AIBU to think the Job Centre is one of the reasons why unemployment is low?

[M0naLisa]

I went for my interview today at the job centre for JSA. I was expecting her to go through all jobs that i could do that i had put down, sales, retail, customer service, receptionist, admin. She looked at "two" admin jobs, they wanted payroll and accounts experience which i do not have. So she closed the page down with the jobs on and said 'no there isn't any suitable jobs for you this week'

:| hmm ok what about the sales and retail ones on the JC website?

Good job i have internet access so i can look and search and send off for jobs myself.

AIBU to think that this could also be a major problem as to why there are so many people out of work?

I work voluntary for a welfare advice centre, we normally get 'sanctions' lifted that day, if more complex we usually sort out a crisis loan and benefit is restored within three days, this also includes HB/CT, if anyone is sanctioned, go for advice, the CAB (and others) deal with this.

I seriously think that the person specification for the job includes the word 'bastard'.

I'm going to stick up for the Jobcentre staff for a bit now.

I used to work in one.
All the people I worked with were helpful and friendly.

A few of them were very much of the "go down the official route and do it by the book" method. Which sometimes meant not spending enough time with someone to do everything they needed.
Mainly, that was because they have set amounts of time to do an appointment, and those who have big problems tend to take up most of the time (making appointments over-run). It meant that those who seemed perfectly capable of getting a job were left to their own devices, basically.

have to say, after 3 months of working there, I was so disheartened by the whole system, as well as claimants, that I couldn't find the strength to do more than 2 jobs and sign here.

Okay, most people wanted help, but you got weighed down by those who were "in the benefits trap" or who just couldn't be arsed to change their criteria. or those who didn't want to work.
the most depressing situations were those who desperately wanted to work but were unsuitable (unemployable in those days)
disability equality makes that a bit easier these days, though.

The best thing you can do to get more attention in your session is to arrive early and look through the boards. then take those specific details to the desk.
You'll get more help, then.

PS - I used to hate the template covering letter they printed out - looked so unprofessional.

Xp has been on jsa for so long now that he has to go on a month long jobs thingy, were they are supposed to look for jobs, obviously, do CV's, etc etc.

He has been going for nearly 2 weeks. In that time they have done their CV and then played pub quizzes for the rest of the day.

I spoke to the manager of a shop once, she said she could tell just by looking at a CV whether it had come from the Jobcentre or not. She wasn't impressed, they were all the same. I think this also has something to do with it, if all the CVs are the same and it's obvious, then they aren't going to stand out and aren't going to look good to any potiential employer.

I'd rather the jobcentre employees did stick to the rules rather than sanctioning genuine claimnts when they shouldn't be. I had one woman put a doubt on my claim although i'd provided evidence of job search but hadn't found anything I could apply for. I told her at the time to look on her computer and she would see there wasn't anything...she shooed me away from her desk, meeting over.

For the most part my experience with them is that they are rude, patronising and unhelpful.

I find them helpful sometimes but other times they cant work out whether they are coming or going.

I do feel for them in a way because i'm pretty sure they dont get the training they should do, systems change, rules change. I used to work for a large company who would keep moving the goalposts and that was bad enough, every great idea a new manager had was worse than the last, caused a huge backlog of work, mistakes etc.

But. We weren't messing with people's lives. Big difference!

I'm so glad I saw this thread. Its not something I talk about really in RL because well I'm slightly embarrassed of my situation and don't want to come across as ungrateful, but I have to say that I completely agree OP.

If I was introduced to a friend or met a new acquaintance who said they worked in a jobcentre, then I would seriously judge that person and could not have any sort of friendship with somebody who worked for the JC.

They made me feel like scum!

The look on their face when I told them I would no longer be claiming because I was starting a pgce. I don't think they could believe that someone like me (benefit scum) could aspire to something more than they have settled for.

Jobcentre workers and London bus drivers are the two groups of people that I have an (ir)rational hatred for.I'm so glad I saw this thread. Its not something I talk about really in RL because well I'm slightly embarrassed of my situation and don't want to come across as ungrateful, but I have to say that I completely agree OP.

