It’s true that job security isn’t what it used to be, and more people are working temporary jobs or trying to fill gaps to sustain employment, but in reality, a temporary job really can become a springboard to something quite a bit better and more consistent. First of all, there’s nothing wrong with temporary work, but for people who want a longer-term type of employment, it’s often possible to use temporary work as a kind of stepping stone — to build on the work and connections that you accomplish as a temp at a company to improve your career later on.

Here are three ways that temporary workers can often make something temporary into something permanent.

Direct Hire Scenarios

The reality is that many temporary workers are eventually hired full-time by some arm or subsidiary of the company they have been temping for. This happens in a lot of different ways. For instance, a company may test the waters with temporary staffing, but later find that it actually needs people for the long term. So the reasonable place to find these people is right at the job site where they already are. We’ve often seen client companies and other firms open up full-time positions after taking on an influx of temporary people. That’s not to say that you can always expect this – just that those opportunities are out there.

Related: 3 Task Management Apps that Will Improve Your Workday

Networking

As you go about your duties in a temporary job, whether it’s office work, machine operation, or anything else, you’ll come in contact with other people in the industry. Some of them will be relatively inexperienced, and others will have in-depth skills and experience related to the kind of work that you’re doing.

When a temporary job ends, a temporary worker who really applied himself or herself to the job can find that some contact met during the job can recommend something somewhere else. It’s a good idea to initiate conversations about your desired industry while working as a temp, to put out some feelers and see how far you can go with on-the-job networking that might pay off later in a big way.

Skills Building

Temporary jobs can also be a gateway to other kinds of work that require specific skills. It’s not an uncommon situation for a company to acquire temporary workers and throw them more or less directly into the fray, asking them to do some relatively skilled work right from the start. In fact, temporary jobs often look a lot like internships — except that unlike the intern, the temporary worker is getting paid by the hour. In any case, the skills that you learn at a temporary job could help make you much more employable in a particular job role later when you’re circulating your resume.

For more, check out Full Steam Staffing and what we offer to our client companies in the California area.