A unique experience, but not necessarily a positive one.
Pros
You gain a number of new skills doing this position. The people you work with, both full time employees and temps are eager to work and work hard, and this can be a motivating factor in the otherwise mundane work you are doing. You are given breaks every couple hours which breaks the monotony of doing the same thing upwards to 10 hours.
Cons
Training virtually does not exist. Most of what I did as a temp at PLI were things I was thrown into, which can be frustrating when you're expected to output a high number of products on a machine you've never used, or perhaps used once or twice. It also seemed as if most projects weren't very well planned, and many high dollar, high number (10 million +) projects became rush jobs the day-of shipping, which can add more unnecessary stress. Floor supervisors seemed either disinterested in what they were doing or baffled by various aspects of the tasks assigned when help was requested with various assignments. Machinery constantly broke down. I worked in the service bureau, where plastic cards are manufactured in a wide array of styles and ways. The amount of skilled technicians on the floor that can repair machines were limited, and downtime on machines was a constant, daily issue. When you're expected to output a high number of products on your line with a machine that breaks down constantly, how can you reach your goal? It seemed like most of the machines were from the early 90's - extremely outdated and barely functioning, which added to the stress of the position.