If I was introduced to a friend or met a new acquaintance who said they worked in a jobcentre, then I would seriously judge that person and could not have any sort of friendship with somebody who worked for the JC.

They made me feel like scum!

The look on their face when I told them I would no longer be claiming because I was starting a pgce. I don't think they could believe that someone like me (benefit scum) could aspire to something more than they have settled for.

Jobcentre workers and London bus drivers are the two groups of people that I have an (ir)rational hatred for.

Oops don't know what happened there sorry!

I am sat here absolutely knackered after my hard days slog at the jobcentre !!
Please dont slate all of us as some of us try to help people as much as we can - my motto is there but for the grace of god go i and after 18 years in the business i can quite honestly say that i have never ever looked down my nose at anyone and i treat everyone with the same respect that i would expect to be treated with ....Dont forget the staff are under extreme pressure -we have targets we need to achieve and we have only 5 mins with each person - sometimes less if we over run ...we take a lot of abuse each day ..we also have to judge as to how much 'help' our client needs with jobseeking - if a client is already doing a good jobsearch and is more than capable of looking for work themselves -why do you need some else to look for the jobs for you ???

Another one here who hated the whole Jobcentre experience. I had to give up a job because of ill health, and then when I was looking for another, I got such helpful advice as - would you like to go to College and get some Highers? (I have 2 degrees); have you thought about working outside this town? (had put on my form I'd travel up to 50 miles for work); and you'll never get anything paying more than minimum wage. It was the most soul destroying 1/2 hour of my fortnight. When I had to go on a 'back to work' session, we were told it was a good idea to have a shower before an interview. Have they ever heard about tailoring advice to your audience? Argh!!!

I have been on JSA recently after getting made redundant. I have a fairly specialist job and the folk in my job centre were lovely, apart from getting irrationally overexcited when I mentioned I might start my own business. I was showered with leaflets and offered loads of meetings with every small business adviser within 50 miles.

What I really struggled with was the forms -I am a well educated communication specialist, and yet I had to get help filling in the forms because they were baffling. In particular, I did a one day job while signing on and had to fill in a pages long form to disclose my earnings. I gave up after three attempts and had to take it in on my next appointment and get them to help me. I will never again judge anyone who doesn't declare earnings while signing on because the form is just too bloody tricky!

Oh, and while I'm ranting, every letter I got from the central office was incorrect. I initially got a letter telling me my claim had been turned down, on the very day my first payment landed in my bank account. When I phoned up I was told that no, my claim had been authorised and I probably just misunderstood the letter. When I read out 'your claim has not been approved' and asked him to suggest what part of that I was misunderstanding, he just said he'd send me another letter. Infuriating.

millmoo, I do understand what you are saying. I am more than capable of searching for a job myself. But I was constantly told, despite the fact i've worked since leaving school and didn't just suddenly become a lazy workshy asshole that I wasn't trying hard enough. So yes, I asked for help I didn't actually need to try and prove I was telling the truth.

Jobcentres are there help you look for work by providing access to the jobs - not by doing it for you. Unless you want the state to allocate you a job? Personally I am not that helpless...

Did you read my post above missfenella? A person can be perfectly capable of searching for a job and still be sanctioned for not trying hard enough...some of us ask for help to try and prove we are looking.

No I didn't read your post Thefrogs.

Well that's one possible reason, I cant speak for anyone else obviously!

I hated being on JSA. The staff I had the pleasure of dealing with were always pushing me towards jobs I couldn't do, and when I asked for the details of on job (same job description as my previous job) I was told I was aiming too high!

Also turned up 2 minutes late due to a massive car crash on the road outside the jobcentre, and was told I'd lost my slot and had to come back the next day.

They are beyond useless.

Years and years ago, fresh from law school, I hadn't found a job to go to. I signed on for a couple of months. All they found me was a legal recruitment consultant job. It required a lot of expereince as it was a head hunter position. I couldn't do the job, had no expereince and told them as such. They threatened to stop my JSA if I didn't apply for it..... I found a law job a few weeks later and told them to fuck their benefits. Literally.

