So, the recruiter I registered with a month ago called me two days ago to tell me about a great "temp" position for $17/hr that I was selected to interview for at the client's today. He wanted me to come in this morning to meet with him and the branch manager to review information about the client and that is when I found out the truth: it was a DIRECT HIRE position NOT doing administrative assistant work as the recruiter initially told me on the phone.

The real job?

$15/hr working full-time at a copy center!

Um....WHAAAAT!

So, you can imagine my bewilderment at this news. I immediately told the recruiter and branch manager, "I thought this was a temp job. You (me pointing to the recruiter) told me on the phone it was a temp job, not a direct hire. And it's not an admin role, it's a customer service role at a copy center which is not something I am interested in doing."

Although the recruiter and branch manager assured me it was my choice to back out of the interview, we all know what this means. They won't put me forward for ANY temp jobs now. Right?!

I'm willing to temp for $15/hr but for direct hire, I expect to be paid a reasonable rate of $25-30 an hour since I'm 48 and have over 10 years of admin experience.

So, I left the temp agency this morning really angry that they wasted my time. They put forward other candidates for this role so one of those people will be happy to work at a copy center. But not me. I may need a job, but taking the WRONG job for the WRONG reason is not something I want to do anymore. I did that for 10 years off and on, taking the wrong job b/c I was desperate for work or money and it didn't give me a good work history or anything. So, at 48, I have to set my limits with recruiters about what I'm willing to do for temp work, vs. direct hire.

But, knowing how political temp agencies are (and how age and gender bias they are), I know today will be "my fault" in their eyes, b/c I chose to put my needs first (higher pay, and a better quality work environment than a copy center with a 12-staff and boss who never looks up from his laptop -- this is how the branch manager and recruiter described the man who owned this copy center, that he never looked up from his laptop while they visited him yesterday to discuss the progress of his interviews with their candidates, and who the hell wants to work for a boss like that at my age? No thank you!)

I came home and told my roommate what happened and she at least validated my gut that I made the smart choice to not even go on the interview, and to tell the branch manager and recruiter exactly what I'm looking for: $15-20/hr temp work or $25-30/hr direct hire pay.

I won't rely on this temp agency moving forward. Time to call a few other temp agencies (they're all the same, but at least this way, it's a fresh start with a new agency). I'd be SHOCKED if they called me with temp assignments that they put me forward for after today, b/c I turned down a direct hire interview for a sh*tty job with sh*tty pay. I may be desperate, but I'm NOT STUPID.