#3

I was at an amazing conference earlier this month and I was introduced to the concept of "leaving things better than you found them." It makes perfect sense that this is so important in anything you do, and I'll share a story that explains why.

Life as a temp has been nothing short of interesting to say the least. I basically fill in for university departments when staff are on vacation/leave and it can span from a day to a few weeks. I've had two placements so far (one today) and they were FAR from alike. At my first job, my coordinator was the type of person to send cat memes to the entire office (click here and here), and meanwhile I had a backlog of interviews to schedule, databases to update, and good and bad news to share with employers and students. I loved the environment I was in and how supportive everyone was. During my last week, my coordinator took me out for lunch and thanked me for everything I did for her team. It was then that I realized that making the choice to be a temp was one of the best decisions of my university career.

Think about it! All the first days you get to have, how quickly you have to get along with new people, the occasional free catering, and just wrapping your head around how you can step into someone else's shoes but also add your own unique value to a workplace. I've also had a good laugh at the "temp horror stories" I hear — when people fear their vacations because they've had times where their replacements actually make matters worse while covering for them.

Temping is scary business as much as it is every other job. You never want to create more work for someone. And on the other side of things, embracing and owning up to this can open more doors for you than you can ever imagine. For me it came in the form of expanding my network and being offered a part-time job for next year!

Today I had another first day, a new team, and more processes to familiarize myself with. While keeping the above thought in mind, I worked through everything that was thrown at me as quickly as possible and while being as detail-oriented as I could. Pile after pile of work it was a little ambiguous if my pace was fast enough; no comment was made until the very end, where I received a perfect review and a recommendation to return.

While that's my take on this concept, I wholeheartedly stand behind it. Even if it's just for a day, anyone has the opportunity to leave things better than they found them.

Happy Monday!