I worked in a Jobcentre for two years a few years back. I applied for 'a' job with the dwp as I'd been unemployed for over 6 months as was getting pretty desperate. My own jobcentre advisor told me about the hundreds of vacancies which were in all departments, so I had to apply or be sanctioned! I did hope I wouldn't be placed in a Jobcentre but I was, so I got on with it and tried to do my absolute best for every customer I saw. I will say ours had a reputation for being a 'nice' small jobcentre, I'm sure it was very different in large inner city Jobcentres.
It was a very frustrating job as I could do so little to help a lot of customers tbh. Those who were capable of finding good work quickly did so without my help, those who really shouldn't have been on JSA due to MH issues or those who had huge other problems, I was pretty powerless to do much for. I always spent loads of extra time with those who needed it, actively pointed out funds people were entitled to (travel costs, interview clothing, help getting to new job in first month, none of which exists now sadly. I used to get bollocks for being too helpful and proactive with refunding expenses! Other departments like ESA/DLA wouldn't even give me the time of day in the phone when I tried to advocate for claimants who had been kicked onto JSA, that was the worst bit for me, they didn't seem to give a toss it was all 'Just follow the procedure'.
In all the time I worked there, I met many belligerent customers and even more under 25s (I dealt with them specifically for a year) who'd done bugger all to look for work. But I only ever referred two people for sanctions for not looking for work. More for missing appointments, but it was multiple appointments. If someone rang and said why they couldn't come in, I'd go out of my way more than most to rearrange it. One jobseeking sanction was a guy I'd had to warn for weeks and weeks he was risking losing money, he refused to fill the forms in, shouted at me to fuck off and threw water over me. The second refused to provide any evidence of jobsearching and just laughed at me saying he didn't give a fuck, he'd just get a crisis loan, when I referred him for a sanction. Someone else made the decision on sanctions after I filled a form in with details. When I hear what vulnerable people get sanctioned for now, it makes me cry that it's come to this tbh.
The job did give me an appreciation that anyone is at risk of unemployment and that the whole system is a huge shock for someone who hasn't encountered the whole 'computer says no' procedures they have to go through in the jobcentre. Someone of the stuff we had to get customers to do actively prevented them from going out and finding work they were qualified for and likely to actually get! Employers hated us as they'd get thousands of applications from people who weren't qualified or experienced, just so they could fill their log of jobs applied for. We'd refuse financial help for courses with guaranteed jobs at the end of them and I saw people unable to take up job offers because we wouldn't help with bus fares or childcare.
I did meet a lot of really nice people there though, who were doing their best in very difficult circumstances (customers and staff). Also jobsworths who seemed to despise their customers and horrible, abusive customers who were like something from Shameless or a DM stereotype. Not very many if those though all told.
My fixed term contract wasn't renewed just after the Tories got in in 2010. This was around the time harsher sanctions and universal credit trials started to come in, so I was glad to be out of there tbh. I couldn't sleep at night if I had to operate the current system, having lived under it and massively struggled myself. When I worked there I had myself been very recently long term unemployed and I was unemployed again afterwards for a long while. I endeavoured not to treat anyone in a way I wouldn't wish to be treated but I still felt shit a lot of the time I worked there as I was so powerless to help people.