To think I can't afford principles when I need a job

[Cookiesagain]

Well really i already know I can't be fussy with job applications just now. But just wondering what it's like to do a job you don't feel good about.

Its a civil service job so not criminal or anything like that. But it's with DWP and I know I will not feel good doing it.

OP, I know what you mean and not so long ago I would have been telling you not to work for them under any circumstances.

But, recently my son had all his PIP award taken from him after an ATOS assessment. (He's had disabilites since birth and been in receipt of DLA since he was 3 & moved onto PIP 3 years ago). I first rang the DWP to ask for a copy of the assessors report, and they guy that I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful. He was basically telling me once I'd got it, how to do the mandatory reconsideration so that it would be re-instated, and that I needed to call back once I'd got the report. So I called back once I'd got it, to request extra time and spoke to a woman who couldn't have been more helpful either. I think there are many people that work for the DWP are appalled by Universal Credit, sanctions, bedroom tax, benefit cap, cuts to PIP etc and when people call they do all they can to help them.

So while it would be one of the last resorts for me, at least if you took it and helped the people that were calling it wouldn't be too bad. The people I spoke to above really helped me.

But don't ever go and work for the S*n or the Daily Fail - there are some lines that should never be crossed!

Hmm. I work for the CS and have been working on a, er, current political issue. I am having to do something which I know will adversely affect the public. But I feel, like many colleagues, that we're there to try to minimise the damage and try to protect the country's interests as far as possible within the boundaries permitted.

We could all quit and earn more, with less stress, elsewhere, and I'm sure the fucking DM would love that. But there's a shortage of people with our skills and knowledge so the country would suffer even more if we did.

I've already acknowledged that questioning my own principle suggests i believe dwp staff are unprincipled, wasn't intended and isn't what I think. Values are very personal and i can accept there are many different perspectives. Ive been intereeted to read many of them here.

Just because we live in a democracy does not - for me - mean we should suspend thinking about or questioning what we do. That civil servants are impartial is basic. It does not have to logically follow that it is acceptable to do any civil service job.

I was a civil servant for many years. Worked on lots i was pleased to work on, including some decisions i felt were unwise. Moved from a policy area when asked to work on something where the risks to a vulnerable group were being ignored. But i had more choices then. I didn't have to differentiate between not wanting to be part of something compared to it being "wrong" to be part of it. This is what I was contemplating last night. Albeit in a not particularly well thought out way. Completing job applications through the night means I might not have thought things through well and might be waffling a bit now.

There are many posts here I haven't been able to acknowledge but have helped me see different perspectives. Thanks.

I've been hoping the big pile of money headed to Citizens Advice might generate local jobs but none yet!

Sadly, this isn't very likely to happen. I was a CAB trustee for years, they often had these big windfalls from business etc (£1m from some utility misselling etc,) it never made its way to branches, it would be 'invested' in training, software etc all at head office. And at branch level we had to implement the training on our still meagre budgets (my last two years we ran a deficit budget, using reserves to pay people), do all the audits and follow all the strict requirements to maintain our CAB membership and use volunteers for the actual advice.

A friend of mine worked for them for a year. she tried really hard to help everyone she spoke to over the phone and give them good advice. Working for dwp didn't really sit well with her principles but she did the best she could for her clients .
In the end she quit not so much because of the job but because as employers they were arseholes.
Timed toilet breaks for grown ups is a joke.

Long time ago a friend was in a job that she felt was unethical. Colleague told her if you’re not here calling us on any wrong doing, we are doomed! Go for it. And do your best.

I worked for the DWP - as an Administrative Officer, and I didn't notice my scruples being compromised - maybe because this was a few years back, and I wasn't taking decisions on people's benefits. It all depends what you do, no ?

I couldn't - even on pain of starvation - work in telesales or cold calling, though, so horses for courses

I worked for the same people decades ago when it was the DHSS..I was in the supplementary benefits section and it was a great place to work...this was the mid 70's and the country was in the crapper...we felt that we were there to help people and to do the right thing by them..it was a young department that was really equal opportunities and we were part of a great team. We worked bloody hard..I can remember interviewing 8 people every morning about their circumstances then manually calculating, yes without calculators, their entitlements...every time their rent , mortgage, number or age of children changed we had to re-assess..and everything was double checked for accuracy...then the Giros were issued..on the same day...in short we cared about doing a good job. I was proud to be there...
Now...I don't know ...I don't think staff are treated the same..too many tasks have been relegated to automation and call centre staff who have to comp!y with computer instructions..there seems to be no room for free analysis of anyone's situation and no freedom of thought. .Staff are expected to tow. the line.
For you...it is a job and you will get a valuable insight into departmental policies that will help you in the future and as PP's have said you may be the human face that can change someone's outcomes. ..In your place I would go for it...but keep your own values.
Good luck..for what it is worth I really wish I had stayed with that department..I left on promotion to a much older , ostensibly more prestigious place which turned out to be a sexist hell.Regretted it for years.

