Temporary Alternatives

Ok, i’m only giving them 2 stars because they are 1) timely 2) did give me a evaluation so i had a impartial view of my skills.
A couple of years ago, i attempted to work with them, i received an almost cryptic text from someone, i thought it was an accident but it ended up not being one. Even someone at your office was confused on the text. I came in, talked to someone, took evaluation tests, called you a number of times (as someone instructed) but i never heard back. I probably just wasn’t qualified for what i was looking for, but no one really told me that.
Couple of years later i try again…
These are our email exchanges
Me” We have met before but basically, i would like to try again to find a position. I’m flexliable if its FT, PT, Temp, etc.
Any opportunities you have would probably be fine with the exception of sales and marketing.
I hope to hear back from you and have attached a copy of my resume.“
Regis Canning” Stop by to say hello when you are in the hood. «
Me «Well i wouldn’t mind coming to your office, but since i live in Queens, i would like to know before hand if there are opportunities that i might be qualified for.
I did already take assessments tests in your office awhile ago if that’s why you need me there personally.»
Regis «Stop by when you are in midtown,»
Me «I don’t think you understand. I don’t want to use 5 dollars on a metro card unless it’s worth the travel. I will stop by if you can tell me if you have opportunities for me. If not, why should we both waste our time and me 5 dollars?»
Regis «I will call you when I hear of work in your field.»
Phillip «No I think you don’t understand. We’re not going to just contact you because we have a job. We require that people come in and reintroduce themselves. We’re going to need new ID and a new W-​4 which is required prior to offering you any temporary assignments. If you want to make it cost effective then make us one stop while you register with a number of other agencies.
I think it’s worth the travel because we are getting customer service and sales positions. Whether they’ll be one when you show up here is impossible to know.
Your call.»
I am going to sum up my response and overall view:
I agree with Danny R that they seem rather curt and despite me calling i got nothing. That was a few years ago, today, they don’t seem to have improved. On the record, maybe mine was just a isolated event and most people have good experiences with them but when i read Danny’s review it felt similar to my own experience. So, i think you may have a good experience with them, but i definitely did not.

So I saw all the great reviews and went to send my resume and the website was hacked! it said «Hacked by Anonymous of Iraq and We are Coming.» I hope someone sees this and takes the site down. It was very scary.

A great staffing agency. I had to follow up with them by checking in every day, and my persistence eventually lead me to an interview. i wasn’t able to make the interview and i cancelled last minute, however TA wrote back that they are still willing to work with me in the future. I like that!

I decided to give Temp Alternatives a try after reading such great reviews and I have to say, hands down, it was the best decision I made professionally. Both Phil and Regis were both very welcoming, extremely attentive, professional, and incredibly efficient!
I worked more closely with Phil who went above and beyond to help me find a job that matched my background. Within 2 days of my first visit, I was working full time at a real estate leasing office. In the meantime Phil kept offering me interviews for other positions that were a better match for my Marketing background. I went on several interviews and got a job in a Marketing department for a major company 3 weeks after. I was contracted for 3 months and was then offered a full time position.
Temp Alternatives opened doors for me that would otherwise be incredibly hard to even unlock. I had always worked for small companies, but never imagined myself in such a prestigious company. I am very happy that I placed my trust in Temp Alt.
Note: I put in the effort to get to where I am today. I was persistent in checking up with Phil about job offers and attended every interview prepared and dressed professionally. If you want to succeed in finding a job, you must put in the time and effort!

I had such a great experience with Temporary Alternatives. They know what they’re doing and most importantly they care about the people. Regis and Phil are pros. They take the time to get to know you, realize where there’s potential and then find you a suitable job. In my experience most of the other staffing firms will spend more time critiquing your resume just to justify their jobs.
Plus, Regis and Phil have been in the game long enough to develop strong connections with a lot of great employers. Granted they’re not miracle workers, but no staffing firm is, you have to want to put in the work too. My experience with them taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for it.

