AIBU to want a different Universal Credit work coach?

To be honest the last two times l was unemployed the work coach did nothing, they just check you are applying for jobs, or try and get you to apply for random jobs on thier system.
I dont think l they can actually help you get a job as an accountant.
Edited to add they expect you to apply for any job you could possibly do, not just one you want to do.

To be honest they don't do that much anyway although my son's has put him on courses to help apply for jobs. I'm not sure why you've signed up so early as if you have final wages from your current job still to be paid that will possibly wipe out any UC payment for the first month unless you would currently qualify for UC but just haven't claimed up until now? Or have you just signed up for now for the job search help? I suspect with the thousands being made redundant right now , the DWP have taken on lots of new work coaches and they are still not fully up to speed with the job.

If it has been agreed on your Claimant Commitment you can restrict your jobsesrch to your usual line of work for 4weeks max from the date of your claim. After that (or if no restriction aka a permitted period has been agreed) you have to look for and apply for any job you can do (rather than want to do/would chose to do).

The work coach role is just as much about (if not more) enforcement/managing compliance and sanctions as it an advisory role. The onus is on you to take active steps to apply for anything you can do (within agreed restrictions) and get yourself off benefits.

Sadly, you need to lower your expectations of what your work coach can do to help you. There is no problem asking for a different advisor, but there is no guarantee they will be any better.

Just to add I'm not even sure whether these work coaches are calling people into the job centre regularly. My new graduate son claimed UC in June, he has only had a couple of appointments with a work coach. He has found a part time job but they won't know that yet as he hasn't been paid yet but even since he has been working very part time they've barely called him in to hassle him to look for more hours. I just get the impression the whole system is overwhelmed with so many new claimants.

You might as well stick with her.

"Work coach" is a misnomer tbh. She's just there to process your claim at the start, and then to hassle you to find a job. Maybe send you on some extremely basic courses if you don't find a job fast enough. She is never going to actually help you find work!

You’re an accountant? At this point why wouldn’t you just start your own business, tide yourself over with a business loan to cover staffing (i.e. your salary), and specialise in an area e.g. accounting for trades that will get you found on Google? If you really want to work for the man, you already know what roles you can do (payroll, bookeeping, financial admin, accountancy, accounts administrator, Exec Assistant with financial reporting etc). Sign up to some agencies! Get your CV searchable on Indeed as well as applying for jobs there. The job centre isn’t an employment agency, it’s a way to get people off benefits by any means necessary. Why would you possibly need the help of a work coach who at best is basically a clueless administrator on minimum wage?

Is this person definitely your work coach ? At a lot of jobcentre's the ID appointment is done by a different person.
Have you had your First Commitments appointment yet?

Any option to learn to drive ? It could possibly open up a lot more roles. I am really pushing my ds who is on UC to learn to drive despite him seeming a bit reluctant because currently he's pretty restricted in his job search.

They are definitely not work ‘coaches’
As others have said coaching in this context the coaching amounts to nagging you to apply for any old shite.

My DS’s cancels on him quite often and he doesn’t even have the hassle of going to see them!

When my ds signed up in June I said to him that he would have weekly appointments and they would really hassle him but they've barely given him any appointments and certainly no hassling ! Maybe just overwhelmed with numbers?

I can understand your concern. I had a work coach who never replied to my messages and claimed to have called me (we had a telephone appointment) but I had no missed calls. I messsged her 10 minutes after the appointment to ask if the appointment was going ahead - and got not reply. I messaged later the same day letting her know of my availability over the next week - again nothing. I filed a formal complaint and asked for a new work coach and got one. Incidentally if you do need to complain, the DWP does have an official form for this but it is hard to find. I had to get chatGPT to find it. The complaint was actually dealt with very quickly and reasonably.

In the meantime, you could ask her manager to call you and then ask informally to swap to a different coach. But yes as others have said, work coach is probably a misnomer. I had to complain to the Job Centre about something else and the manager did phone although I didn’t get much joy even though I think they were actually breaking the law.

The Job Centre is pretty useless IMHO. When I booked in, I asked them if there was an extra benefit for disabled people - they said no. There is one and I receive it. I should have complained about that too. Luckily, I found out about it a week or two later.

I'm an accountant who lost a job last year sacked :( but, like the OP, not from a practice background.

I would love to move to doing "the books" for small businesses, but, these days the costs of compliance insurance and software would be at least £3k per year.

I'm now back in manufacturing. Lower level, but zero stress.

Your “work coach” is basically there to make sure you are looking for work and sanction you if it appears you’re not. They might give you some profound advice such as “use Indeed.com” or “have you tried Tesco?” but that’s about it.

If you've got skills & are proactively looking & applying then the work coach can't really offer you anything & they all follow the same process so another individual won't offer you anything different

It depends whether or not you want to receive UC while you are searching as UC will be sanctioned if you don't attend.

If you think it's something you might be good at yourself it's worth asking her how she got the role. Being in a difficult situation yourself would make you more aware of the difficulties people face.

I really hope things improve for you soon, it must be a massive worry especially when you have young kids. I was made redundant in April , I am 58. I have managed to find another job quickly, but yes the job market is dire. As mentioned above my newly graduated DS is on UC and all he has been able to find is a 16 hour a week retail job which he is grateful for but it's no ideal in terms of wanting to get on with his life, move out of home etc. When I was job searching I also considered a work coach role.

Have you signed up with a general employment agency for temp (semi-perm / perm) work? Factory work etc - it's easier to get some / any work quickly & you never know where this or the networking will lead you.

No, you can't demand/ask/request somebody else. You get who you've been given.

For the purposes of receiving UC, you are no different from anybody else who attends, you are no more special than anybody else and you do not require somebody who can 'comprehend' what you're saying - because it is entirely irrelevant. You need a job and you need to keep looking and applying for jobs in order to fulfil the job seeking requirement of the benefit - a SEN TA is something reasonable for them to suggest (in their eyes, and as they make the decisions, that's all that matters) when you take into account that you are literate, numerate and breathing.

It clearly is possible to change work coach as a previous poster upthread managed to do it. I have also had client's ( I'm a benefits advisor ) who have been able to do it.

I don't think as others have said that changing your Work Coach will mean that you receive any useful support with finding another job. Most Work Coaches have very large caseloads and even if they wanted to wouldn't be able to offer much support. You sound very able and it is unlikely that a Work Coach is going to add much value to your job search. I haven't had recent contact with the National Careers Service but when I worked in the Job Centre as part of my role with an advice agency they helped a couple of my clients.

Reframe her role in your mind. Think of it as a couple of hours of your time each week, in exchange for the money. That way it feels worthwhile. Think of her not as an actual coach, which she isn't, but a gov employee checking that people in receipt of UC are actively looking for work. That's all she is.

Good luck with the job search. You sound very focused.

UC work coaches aren’t there to navigate the work market for you, or even to help you find work you want
They are there to ensure you are fulfilling your work commitments, so her offering you things like SEN TA is just her doing her job. You don’t need qualifications to do that. She really isn’t going to narrow down searches to your line for work or preference- she’s basically there to push you into (any) employment..