What will you do when your temp job comes to an end? The time to figure that out is now — not on the day you receive your last paycheck.

Keep your performance level on max.

You might want to get hired back at this company some day — or hope to be converted to a permanent employee — so it’s important to leave a great last impression. No letting things slide the last few days. If for any reason you can’t finish the work before the end of your assignment, let your supervisor know; don’t just assume that the next person will take care of it.

Say goodbye and thank you.

Ask for a quick meeting with your manager or HR to tell them how much you learned on the assignment and thank them for their help. Also say a friendly goodbye to your assignment co-workers. They’ll remember you after you’re gone, and just may be your connection to another great job someday.

Ask for a recommendation.

References from previous employers are a wonderful asset to have while you’re looking for your next job. Even if it was just a short-term assignment, you can ask both your worksite supervisor and staffing agency manager for a written review as well as a LinkedIn recommendation.

Start the hunt for your next job now.

Of course, you shouldn’t do this while you’re on the clock, but you can certainly spend 15 minutes or so of your own time every day checking out current postings on the job boards. Then you’ll be ready to hit the ground running when your assignment is finished.

Update your resume.

You may think a bunch of temp gigs looks bad on your resume. But it all depends on how you present them, and your experience deserves to be recognized. There are two basic options:

• If you’ve only had a couple of short-term positions, list them separately, including a note that it was a temporary or contract job.
• For many assignments, lump them together by job description or name of the staffing agency, then list the duties and skills you performed at all of them.

If you want another assignment, talk to the staffing agency.

Be the early bird that gets the worm by asking now about assignments soon to be available. Agencies prefer to keep working with associates whose success at past assignments they know about first-hand, so you’ll have a competitive edge.

The tips above all boil down to two key strategies: Getting your job hunting ducks in a row and leveraging your workplace relationships. Start working on them now, and you’ll be rewarded with a smooth transition from one job or assignment to the next.