PS I knew they wouldn't have any law jobs for me, i was lookin for those myself but it takes time. I thought they'd be able to help with any old job in the interim just to earn some money. But alas no. They couldn't give a fuck.

They keep sending letters to Dh saying you have appt tomorrow, if you can't make it please give 7 days notice otherwise claim will be affected.

When I was on is and living in shared house I went to them to change my claim, they told me to go outside and use phone box, I tried but couldn't fit pushchair in the phone box and couldn't hear a word with door open, so I went back in and told them they told me to go to my mums house and use the phone? So I told them I would just gave to commit benefit fraud as they were making it impossible for me to change my claim. They wouldn't believe I didn't have a mobilen

This is strange, as my experience at my local Job Centre is of being harrassed to find work. Even though I have only been unemployed since mid-May, I have already had three 20 minute sessions grilling me on what I'm doing to find a job, and they are very keen to search for jobs for me - which are usually unsuitable because they don't really understand what I do.

A couple of them are decent enough - it's a shame that the sheep-like box-ticking majority give them all a bad name. Anyone who says "I'm sorry to treat you like this but I have targets to meet" is just doing their bit to perpetuate a bad system and doesn't deserve any pity. Also, I agree with others who've called them patronising: I spent 15 years working with the unemployed and I NEVER had any abuse because I knew how to talk to people.

I've been signing on since about last November. Some of the people in my jobcentre are lovely, and really helpful, but some are definitely not. For the first few weeks I had a different advisor each time and most if these didn't bother to do a jobs search. They simply said, "Have your circumstances changed at all? Sign here. See you in 2 weeks' time." Once, I asked the girl if she was meant to do a jobs search for me (even though I do them myself all the time too) and she said they didn't have time and didn't do them for people. Hmm, ok, I thought they were meant to offer advice but ok. Then the next week I had a lovely man who did do a jobs search, and when I expressed my surprise he said the girl had been talking nonsense and they were meant to do them. So I'm not sure whether they're meant to do them or not, as they very rarely do for me. Last time I was there for all of thirty seconds and the girl was chewing gum throughout, which I didn't think was very professional.

I also get occasional short term work, so if this happens I have to ring up to sign off, then on again when the work stops. If I phone the wrong number they can't put me through to the right people even though it's in their company. I have to ring off and dial the number they've just given me. I once said that I thought it was a bit daft that they couldn't connect me to the right place, as it was within their company, and was told "oh well, I suppose I could try, but I don't think it will work." She tried, and it did work, so it is possible but they don't want to bother.

When I have signed on again after 3 days work or whatever, a couple of times it was quite easy but once I had to answer question after question, for about half an hour, over the phone. I tried to say I never normally had to do this, but he was adamant. When I went into the job centre for my first appointment after that I was told that no, it hadn't been necessary.

I am pretty sure that after you have signed on for a certain amount of time, things happen, you get a more detailed interview each time, etc. But, every time I sign off and on again it counts as the start of a new claim, so I never get to the time when you're given more help with finding a job.

I had to sign on again recently due to my previous employers being lazy bastards and not sorting me out a new contract despite promising one. After applying online I got a woman phone up to go through my details and get me my first appointment at the Jobcentre. She told me 'Your appointment is at 1.40, that's twenty to two' in a really snidey voice as if I was thick as shit.

When I got to my appointment I discovered that my appointment was actually at 1.50! I was so pissed off, there was no need to lie to me about what time my appointment was. I brought it up at the end of my appointment and the bloke just shrugged at me.

I got a job offer today and hopefully I'll never have to set foot in one again.

It's strange isn't it Nellythecat how they all have different stories on what should/shouldn't happen. You just have to conclude that most of them don't know their job.

I'm not often so reactionary, but I really feel from my experiences that Job Centres serve no useful purpose other than to irritate the shit out of their customers - they could save a lot of money by getting rid of most of their staff and just running a minimal system to check that means-tested claims are genuine.