Using the McDaniels Career Transitions Considerations (1991) (Modified) Form with Potential Temporary Employees

With the many layoffs and downsizing of companies during the 1990s, many displaced workers have turned to temporary employment to earn a living while looking for permanent employment. Others have adopted "temping" as a more long-term work style. Although it may not be possible to predict whether an individual will find satisfaction or dissatisfaction with temporary work, it may be possible to use the McDaniels Career Transition Considerations (Modified) form to assist an individual in exploring his/her reasons for entering the temp world of work. This form was originally designed for clinical use with persons contemplating a career transition, and it has been specifically modified to address temporary workers. The form consists of nine scales measuring factors of health, finances, family, place of residence, work options, leisure options, personal issues, networking issues, and other issues. These factors were identified by Sacco (1994) as important to today's temporary work force. Counselors should instruct clients to rank order the factors in order of importance in transition. The counselor should then interpret the probable impact that temporary work will have on the salient factors. The form is a non-standardized instrument. It has been used to investigate the planning of persons seeking temporary work, with the findings suggesting that people seek temporary work as a result of transitions, work options, and family issues, and that temporary workers who were better planners in the transition experienced more job satisfaction. (Contains 15 references.) (KC)