I've pi***d off the job center...

[gyzmo]

... because I have an interview on the day I sign on (and the job is 100 miles away so can't do it on the same day).

Oh well excuse me for wanting to get a job!

 

Oh and I pi**e them off again because they asked me to sign on he next day and.... I got a job interview on that day as well (arranged before the other interview).

 

Now I'm pretty chuffed, not at peeing off the job center, but for getting some interviews at last.

 

But you would think that the job center would not say "Can't you rearrange the interview?". Yeah, of course. The interviewers for this job that I REALLY want will be so chuffed when I ask them to change it because I have to sign on that day. Oh yeah, I'm sure that will make a great impression when I am competing with people already employed who managed to get time off or who have no such excuses to make.

 

Oh, and without apology for this apparent attempt at resurrecting the "job centers cant cope" thread, but I have now been asked t start applying for catering jobs, despite the fact that I have NO experience in catering whatsoever, never mind qualifications such as a basic hygiene certificate (I.e, I have some common sense in the kitchen).

 

I duly did as I was asked and approached a few employers for a job in catering - dishwashing, cleaning etc - nothing heavy.

"Have you got experience"?

"no"

"Then f*** off" was one reply.

 

The other was a bit more welcoming - there and then he asked my history.

"What's this degree in?"

I told him, at which point he said "Yeah and you'll go as soon as you get a job in that".

"No, I won't" I lied.

"Yeah right. P**s off and tell the job center to stop f****ng me around".

 

Ho hum. at least I tried.

[Dodgy Geezer]

Cant you get a job in the job centre.

 

They are REALLY busy.

[SOD'EM]

If they are that concerned about you missing a signing on day due to having an interview. How come the people who sign on on Monday's get excused for for signing on a Bank Holiday week. They don't have to go in the next day to compensate????????

 

 

Can't stand Jobcentres at the best of times.

[clemma]

Yep - hate the jobcentres and the way they work. If you have been unemployed more than 6 months you get all the help you need for getting back into work. Less than 6 months - they don't give a stuff.

 

Someone I know has just got a job and has to go a whole month before he is paid. Will the jobcentre help him with travel to work costs/back to work grants........well NO, because he has not been unemployed long enough.

 

Thankfully, I have been lucky enough to have been working for 11 years - others are not so lucky.

[Big Nick]

It's in the Governments interest for you NOT to sign on.

It is in the Jobcentre's interest that you DO sign on.

This is all about meeting targets. There's also a minor issue with sorting out the benefits payments which IIRC takes about 5 minutes of computer clicking and 3 days of form-filling.....

 

Go for the interviews, if you get a job it's less hassle to deal with. I worked in 3 Jobcentres for a total of 6 months (slightly better than claiming benefits ) and the bureaucracy is mindboggling, it becomes a case of 'we do it this way because it's always been done this way'.

[yourbank]

Gyzmo, check your jobseeker's agreement which you signed. Under My Responsibilities it says:

"and my Jobseeker's Allowance may be stopped if I:

do not attend the Jobcentre Plus office on the day and time requested."

 

I signed the same form as you and I would re arrange my interview because as far as I am concerned, signing on is a set interview(are you on stage 2 as well??). I do understand your frustration with the work situation cos it is driving me nuts.

[mustang67]

Yep - hate the jobcentres and the way they work. If you have been unemployed more than 6 months you get all the help you need for getting back into work. Less than 6 months - they don't give a stuff.

 

Someone I know has just got a job and has to go a whole month before he is paid. Will the jobcentre help him with travel to work costs/back to work grants........well NO, because he has not been unemployed long enough.

 

Thankfully, I have been lucky enough to have been working for 11 years - others are not so lucky.

 

What help after six months ?

[clemma]

Well, help in the loosest terms. At least after that time they usually help with travel expenses and you do get a back to work grant. Also, after 6 months, you can apply for a social fund loan which can be used for help travelling to work (or other costs) when you get a new job.

 

It annoys me that those who find employment in less than 6 months (like my friend) get zero assistance. How the hell does he get to work for a whole month with no money?

 

Other than that, they're pretty useless.

[mustang67]

Was never offered or told about them. When my six months were up all they told me was that I would not get any more JSA. This was because my wife had a job and she is expected to keep me. What have I being paying for , for nearly forty years ? Ah, must be for MPs expenses !!!

