Dear J.T. & Dale: I accepted a job with a CPA firm and the environment was unbearable; plus, they changed the waiting period on my medical benefits from 30 to 60 days, after I started. I resigned after three months, relocated, and now I’m looking for employment. What is the best way to job search? I have registered with a temp agency, but want to remain available to search for full time. — Marian

Dale: First, let me say something about companies making changes in benefits. We are in a rocky transition period. I suspect that in 20 years, very few organizations will still be providers of employee health-care benefits. With the cost of health care rising and with so many of our corporations being in competition with products from other countries that have socialized medicine, or in competition with those that provide few or any benefits, it’s no wonder that U.S. corporations are eager to separate themselves from health care. And, when better options are available for individuals — whether through private systems or government ones — we’ll eventually reach a point when everyone will look back and wonder why it was that corporations were ever expected to be responsible for health care.

J.T.: As for the job search, Marian, temping is a great way to get to know your new hometown and see what’s out there in the workplace. I know you want to be free to look for a job full time, but the reality is that a good job search shouldn’t take more than two hours of your day. It’s better to work and get experience that could lead to a full-time opportunity than to sit home, unemployed. Besides the paycheck and the feeling of accomplishment, it will also speed up your search.

Dale: I flinch at that mention of two hours a day, because so many career counselors automatically push the notion that “looking for a job is a full-time job.” And there is truth to the cliche — it’s possible to spend hours a day on background research alone. However, the right temping position is a great way to research and network, and often leads to a permanent position. When it doesn’t yield a position directly, you can seek out new job contacts without worrying about offending your current employer. And then you go into those conversations with the advantage of approaching others in the field as a fellow working professional, rather than as a job hunter. The upshot is that J.T.’s right: You’ll have bought yourself more time, and are likely to need less of it.