Listing your temp jobs on your resume can be tricky. There is a tendency to pigeonhole people with a long history of temporary employment as unstable, undesirable or troublesome employees. Omitting them might work, but you may end up answering questions during an interview that can make you look dishonest. There are better ways of handling it. Read on to learn how to list temp jobs on a resume.

Decide whether you really need to list your temp jobs. The goal of the resume is to allow an employer to decide if you have the skills, experience, education and abilities to perform the job. You can leave off temp jobs that aren't directly relevant to the position you are applying for as long as you don't have long gaps in your work history.

List the company you actually worked for in your resume. You can choose to acknowledge the temp position or not. For example, you could write "Administrative Assistant, ACME Company, Pittsburgh, PA, temporary position through Smith Temps" or "Administrative Assistant, ACME Company (Smith Temps), Pittsburgh, PA."

Highlight temp-to-hire positions by noting them on your resume in the following way: "Administrative Assistant, ACME Company, Pittsburgh, PA. Temporary position via Smith Temps; hired full-time September 2006." This way you can admit that it started as a temporary position, but you don't have to worry about being stigmatized.

Group short-term temp positions under the agency name if you had a lot. Note the dates, the position and give a sample listing of the larger companies you worked for. For example, write "2005-2006, Smith Temps, Pittsburgh, PA. Administrative Assistant for a variety of corporations." You may list names of some of the corporations you temped for if you think it enhances your resume.

Create a separate section in your resume for temp work if you did a variety of jobs over an extended time. This is especially good if you worked on and off for temp agencies for a long time. List the agency and its location, dates of work, types of work and list of companies.

Perfect your functional resume as it is ideal for handling a long list of temp jobs. Organize your work experience by skill and list your temp jobs this way: "Worked for [well-known companies] via [temp agency] as [positions], total of [number of months you temped for the agency], 2005 to 2006."