[sillygirl1]

I was in the same boat, they didn't help at all with the mortgage paments so I got reposessed. I've been paying into the system since I was 16 and have only ever claimed on two occasions, one about 20 odd years ago and one a few years ago, both times for less than three months - and I don't have a degree... their whole attitude needs to be adjusted to suit the current economic climate.

 

I still advocate a two tier system, you get more if you've paid in, ie 'working peoples allowance' on top of 'job seekers' or whatever they like to call it - but of course that will be against some peoples human rights....

[gyzmo]

Gyzmo, check your jobseeker's agreement which you signed. Under My Responsibilities it says:

"and my Jobseeker's Allowance may be stopped if I:

do not attend the Jobcentre Plus office on the day and time requested."

 

I signed the same form as you and I would re arrange my interview because as far as I am concerned, signing on is a set interview(are you on stage 2 as well??). I do understand your frustration with the work situation cos it is driving me nuts.

 

Quite aware of that YB.

 

On the same day that I got the interview confirmation letter, I went to the job centre to let them know. They arranged for me to sign on the day after, no problems.

 

Now I have another interview the day after (the day of the re-arranged appointment) and so needed to re-arrange again. I called up and practically had the Riot Act read to me, despite me explaining the situation.

 

Oh, and the interview (second one, tomorrow) is at 11 am but nearby so plenty of time for me to get there. So I asked if I could sign on first thing. Oh no. I will be flustered for the interview, they say. So instead they put me on 3 pm. Which means that I am hanging around for about 2 hours doing bugger all waiting to sign on. Never mind that I will be flustered in the interview about signing on.....

 

Because I have not apparently been filling in the activity sheet properly. Now I think I am quite dilligent. When I apply for a position, I mention where i saw the job as well as details of the job and employer. But apparently I also need to write in when I search for jobs, which I have not been doing (i.e, i have been searching for jobs but not writing in the details each time). The simple reason is that I would fill in the form within a week. I check about 15 websites a day, as well as websites for specialist areas. And then there are the papers I check each day plus all the othe stuff, such as prospective letters. And I personally would have though it obvious that I am searching for jobs, otherwise how would I know that there is a job to apply for.

 

Seems they need the job seeker equivalent of wiping their a**e for them...

[mustang67]

They had me for that, do they want you to write a book about your Job seeking? They pointed out to me that just writing down checked Internet was not good enough. They wanted names of Websites putting down. Beggars belief.

 

That's one of the reasons I walked out on them for.

[yourbank]

gyzmo, I never filled in their activity sheet thingy on the jobseekers agreement. I always do take in evidence of what I have done, the good the bad and the ugly just to make sure I have done enough. I'm on stage 2, whatever that means, after the 12 week interview which means signing on every week for the following 6 weeks, not sure what happens after that.

[charleyfarley]

It's a system ,you can't beat it, so you have to work within it, and do the bare minimum acceptable to get by;)

 

I've gone back to being one of Gordon's 2 million, and I dutifully fill in my three applications a week, and itemise the same websites each week, and make sure I turn up on time to sign, and make their life easy.

 

And when I want something, I ask for it nicely and get it no problem , such as travel to interview payments, rearrranging my signing-on days, deferring my signing-on because I was due to be on a training course.

 

It's frustrating, and bureaucratic, and a complete waste of time, and goes against all the rules of common sense.......but you can't beat it, so you have to play within their rules to be able to get out of it what you need.

[Bookworm]

... I have now been asked t start applying for catering jobs, despite the fact that I have NO experience in catering whatsoever, never mind qualifications such as a basic hygiene certificate (I.e, I have some common sense in the kitchen).

 

I duly did as I was asked and approached a few employers for a job in catering - dishwashing, cleaning etc - nothing heavy.

"Have you got experience"?

"no"

"Then f*** off" was one reply.

 

The other was a bit more welcoming - there and then he asked my history.

"What's this degree in?"

I told him, at which point he said "Yeah and you'll go as soon as you get a job in that".

"No, I won't" I lied.

"Yeah right. P**s off and tell the job center to stop f****ng me around".

 

Ho hum. at least I tried.

My sis-in-law is HR for a big company and recently had to advertise for an area manager, experience in building very much necessary. She phoned the Job Centre to put up a card, and had to call them less than 24 hours later to take it down, as by then, she had had over TWO THOUSANDS applications with more to come!!!

