How to Hire a Temporary Employee

Hiring temporary staff is a great way to deal with workforce shortages and keep your business running smoothly during busy periods.

However, the process can feel daunting if you haven’t done it before. 

Do you advertise directly or go through an agency? 

What should you include in a temp contract? 

How do you make sure the person you bring in adds value from day one?

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps of hiring a temporary worker, from sourcing the right candidates to dealing with legality and ensuring smooth onboarding.

Why Businesses Hire Temp Staff

Many companies hire temporary workers as a short-term solution for staffing issues, such as:

• Covering maternity or paternity leave

• Covering long-term sickness absences

• Managing seasonal demands

• Handling one-off projects or clearing backlogs

• Bridging the gap while recruiting for a permanent role

The right temp can step in quickly, relieve pressure on permanent staff and keep operations running without disruption. 

In fact, many of our clients find that a skilled temporary employee can bring fresh energy and expertise to the team, sometimes even leading to a longer-term hire.

Learn more about the benefits of hiring a temp here.

Steps to Hire a Temporary Worker

There are two ways to hire a temporary employee:

• Direct hire, where you manage the process yourself, from advertising the role to contracts and payroll.

• Through a temp agency like Oriel Partners, which handles the recruitment process on your behalf.

Direct hiring gives you complete control over the process, but can eat up time and resources, while working with a specialist agency saves you valuable time and effort.

Whichever route you take, the hiring process usually follows the same core stages:

1.  Define Your Needs Clearly

Before you start advertising a role or speaking with agencies, take the time to define the position’s requirements. This step is crucial for identifying the ideal candidate profile for your short-term staffing needs.

Ask yourself:

• Why am I hiring? Is it maternity cover, seasonal demand or a one-off project?

• What skills are essential? Do you need a specialist, or will a flexible generalist be sufficient?

• How long will the employment last? Will it be a short-term project with a fixed end date, or an open-ended arrangement?

• What’s the budget? Be clear on pay rates and whether you’ll manage payroll internally or via an agency.

2.  Advertise the Temp Role

Once you know what you’re looking for, go ahead and post a job vacancy ad on your website, social media profiles and job boards. If you’re working with an agency, they will help to craft a compelling job ad. 

Make sure your advert clearly highlights:

• The expected duration of the contract

• Key responsibilities and deliverables

• The skills and experience required

• Pay rate and any benefits you’re offering

Not sure where to start? Read our guide on how to write a job description.

If you’re hiring for positions such as executive assistant, office manager, receptionist or admin assistant, we also have job description templates that you can draw inspiration from. 

3.  Shortlist Candidates

Review incoming CVs carefully and create a shortlist of candidates whose skills and experience best match your requirements.

Prioritise those who demonstrate adaptability and have a proven track record of successful temporary assignments.

When hiring via a temp agency, they will manage the shortlisting of candidates and will share a list of suitable candidates with you for review. Many temp agencies will have suitable candidates on their books who are available immediately.

4. Interview Candidates

The interview stage is your opportunity to assess not only a candidate’s skills but also their work ethic and cultural fit. 

Unlike permanent hires, temps often need to adapt with minimal onboarding, so it’s important to focus on their ability to work independently and integrate quickly into your team.

You can reveal a candidate’s true potential by asking the right questions – here’s a list of common interview questions for a temporary position that I have prepared.

5. Prepare a Job Offer & Contract

When you’ve found the perfect candidate, immediately send a job offer letter to secure their services. The letter should clearly outline the work hours, responsibilities, salary and contract duration. 

Don’t forget to run a background check of your shortlisted candidates to verify their education background, employment history and criminal record. This is something a reputable temp agency will be able to undertake on your behalf.

Be prepared for the candidate to negotiate certain terms. Once both parties have reached an agreement, create a temporary employment contract to make the partnership official.

6.  Onboard the New Temp Hire

A smooth onboarding process helps your temp employee integrate seamlessly into the team and hit the ground running quickly.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Introduce them to their direct lead and key teammates

• Provide a short induction on company culture and values

• Clarify expectations for their role and performance

• Give access to the necessary tools and apps for temporary staff

• Share immediate tasks, priorities and deadlines

A temp agency will be able to help you with this to ensure temp candidates get off to a smooth start.

7.  Set Up Payroll

Another important part of the onboarding process is setting up the temp employee’s payroll based on the agreed amount and schedule.

You may want to consider using a temporary payroll service to help manage salaries and taxes automatically. 

If your temp is paid an hourly rate rather than a fixed salary, you can also use a time tracking app like Hubstaff to process payments based on hours worked.

If you’re hiring a temp through a temp staffing agency, like Oriel Partners, then payroll will be entirely managed by them.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Temp

Temporary staffing is usually done in a rush to plug a workforce gap or support an urgent project. This is why mistakes are bound to happen.

Being aware of the common pitfalls can help you avoid them and make the most of your temporary hire:

• Not planning in advance: Waiting until the last minute can limit your options and force rushed decisions.

• Unclear job posting: Not making it clear that the role is temporary can cause mismatched expectations on both sides.

• Skipping onboarding: Even temps need structure to perform well. Without it, productivity suffers.

• Overlooking payroll details: Incorrect pay rates and delayed payments can lower the temp staff’s morale.

• Treating temps as outsiders: Excluding temp employees from meetings, updates or team interactions can limit their contribution and impact.

When to Consider Turning Temp to Perm?

If a temp consistently delivers strong results, integrates well with your team and demonstrates long-term potential, it may be worth offering them a permanent role if there is scope to do so.

This approach reduces hiring risk, as you’ve already seen their performance first-hand. It can also save time and resources compared to starting a new recruitment process from scratch.

For more guidance, read our full guide on temp to permanent employment.

Hire Temp Staff Faster With Oriel Partners

Managing the entire temporary recruitment process yourself can be time-consuming. If you’re a busy founder or business owner, a better alternative is to partner with a temp specialist agency like Oriel Partners.

We have a pool of pre-vetted candidates who can start immediately, so you can hire high-calibre temp staff faster. Other benefits of hiring through a temp agency include reduced costs for advertising and full support with all the legal stuff.

Ready to hire temp staff today? Feel free to contact us for support with hiring. We’d love to hear from you!