Phil, regis and the team at TempAlt really helped me with my career in finance. Great temporary assignments and helpful support staff.

I stopped using Temporary Alternatives for about 4 months as I tried freelancing, but due to circumstances I needed to come back to stable income. Regis is the bees knees as usual.
I called him up and told him what my new plan was (I needed a longterm assignment to last me through the summer before I move out of NYC), and he picked right up as if we’d just spoken yesterday. Soon, I was hooked up with a well-​paying assignment that goes through August. I start Wednesday, and couldn’t be more excited.
I have been to other staffing agencies in the city, and I’ve been trying to work with other temp agencies in the state, but none come close to Temporary Alternatives’ integrity. I haven’t seen as much dedication as this team has in any other staffing agency I’ve worked with. Phil and Regis are on YOUR side, and they want to see you succeed. I can’t thank Temporary Alternatives enough for being my advocate when I needed it most.

Terrible. I aced the proveit screening exam. I have a college degree and professional experience, nothing. I was told to call every day so they wouldn’t forget about me. I had one telephone interview for a senior position that wasn’t in my industry. I kept calling for a month then I moved on. I asked for my proveit results via email so I could have it on file and he wouldn’t send it.

For what it is, Temp Alternatives is wonderful. Regis was an absolute pleasure to work with.

Temporary Alternatives (specifically Regis) were very helpful in finding me a fantastic temporary contract.
I applied to a few temp agencies after moving to New York, but Temporary Alternatives was the most helpful. Even after I stopped contacting Regis daily, he continued to look for a position for me, ultimately getting me an interview for a great contract. I would definitely use TempAlt again if needed.
The reason I didn’t give this a perfect 5 stars was because of a few minor administrative annoyances, but they really were quite minor when compared to the over pleasant experience I had.

Regis and Phil are the Godfathers of temping. I’ve been around long enough for the sidewalk to crack and seen just about everything. I googled top temp agencies in New York City, Temporary Alternatives being one of them and in my experience are way above the top on that list. They had a different job for me weekly sometimes even a couple of times per week! I did my due diligence took the required tests and called in every day as they highly recommend and it paid off! Before I discovered these two, I was experimenting with OTHER agencies who merely speak of the promise land, waste a lot of your time and even pestered references (which are quite stellar) but as soon as you walk out that door you hear birds chirping. Don’t waste your time elsewhere. If you want work NOW then enter those doors take the tests, call a couple days a week and you’ll be set.

I had a great experience here! These guys know what they’re doing, and they’re very well connected with jobs.
Here’s what to remember:
1. This is New York. The receptionist sees many people every day. She is nice and gets straight to business. (She’s not a mean lady!)
2. These guys get TONS of applicants, so it’s really up to you to stay in touch with them. If you do, they’ll remember you when a job rolls around.
3. Since there’s tons of people, you may not be the most qualified. My advice is to brush up on your Microsoft office (excel, word, outlook and PowerPoint) skills, so you do well on the assessment. They will send out your resume, but the company may see one with better experience. That’s not Temp Alt.‘s fault!
Go here if you need a job and these guys will do their best to help you out!

Applying to a job, whether it is directly through an employer is hit or miss. Most agencies that I have sent my resume to have put me through the initial intake process and have never been heard from again.
I’ve been in the job market long enough to know that agencies may not call you every day, but they do when they have the job. What I like about Temporary Alternatives is that they want you to call in every day. They also understand that when they call for a job, it might not be a good fit.
This is one agency that I recommend.

The person who picked up the phone sounded bothered and an unpleasant voice. He didn’t seem to care.

