RANT ALERT!
I'm feeling really pissed off. I've written before about how I monumentally seemed to have f**ed things up because I stayed at home to look after my kids. I know I can't have my cake and eat it but I thought there would be SOME kind of assistance available to "refresh" my skills and make me more employable?
Brief history, nearly 9 years out of work. Successful career pre-kids but in a precarious freelance business that required erratic and often long hours, no holiday/sick pay etc... Contract ended whilst pregnant with 1st child. Have 2 kids, both in school, in debt and desperately in need of work.
Anyway, have been advised to go to the Job Centre to register as a Job Seeker so I duly go along. Enter an empty building and am welcomed by 2 twitchy looking security guards and a man at a plinth. Can I help you? So I give the spiel about wanting some advice and help about returning to work and am virtually cut off mid-flow by "are you in receipt of any benefits?", Me: "Errr only child benefit" Him: "sorry we can't give you access to ANY of our advisory services as they are only for people who are entitled to Job Seekers allowance or other out of work benefits". He then handed me a faded photocopied "leaflet" that gave me the website address where all the Jobcentre jobs are on. That will be the one that I have accessed online before and ditched because of all the OTE jobs that don't actually pay a wage and catalogue distribution jobs. THANKS.
I then go over the road to the Skills Development Agency. Walk in, smile on my face to be met by a very bored-looking person and say' "Hi, I've just come from the job centre and they said that you might be able to give me some help and advice?" Was met by a surly "Regarding???" I felt like saying, "Make-up and Hair, WTF do you think it's regarding SKILLS DEVELOPMENT!!" He couldn't have given off more of an aura of not giving a toss if he tried. I pressed on and explained my position and if there was anyone I could talk to and he explained that I would have to make an appointment and that he couldn't get me one for over 2 weeks. I agreed to fill in a form and left it with them. There were banks of computers sitting unused but I think I would have been rugby tackled if I'd asked about them. Walked out feeling utterly flat.
I should say that I am in Scotland. Is it like this in the rest of the UK? I am sure I have heard about people being sent on free or subsidised computer courses or refreshers. Up here it seems they lose interest when you hit 25 unless you have been made redundant by a big industry.
Anyway, rant over. Feel free to join in or give advice.
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Is there NO help for parents returning to work after being at home caring for family??
40 replies
needthemoney · 03/02/2014 18:10
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