 

So then she had to sieve the genuine ones from the "I must jump through the JobCentre hoops if I want to get my JSA" ones, which of course were most of them, and took her a LOT of time, as you can imagine. People applied who had no experience whatsoever, didn't even know what the job entailed, had none of the (detailed) qualifications required etc...

 

Let's just say that the JobCentre are NOT her favourite people right now. :-|

[fuzzybobble]

The Job Centre here is a real laugh. Locally it's nicknamed "The Joke Shop".

 

My experience was a laugh a minute from day one.

 

Here is the story.....

 

Once upon a time.....

 

I turn up, to sign up for Jobseekers, they tell me have to apply by phone. So back home I go. I then have 14 attempts at calling the number they gave me only to be told by an answering machine they were too busy and then I was hung up on. 15th attempt I get put on hold and have to listen to what I can only describe as a midi file of Mozart, played on a cheap Casio keyboard for 20 mins. When I finally get to speak to a human I end up with some guy who's grasp of English was slighly better than a 3 year old Albainian's would be. 40 mins of questions and having to spell things out and explain things several times. A classic was..... "Do you have any children?" "No" "are you claiming child benefit?" "No" "Do you pay maintenece payments for your children?" "NO!! I don't have any children."

 

The next day I get a letter telling me to turn up for an interview the next day at the Joke...I mean Job Centre. I then have to wait 50 mins after my appointment time before I get to see someone. (but try turning up late yourself and you made to feel like you've committed a serious crime.)

 

I end up spending almost an hour going through the same form as on the phone 2 days before, correcting all the mistakes. (never try explaining to a 3 year old Albanian that your previous job was Powder Coating, and explaining what it actually involves.)

 

3 weeks later and after 2 more calls, they finally put £53 in my bank account. So off I go again to find out where the missing money is. An hour later they come back with a lever arch file that after 3 weeks must have around 100 pages of forms and stuff in it. Then the woman tells me. We don't pay anything for the first 3 days of your claim. I showed her my letter stating I was claiming from 12th Feb, first interview was 15th Feb, and 3 weeks after the 15th Feb I had a grand total of £53. She said, "oh that can't be right." After another 15 mins of messing about with forms and phone calls, she tells me the missing amount will be paid within 2 days.

 

Then she asks why I hadn't applied for any jobs. Well the fact that I had no income for 3 weeks might suggest I had no money for phone calls, stamps, or being able to travel anywhere for an interview due to their delaying payment and messing it up totally. I even had to explain that applying for jobs and getting to interviews costs money I didn't have. She says, "That's what your job seekers is supposed to be for." "So, I said,well when I actually get 3 weeks worth of it, then I will start applying for jobs.

 

There's no point in applying for any of the jobs they advertise on their computer things either. Most of the jobs on there either require a certain qualification for the position, or they are under 16 hours a week. The rest end up with hundreds of appliants, or when you phone, you discover that the job has been on the system that long that the person who filled the position is coming up for a long service award. Hence the reason why they get printed out on toilet paper.

 

A month later the bus turns up 15 mins late so I make it to sign on at 10-41am and my signing time is 10-40am. So they give me two letters explaining that if you don't sign on time they would stop my payments. I even showed them the bus timetable and the time on my ticket. And the fact that I was only 1 min late. The amount of paperwork they generate for the silliest things is amazing.

 

Fast forward 3 months and I go to sign for the first time since I had a job offer with a start date on the 1st June. YAY!!! . Then a get a snotty cow who said before I had even sat down..."You haven't filled in your job seekers diary for the last 2 weeks....You're supposed to fill it in...." So I said, I have a job offer and a starting date in June. "You're still on jobseekers until you start, so you should be still looking for work." so I asked, well, what is the point in tying up HR depts who are probably already snowed under with applications with mine for a job I don't need or want?

 

 

I also signed up for the Programme Centre where they provide internet access, stamps, envelopes, newpapers, etc to help you with applying for jobs. The staff there were brilliant, nothing was too much trouble for them. They even paid my travelling expenses to get there twice a week. While I was there I got my C.V. professionally typed and printed. Covering letter templates, did a course on interview techniques and got NVQ in IT in 3 days.

 

So it's not all bad and I did get a job at the end of it.

Edited May 21, 2009 by fuzzybobble

[gyzmo]

Just done a search on a job that I found yesterday - it's a quality control job. Typed in the word "quality" on the job centre website, and what did I get?