I definitely recommend this temp agency for those who are looking for some temp work while they job search. I met with Phil, he is super friendly, very honest and forthcoming, and pretty funny. He let me know from our first meeting that I should call them EVERY SINGLE DAY to find out about any upcoming temp work, do not be shy to call every day. He also let me know, there will be lots of times when they let me know there is no work but to not let that turn me off from calling them back every day to check in for updates. Phil was absolutely right. So long as I called, I got work.
This agency is really what you make of it. They see a lot of people every day, if you keep communication in the relationship, they will remember you and think of you for positions. If you go in for a meeting and never call them after, it is highly likely they won’t call you either. You have to meet them half way and they will help you with the other half. I found a full-​time job on my own, in my field, but this agency was great for some sort of income while I was unemployed. When many other agencies never called me back to even come in for a meeting, Temp Alternatives did.

I cannot say enough positive things about Temp. Alternatives. Phil was able to get me an interview 15 minutes after I left his office. I went to the interview, received an offer, and took the job. Generally speaking, when people come highly recommended there’s a reason for it. Recruiters like Phil and Regis should be how you’d expect every recruiter to be, unfortunately they are not, and it’s why they stand out .
Phil is genuine and very direct. Told me exactly what he expected and how I would get the best results. I had been to several other recruiters that didn’t (perhaps couldn’t) do what Phil did for me.
I highly recommend using Temp. Alternatives if you’re searching for a job. Trust me. They aren’t like all the others.

2 stars/​3. Who knows. Yet another one that didn’t work for me.
Kind of felt like a regular ‘send ‘em on through shop’ to me and the testing process was long and painful in a dreary room where the other candidates kept talking!
The 2 guys were nice though but I am 100% sure the only way this agency will work for you is if you call them EVERY day. And I mean call as in talk to a human being like people used to do in the old days, not e-​mail. A lot of times my e-​mails aren’t returned and I also have had some phone calls not returned either, which is frustrating.
They do tell you to just pop on by and show up in person. Heck, maybe I am just not proactive enough.
I’ll give them an A-​okay rating because they were pretty nice and probably if you bug them every single day, I bet they would find you work. You just have to work VERY hard at it with this place.

This totally worked out for me. Sent them an email, got a response, went in the next day took the tests, and they had work for me the next day. Granted, I was not picky whatsoever about taking a pay cut and position cut, but still. It was really nice to be working 4 days after I arrived to New York.
The position that they put me in is 5 minutes away from my school, which is perfect, and everyone is super nice there. Not to mention, my boss and another woman I work with were both hired there after being placed my temp alternatives, so unless they hate me I think there is a good chance for me to be hired there as well.
Regis is very kind, and very honest, which left me more impressed with the business than if he would have been telling me that he can promise me heaven and earth. He told me to bug him and Phil (which I did, at least for the evening and morning I had before they told me about the job). I wanted to write a rave review about how quick and easy it was for me to get a job, but I honestly felt like it would sound like one of those weight loss programs where they tell you that you can lose all your body fat just by eating one fruit or whatever. And then no one would believe me because of the «too good to be true» rule.
I think for me it was particularly easy, again, because I was not about to get onto my high and mighty horse and tell them that I would not accept anything «below me». I needed a job to pay the bills, and the fact that its convenient for me to get to school and that everyone is nice there and everything are just perks. Probably also a bit of luck mixed in that the job was available exactly for that time.
BUT this is not the first time that they have done this, and really what everyone else is saying is true. This is totally worth checking out if you need something and you need it fast.

OMG! Totally recommend this place! When I first came back from Seattle, I looked up the best employment agencies in NYC. Time Out New York listed Temporary Alternatives as one of the better ones. I hesitated. Then I decided to go in to take the necessary tests. After I finished, I met with Regis. He totally rocked! He made jokes and told me to call him and «pester» him so that they can get me placed. During that meeting, he told me that there is an opening at an IT consulting firm. Regis said I had the background for it. When I called on Monday morning, Regis said I got a phone interview for the next day. Everything happened pretty quickly.
Even though the gig didn’t work out (no fault on TempAlt’s part), I will totally stay with TempAlts. They seem to know what works and doesn’t. Totally cool.

Great!