dreſt in Man's Apparel

so I was Not doing well with being completely unemployed, as you say you are constantly hearing nothing back, etc etc. unfortunately I don't really have any advice wrt that bc well. I have not gotten a permanent job by that means either. however I can tell you a bit abt temp work as I've experienced it:

so firstly you can absolutely just look for & contact temp agencies in your area directly & I think this is probably worth trying at least! However — and this is annoying — this is often where people's advice finishes, which is frustrating because a lot of temp agencies don't get back to you in any meaningful way. If this is the case & you can't get them to answer you, what I recommend doing is see if there's anyone at all you know who works in a place that gets temp work in occasionally. offices, residential buildings, anywhere that needs cleaning, etc etc. if they ever have temp workers, this means they will have some connection to a temp agency. if it's possible, get the person you know there to pass your CV/resume to whoever at their job communicates with the temp agency, and get that person to recommend you to them, and they will be much more likely to take an interest in you. this is how I got the work I currently have — I had contacted this agency already & they never responded, but eventually the lady I've been living with sent my CV to her manager who sent it to them & they got in touch the same day.

I don't know if you have a particular area of interest or skill that translates to temp work — in which case you don't need to bother with this bit — but if you do have some choice in which temp agency, & you're feeling overwhelmed by which ones are out there/what sort of work you could feasibly do (I definitely was) and you want a suggestion, I would say the sort of thing I've been doing (concierge work) is something that imo a lot of different people could do & is easy to transfer a variety of skills into. if you look for a temp agency that does "property management" or works with "residential buildings" or similar they will probably have concierge jobs. they won't (at least in my experience) need any direct experience, any sort of customer service will be helpful, as well as anything that involves like organising stock or something (helpful bc as a concierge you are looking after parcels + keys). if you've ever answered phones that's also a plus. if you're willing to work nights this is good to as I think they're often looking for people up for that (and it's not scary it's largely pretty chill). I only mention this bc it's a sort of job that had never occurred to me to apply to but I'm glad to have found. if you want a more detailed description of this sort of work (in my experience at least!) I would be happy to give it to you just lmk. I have more specific advice I could say but I won't make this longer than it needs to be

in the temp agency I'm working for at least, how it worked in a general sense is they set up an interview/discussion where they just wanted basically me to explain how I would be good at the work (i.e. how my skills would transfer), what I'm looking for, and where I was located. then they had me full out a detailed form to put me into their systems, and told me to send in my availability via email at the beginning of every week, which I do. it's a little slow starting out but as you go you get more & more work particularly bc the places you've already been to want people they've already had back (so they don't need to explain it all again to someone new)

I mostly do enjoy the work! partially bc I find it satisfying when done well & partially just bc I like having work haha. it's not that difficult for the most part and not as scary as it sounds. I think the worst bit is a) that it's kind of all over the place and b) that you have very limited training bc you are just turning up to places & they immediately set you to work - you're learning as you go which can be stressful lol. but you pretty quickly develop a sense for the specific things involved in the work (I have a list) and can just ask about all of them straight away when you're at a place you haven't been before, so it gets less stressful as you go. it's definitely not the most consistent reliable work, and ultimately I would prefer something permanent. it is also (in my experience) often quite last minute like they just call you whenever, but I have gotten to the point that I can e.g. pay my rent with it & so I do think is a very valuable thing to do, if you can manage it, until you can find something! it has the advantage of simultaneously a) maintaining/teaching skills that are then useful for your cv and b) giving you some source of income which is a huge thing if you're looking for work bc it's not quite so urgent & immediate & stressful. you can take your time a little more and c) just like. being in work. which unfortunately I think is a plus for people who prefer to hire employed people than unemployed people bc they see it as something they can trust more 🚬. so yeah tldr it has drawbacks but I think it's worth trying to do!