Contemporaries — Local services in Boston

I had been job hunting for over a year on my own before I stumbled upon Contemporaries and my luck changed for the better. As a early career individual who decided, shortly after completing a bachelor's degree, to make a career shift, finding a job in Boston with little to no experience in higher education administration proved easier said than done, despite my undergraduate work experience in said field. However, it seemed "Third time's the charm!"

Prior to Contemporaries, I had been job hunting on my own AND working with TWO other local staffing agencies. One agency was very modern and had a great outer image, but their recruiting team seemed to NOT communicate with each other very well. I had two SEPARATE interviews with Monument Staffing FOUR months apart with NO placement EVER with my lack of experience in the field. Then, I reached out to the big name Hollister Staffing with high hopes in their high reviews. However, their big name also came with a HUGE applicant pool I couldn't compete with, as they send their clients MULTIPLE candidates for each position. Instead, I was assigned a one-day event and never heard back about a phone screen that was conducted with a potential placement -- not to mention the mass amounts of e-mails I get to PAY a couple hundred for the job training workshops they offer!

By the time I started with Contemporaries, I was not too jazzed about working with yet another staffing agency, but decided one more try wouldn't hurt. THE DAY I applied with Contemporaries, I was entered into their system, recommended an improvement on my LinkedIn profile -- what? advice? from a recruiter?! SHOCKING! but TOTALLY appreciated -- AND scheduled a recruiting interview to talk with Koreena THE NEXT DAY.

During the Contemporaries interview, I was introduced to their "one candidate, one position" recruiting model where top candidates are matched to each position, one at a time. I loved it, sounded like the way recruiting SHOULD be. Plus, Donna vies for each of the candidates to each client, "all" you gotta do is prove your worth during the interview and on the job. Within the "long wait" of two weeks, I had a phone screen -- I can't imagine what a quick turn around must look like!

Prior to the phone screen, Koreena called me an hour ahead of time to give me a few pointers I had never considered and conducted a mock phone interview with me. This was beyond what I expected and -- oh so much appreciated. After completing college, who knew where to go for career tips, help, and feedback from people who hire for a living? This is the best agency ever!

Shortly after the phone screen, I was notified THE NEXT DAY that I would begin working THE NEXT DAY -- TWO DAYS after my phone screen! No second round of interviewing! Shocking! Loved it! I was placed in the type of position I had been endless trying to apply for as an Administrative Assistant at a university.

Albeit still a bit skeptical, I started my temp-to-perm position for the university where I was placed. Throughout my 3-months temp, Koreena and Sam were/are always available for a phone call whenever I had questions and/or concerns and consistently checked in weekly to make sure everything is fine. 3 months flew by, a position opened up in the office, I jumped on it. Soon enough -- hopefully -- I'll be permanent! So excited! BLUNT HONESTY: The speed at which phone calls must be responded to was rough on my introverted-self, but proved to be well worth it.

I highly recommend looking into and/or even trying out Contemporaries as a first -- or only -- temp agency because they're energy worth spending on responding to phone calls with urgency.

Should I have any friends and/or acquaintances struggling to get a job with little to no experience and/or needing professional pointers to get their foot in a door, I'll be sending them to Koreena and Sam at Contemporaries,...

I sent my resume to Contemporaries in an email and got a response about one month later. They requested that I come in for an introductory interview and I happily agreed to do so. I was moving to the Boston area from Wisconsin and was looking for some help with finding a job in the Boston area ASAP. If I were judging on first impressions alone, they wouldn’t get many stars. The Contemporaries office was tiny, lacked aesthetic appeal, and was fairly difficult to find because it was not clearly labeled. When I arrived, I was greeted by the interviewer, Sarah. After having me fill out some paperwork, she asked me if I had been contacted by any other staffing agencies. I had actually been contacted by two other staffing agencies that I planned on meeting with as well, and I told Sarah this for the sake of transparency between us. After learning this, she immediately began speaking to me with this snooty, condescending attitude, telling me that “WELL, Contemporaries is MUCH better than all of the other staffing agencies,” and raving about all of the organization’s stellar reviews online. She seemed legitimately angry that I would even CONSIDER other temp agencies even though this was my first time meeting with anyone from Contemporaries. Other agencies I’ve worked with have seen moments like this as an opportunity to prove that they’re better at what they do, so I was genuinely surprised by her reaction. Despite her bitterness, as someone looking to find a suitable job as soon as possible, I was excited about her declaration that Contemporaries was somehow special. I really HOPED Contemporaries would be a better organization to work with than other staffing agencies. Unfortunately, I found this not to be the case. Contemporaries didn’t contact me until I reached out to them the following week to ask them if they’d stumbled across any leads regarding my job search. Even though I had made it clear in my interview that I was looking for long-term/temp-permanent work in my field or as an Administrative Assistant, they gave me the option of working a 4-day job helping to set up for the MIT graduation. I told them that this wasn’t really what I was looking to do, especially since I would be commuting all the way from Lowell (where I would be living for the next month or two). After this, Contemporaries never reached out to me again. I had to reach out to them several weeks later only to be blown off and told that “I thought we were in agreement that you aren’t interested in commuting to a job until you move closer to Boston.” We were absolutely NOT in agreement about this. The entire point, which I had made clear in my discussions with them, was that I was trying to find a job in Boston so that I could move from Lowell closer to the city. I had never said anything of the sort. I ended up working with and receiving an incredible job through Hollister staffing instead, who I would recommend checking...

Working with Contemporaries was a positive experience that I will be forever grateful that I could experience. From the very beginning, the owner, Donna, was excited to meet with me and discuss the opportunities available. I was able to quickly schedule an interview with the local Boston staff after hearing about an upcoming position that they needed more people for. I began my partnership with the company by meeting with Samantha to go over my qualifications and past work history as well as for an interview. Samantha was extremely friendly and genuinely wanted to get to know me as a worker and a person so she could help place me in the best position available. The interview was quick but informative for both parties and I remained at the office to meet with Koreena who explained to me the details of the job I would be working the following week with a local university. I was amazed at the quick turn around from meeting the staff and getting to know more about the company to being placed in a position! I could also tell from the style of questions asked in the interview that Donna and her team really care about their clients and their staff because they were looking to find the best match that would benefit both groups to the fullest extent possible. The following week, I was on-site at the university working closely with Koreena and Michael and enjoying every moment of my time. I even volunteered to work longer on some days to help out because the work was that enjoyable. The support I received from the staff at Contemporaries during my time working at the university made me feel like I always had someone to go to if I needed something and encouraged me to branch out of my comfort zone in order to help the university as much as I was able to. Although I was only able to work the one job with Contemporaries due to my schooling, I would have loved to continue working with them in other positions if my schedule would have allowed it because of the honest and hard working people who run it and who truly care about their employees. I highly recommend Contemporaries for those looking for employment in the Boston area and feel that they will work with you to find the best placements for you with their clients whether with a university, non-profit, or...