Work Comp insurance, the worker's wages, and the temp agency profit. It works well for me, as seldom as I use laborers.
-- I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. --Duke Ellington
My last temp worker. Told him to stay on the ground. He went to the roof with me, I should have said something at that moment. I had the cover panel off a HVAC unit, and was reaching in to check the belt tension. I heard him say "I'm going to turn on the power, to see how it runs." I jumped out, and nearly gave him the marine DI routine. I really should have.
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I won't go to any want ad, craig's list, or temp agency. You just end up hiring somebody that will steal, or mine employment comp. or scam social securtiy, etc. Just not woth it. My honey just gets on the phone and starts calling to see if any friends have friends looking for work. Especially in this economy, you can find sombody quickly this way.
Just my 2 cents.
If you like,we can start a thread exchanging horror stories about bad egg employees.
OK, but they're uninsured. (It would cost me $4k for work comp ins.) The extra $6/hr isn't bad, and I bill their time at my rate, not theirs. I've used 3 different guys and have no complaints whatsoever for any of them. I heartily recommend temp agencies. They try to weed out the thieves and skaters before you hire them. Win/Win.
-- The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold. -- Glenn Doman
For occasional day labor why not try a labor/staffing company. The ones I have used will prescreen based on my criteria. (Drug test, criminal background check, driver's record, etc) Also, if there is a Penny Shopper they may take free ads. Usually those types of rags only take small price merchandise free ads, but... Also check Back Page and Free Classifieds.
You can also post in the wrong section or advertise it like an individual wanting some help rather than like a formal employment ad. Your ad will get flagged off probably, but it might be up long enough.
Gumtree is UK only, so I checked for Gumtree USA and found one
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-- The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold. -- Glenn Doman
It is risky to have employees, due to security concerns. Sorry -- there's no way around, although you can mitigate it.
When we were past all deadlines on moving out of our old house, and needed help fast, I just called the Oregon Employment division. In Oregon, at least, the unemployment office maintains a list of folks who are willing to do day labor; all you have to do is call. Of course, we were trusting them to pack up stuff from the house we were moving _out_ of, and not telling them where we were _going_, which certainly helped with the "can we trust these folks".
As pointed out, a decent temp agency will screen (and will probably handle all sorts of paperwork, 1099 forms, etc.). How to find that decent temp agency -- I dunno.
I liked Karl's suggestion of calling for friends of friends. Of course, this does occasionally end up with you feeling obliged to hire someone's ex-con brother-in-law. (My dad ended up doing that once. We were worried, but the guy turned out to be OK, if awfully weird. It was the long-time & trusted employee who recommended him that ended up being caught with his hand in the till. As I said, any time you employ someone you're taking a risk...).
Larry's right! Workers Comp. and all the other issues with hiring temp help could really come back and bite you! I can't hire neighborhood kids anymore for summer or part-time work, gov. regulations have permanently killed those jobs. Bite the bullet.
I've also had good luck with agencies. If they work out exceptionally well and you have the work for them, you can arrange to hire the employee directly. Otherwise it's no hassle to just not bring them in. They take care of most of the paperwork for you, as well as interviewing etc.
I've been a communication contractor for 18 years, and for a large part of that time I had employees. Finally I just go tired of it. I have a lateral file drawer full of old employee records. Out of all of those I had three who were any good, and only two who actually made me money. The rest I just had to work overtime in order to pay them for the privilege of letting me finish their work for them. One day I said screw this shit. I hobbled into the shop on a recently broken leg (not work related) and fired everybody. I got more work done and made more money that year and the following year than I had ever made before in my life. I took jobs I could handle myself, and I wrote job schedules for bigger jobs that allowed me time everyday for routine service calls, and I have never had to work late if I didn't want to one time since. That was in 2002. I occasionally hire day labor were I need an extra set of hands for muscle, and one of my former employees (one of the two profitable good ones) will cover for me if I ask him to. I never have employees anymore. Anybody I use is always employed by the agency I use. Their insurance, their workmen's comp, their book keeping, their headache.
Its funny. It wasn't quality of labor or cost of labor that broke my back on this subject either. I would have kept trying until I died I expect. I got cheated by the Arizona State Department of Economic Security. I took them to state tax court, and the judge ruled in my favor. DES said, "Yeah sorry. Its too late to change anything. Remind us next year," basically thumbing their nose at the state court's ruling. That was the day I walked into the shop and fired everybody. Best business move I ever made. Even in this crappy economy I still make more money than my best year when I had employees.
Labor types can jump all over this post if they like, but I am an owner technician and I have a pretty darn loyal customer base and I charge a decent rate for my time. My very first client from when I started the company in 1993 is still a client, and I still do work for them regularly.
I had a job once as a head hunter for farm labor. Yes, it was a pretty rough business back in the day, but that's not the point of this story. I used to make the rounds at the missions, Salvation Army, along the river. etc. I would just pull up and yell out asking if anybody wanted to work. Most people there didn't. Some would try to negotiate. Some just figured they could milk a few better quality free meals out of the labor company kitchen before they bailed. Most asked questions (wisely so in the labor business) about the outfit, how it was run, and the pay. Quite a few it was clear would ask for some personal face saving reason, but they really didn't want to do any kind of manual labor at any rate. In the time I spent doing that job I had one really good guy come out of that. He was a down on his luck cowboy. He didn't ask any questions. When I asked if he anybody wanted to work he said, "I do!" before the last of my voice had faded.
I was getting paid by the head, all I did was try not to bring anybody who was obviously dangerous or who obviously could not do the work.
That cowboy turned out to be a real success story though. Turns out he was a real working cowboy (not a rodeo tough guy) who had some bad luck. He worked, got his saddle out of hock, got another job when the produce labor finished for the season, and the last time I saw him he had bought a car, and was headed back to Nevada to see if he could get back on with one of the cattle ranches up that way.
Out of all those hundred if not thousands of people I saw most didn't want to work or were happy to sleep along the river and live on cheese sandwiches at the mission than rather than do any kind of manual labor. I wasn't raised that way. I always figured working was better than not working. Some were ok laborers. One (1) was just a guy with some bad luck willing to work and just needed a break. Any kind of break. And when he got it he took advantage of it. In fact he looked me up to thank me when he finally left town.
I learned to prequalify my hirees. If I want them to move things around safely, I ask for previous employment for a moving company, etc. I also give considerable feedback to the temp agency so they can weed out the bad guys and give the good guys more work. All 3 of us are happier that way. Try a different temp agency if you find that one gives you bogus laborers. Specify that you'd like someone who has worked for them and they know fairly well to be honest, since you have security issues. The more info you give them, the better the fit the worker will be for your specific needs.
-- The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold. -- Glenn Doman
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