 

"Quality has not been understood. Please try again":lol:

[Bookworm]

The epitath of Britain... :-|

[gyzmo]

Actually I should take it back.

Just signed on and got the most helpful person who pointed me to a job that has only just been advertised. Certainly dont need a degree but it's one I would love doing and there are quite a number of vacancies.

Past few weeks no-one has even looked at my "diary" but this lass was right on the ball.

 

Fingers crossed!

[Ell-enn]

My sis-in-law is HR for a big company and recently had to advertise for an area manager, experience in building very much necessary. She phoned the Job Centre to put up a card, and had to call them less than 24 hours later to take it down, as by then, she had had over TWO THOUSANDS applications with more to come!!!

 

So then she had to sieve the genuine ones from the "I must jump through the JobCentre hoops if I want to get my JSA" ones, which of course were most of them, and took her a LOT of time, as you can imagine. People applied who had no experience whatsoever, didn't even know what the job entailed, had none of the (detailed) qualifications required etc...

 

Let's just say that the JobCentre are NOT her favourite people right now. :-|

 

I can sympathise with your sil Bookie - I advertised for a multi-skilled engineer and stupidly put it in the jobcentre as well as the local press -OMG you should have seen the applications I got! engineering qualifications were requisite for the job and most of the applications from the job centre didn't have any:mad:

[SOD'EM]

Because of the recession????????, and more people being out of work, my nearest Joke Shop (JobCentre) is full. I have therefore got to sign on at another one which is miles away. In fact, I need to get a bus there now. The One I was in would only take me 35-40 minutes to walk there. This is something to do with the postcode I live in.

 

Anyway, I have to pay £3.20 return fare now each time I have to sign on and I cannot have it reimbursed. I have never been late for a signing and have still not (in fact, I am always there in plenty of time to search through the JobPoints before signing). Even so, the last time I signed, I was given a letter explaining the consequences of what may happen if I was late to sign. He explained to me that it was nothing personal, but everyone was getting one. I think only a small minority of people who sign are lazy enough to be late (or cannot be bothered trying to find work), so I believe this to be a massive waste of money for ink and paper. I don't think ink is very cheap these days.

 

Also, when I looked at there JobPoint, there was only 6 jobs that suited my criteria. The gentleman could only find the same jobs himself. Yet at my nearest Jobcentre, there was always at least 50 jobs for me to look at and enquire about. Even though, as Gyzmo and others said "most of them just seem to be on there to look pretty":mad:

[gyzmo]

I can sympathise with your sil Bookie - I advertised for a multi-skilled engineer and stupidly put it in the jobcentre as well as the local press -OMG you should have seen the applications I got! engineering qualifications were requisite for the job and most of the applications from the job centre didn't have any:mad:

 

Can I just say that, as a job seeker, I sympathise entirely. I have been told to seek for jobs in catering, even though I have absolutely no experience or qualifications in that area. what a waste of my time and that of employers.

 

I only apply for jobs that I know I can do either through experience or qualifications. I would never dream of applying for a job that I did not feel qualified or experienced for. Alas, the JC don't seem to feel that way. It seems that they are pressuring people, or that people are pressured, into applying for any job to fulfill criteria.

 

Why can't this world be more honest and get rid of all the crap? It really p***es me off all this "why do you want to work for us" s**t. Err, because you have a vacancy, I need a job and I can do it. That's it.

 

BTW, my uncle has his own business and has said the same thing. He took on a 40 year old illliterate (his words) and paid for him to go to college because he said the very same thing, against all the other applicants who would have just buggered off as soon as another job come along.

 

I'm starting to think that compulsory profiling should be used....

[lateralus]

gyzmo - let us know how you get on. i've got fingers, toes and everything else crossed for you... hope this works out for you!

[gyzmo]

Now I AM annoyed!

 

Just applied for a job and the application asked "are you elligible for Work Trial?". Not knowing, I called the Job Centre. After 5 minutes of explaining i to me (despite me telling them I knew what it was and just wanted to know if I was elligible) I got a "Yeah, I think so".

 

After trying for confimation I was eventually told yes, apparently because of my postcode(?).

 

Thanks for letting me know beforehand so I could actually TRY it and maybe have had a job before now...

[SOD'EM]

Does that mean, if you are from a certain postcode, you can still claim benefits whilst doing a work trial?