I got my first job out of college through a temp agency, doing menial office tasks. (At the time, my partner and I were living in the un-air-conditioned attic, accessible only by ladder, of my parents' house. I was highly, highly motivated to get a job - but I had no practical work skills or experience and no clue what I wanted to do with myself.)
I started out with 8 hours a day of shredding, spent my free time teaching myself Excel from the manual (ah, the days when software came with a manual...) and volunteering to help anyone with anything, and eventually ended up in a fairly decent full-time job.
Anyhow, by going through the temp agency, the employer got to know me as a worker long before they knew my background. And they paid the temp agency a set amount for a body, so they didn't have to worry about whether I'd want more than they wanted to pay.
