Cindy Guir, College Student and Bulfinch Temp

In my seven years working for Bulfinch Temporary Service, I've grown from a shy, inexperienced teen into a college student pursuing a degree in health care. Along the way, Bulfinch has allowed me to gain valuable experience in the health care field while I go to school, experience that helped me decide I wanted to work with patients as a career.

I started with the SummerWorks program that is a partnership between Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the James P. Timilty Middle School in Roxbury. The SummerWorks intern assignments are managed by Bulfinch, so during my first summer with the program I worked in the Bulfinch office. The next summer, I worked as an assistant in the MGH Service Improvements Office. Both assignments built up my confidence and taught me how to communicate in an effective way within a professional environment.

During my third and fourth summers, I worked as an Information Associate at the MGH Information Desk. Working at the Information Desk for two years gave me a real appreciation for MGH and the work they do, and I knew then that I wanted to pursue a career in health care.

Before my senior year of high school, I met with my Bulfinch staffing specialist, who had served as my advisor through all of my summer assignments. I told her that I wanted to work part-time during my senior year - and at this point I graduated from the summer program and became a full-fledged Bulfinch Temp. In September of 2007, I started working back where I started – at the Bulfinch office - this time handling the payroll processing. When I applied to colleges, I think my work experiences at Bulfinch and MGH helped me stand out from other applicants. I applied to the Mass. College of Pharmacy and got in. Now I’m in my third year, pursuing a degree in Radiation Therapy.

I'm still working as a Bulfinch Temp while I attend college. It works with my busy schedule and the flexibility is great. The positive experiences I've had as a Bulfinch Temp have helped me to grow professionally as well as point me to a future career.

I’d encourage anyone who wants to get their foot in the door and gain some professional experience in health care to consider working as a Bulfinch Temp; even if you don’t stay in health care, the skills you learn as a Bulfinch Temp are ones you can take with you wherever you go.