UC expecting too much

[SaveMyTicket]

It's recently been decided by UC, that I'm not gainfully self employed. I'm therefore expected to job search for work for 25 hours a week.

I still have customer orders from my business that need completing which are taking up a lot of my time. There's no way I'm leaving loyal customers without their orders.

So I currently have to finish off my full time business, look for and apply for jobs, create multiple cvs for different job roles, take part in an online training program and of course manage the household and dc.

To make it worse I've been self employed for 15 years. This business worked well for many years and I earned a decent amount. Thanks to covid things took a nosedive to get me to where I am today.

I have no idea how to write my cv. Every time I try my mind goes blank.
I've only ever had 2 job interviews and both were terrible. Again my mind went blank and I answered I don't know to a lot of questions.
Self employment was great for me for the most part.

UC expect a lot dont they? Or am I just in a state of panic that life as I knew it is over?

If you can't sustain your household without significant state subsidies then self employment isn't for you at this time. The job centre should have pointed you here https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/ for help.

What about large companies that use UC to subsidise the poor wages they pay!

Would you say that to people who are working full time, on MW, and get UC??
Working for an employers isnt for them so they should ….

What about large companies that use UC to subsidise the poor wages they pay!

This.

Plus there are lots of people who are ND or have other issues with a presentation such that they just can't cope with FT employment, but are often quite accomplished in other ways. (Not saying that's OP, but it's possible.) A lot of those people don't quite qualify for PIP or LCWRA or other welfare state safeguards, or don't know how to access them. A hell of a lot of people don't receive the support or even diagnoses they might reasonably expect from the NHS.

I am ND myself but mask well, so I have sympathy, but also pragmatically, I'd rather they got some support than having to deal with their forced job applications myself at work. Compelling people to apply for unsuitable jobs they won't sustain is wasting everyone's time. I don't mind at all if some of my tax helped subsidise those people while they do something of marginal profitability that suits them. There but for the grace if god...

OTOH, I do very much mind Tesco, Amazon et al being subsidised by UC because they won't pay living wages or offer FT contracts or what have you.

OP I hope you're ok. There are some really twatty relies here. LOADS of people on UC are in employment, people really have no clue.

Most, I think.

Are there any business mentor schemes or anything like that you can ask to be referred to, OP?

If you think you qualify for disability assistance, apply for that too,

You can apply for jobs but as a self employed person myself you probably won’t even get an interview. Companies do not like employing people who have been self employed. I usually face this every couple of years when my son has a PIP review: with one exception he gets 0 points and the report says completely the opposite of what we (mainly me) told them. We always get it back but for the time in between I have to look for work as my business doesn’t earn enough. I apply for dozens of jobs a week but never get anywhere not so much as an interview and I am pretty certain it’s because of my long history of self employment. One CV should be enough, I don’t understand why you would need different ones, you only have one education and job history. Just join all the job sites and create a template cover letter. Then all you have to do is send your CV and cover letter to all the jobs you think might be interested - but they won’t be. You have been self employed for 15 years so you are an unknown quantity to them. It’s a box ticking exercise. Governments are all about ‘helping people into work’ but they don’t seem to understand that it’s the employers who need to be tackled and incentivised not the job seekers.

If you're working full time, you must be earning under £7.62 per hour? Can you increase your prices? Or your range?

One CV should be enough, I don’t understand why you would need different ones, you only have one education and job history. Just join all the job sites and create a template cover letter. Then all you have to do is send your CV and cover letter to all the jobs you think might be interested - but they won’t be.

😏 She's good. Listen to her.