Vantaggi
I started working for Express as a temporary contract employee before becoming an internal employee in their office. As a contractor, the work was intermittent, as is to be expected with a staffing agency, but the assignments were mostly interesting, in line with my experience/qualifications, and paid well above minimum wage. I fulfilled various contract assignments for about a year when I was contacted by the owner of my local office and offered an internal position as a Front Office Coordinator. I never considered staffing or HR as a career field, but I jumped at the chance for a full-time position with benefits. The role was what you'd expect from a front desk/receptionist position. Most Express offices are fairly small, and my office is no exception. I know the small office environment is not for everyone, so that may be a negative for some. But there are positives too, like knowing everyone you work with and having direct access to the Owner. After only a year, I was promoted into a recruiting role (Staffing Consultant) and have continued to move up from there. I've been with the company for going on 4 years now, and I have no intentions of leaving in the near future. The work can be stressful, like any job, but the management/owners make it worthwhile by providing great benefits, progressive raises, and a clear path for advancement. My time with Express has also proven to be a great backdoor way to build experience in HR, a field that can be very difficult to get into without an HR degree or other certifications.
Svantaggi
Every office is franchised and individually owned, so the environment and work culture can vary wildly from office to office, but the business model and process remains largely the same. However, who you work for is one of the biggest contributing factors to job satisfaction, and I doubt all 700+ offices are run as well as the one I work for. I've had coworkers who didn't enjoy the job or the organization. The most common reason usually being the highly demanding nature of staffing. It can also make you jaded toward the general public, much like a call center customer service role, because you deal with a lot of unemployed people who are frustrated in their job search, many of whom will make you the focal point of their frustration. However, just as many people are grateful for the help or at least better understand how to use a staffing agency as a resource.