Try anything else first, it's not good to sacrifice your principles, it'd make you feel really stressed and shitty. But if you have to go ahead, try to help the punters as much as you can.

It’s better than being a traffic warden!

Gosh I find some of these posts utterly bizarre - and am disappointed someone so prolific as birds hasn't come back to reason her 'twat' claim.

The vast amount of people working for DWP and the NHS aren't 'twats' and in my experience will go the extra mile for service users.

I do however appreciate there are some arseholes in the job. Just like in any other company.

a1poshpaws Fri 30-Nov-18 22:18:57
Try anything else first, it's not good to sacrifice your principles, it'd make you feel really stressed and shitty. But if you have to go ahead, try to help the punters as much as you can.

I'm genuinely perplexed at what principles?? The DWP covers a vast area such as pensions, tax queries etc - not just benefit claimants. And the agents who work for the DWP adhere to what our politicians have deemed fair (that's another thread and one which I will be vocal about re UC)

As I've said I work in the NHS - thankfully the majority appreciate it - a minority are so entitled, want their results the next day when they've been advised it takes up to a week and are basically downright rude - when I pride myself on helping people!

Disgusts me and unfortunately has an effect on genuine people because of the vile minority

When I was looking for a job, after not working for a while,I was very grateful to the women at the Kingston benefits office who kept me looking for jobs, and asked me how many applications I had made, and got in touch with some local companies. I met kind and considerate people who pushed me to get a job when I would have made excuses. If you don't like Universal Credit, write to your MP and to the Prime Minister. It seems to be a question if sorting our payments into some sort of averaging system which looks at cumulative pay. This is a programming problem made worse by an inflexible culture in management. IT people in other areas beside the Civil Service are paid far more money. The civil service needs good competent IT people who design the system with users.

Unless you are going to be destitute you'd have to be an absolute twat to work for the DWP

I think if I was in a tight spot, I’d do it for a few months, missing my sanction targets and dispensing small acts of kindness where I could. Meanwhile keep looking for something better and hope to be gone before performance procedures kick in.

I have recently retired (early) after working in DWP for many years. Work conditions in DWP surpass most as far as dignity in the workplace/ equal ops is concerned. People who work there are lovely and kind ( for the most part) and you will make new friends as well as earning a decent wage and investing in a good pension.
The changes due to UC make the system complex and sometimes unfair. We seem to be turning our backs and distancing ourselves from those most vulnerable in our society. But this is government policy. As a civil servant your role is to implement policy. This is a democracy we can influence policy at polling stations and by contacting our MP. At the front face in Jobcentre we can do a lot to help our customers into work and this can be rewarding. I had no difficulty or conflict in principles doing that job
So enjoying my retirement now!

I wouldn’t be fussy. It’s work. Be proud.

The DWP needs moral people. I have had good and bad experience (I am severely disabled) and it makes all the difference.

Even the PIP assessment was - not pleasant - fair and they listened.

I have been to a lot of interviews as advocate, and in many cases it is really difficult to find out the truth. Not because of dishonesty but inarticulacy, poor vocabulary, low comprehension etc. A good person sees that and goes that extra mile. Others just don't.

I’d take whatever job I had offered to me to keep a roof over my babies heads if I had to.

Not RTFT but no I couldn’t.... even if you’re getting paid to do something unethical- you’re still aiding those that made the decisions to do something unethical by doing it on their behalf’s. No. No. No. I’d do prostitution first.

I don’t actually know what this job involves but if you’re hesitant then look frcsimthing else! Does it pay well?

So many weird perceptions on this thread. You do realise that if it weren’t for the DWP people then no one would even get any benefits because there wouldn’t be anyone to administer them right? And hedge fund managers help people make sure their pensions accumulate wealth rather than dwindling to nothing as inflation devalues currency. I could go on. In contrast to being unemployed and taking money from people who actually work and contribute to society. There is no such things as a downright immoral job (unless it’s an illegal one). You may not agree with the politics of a certain organisation but by working instead of leaching off taxpayers you are still giving something useful to society.

You know what, if you really need a job, you do it. I've done temping for months before, one temping job doing political survey calls for 8 hours a day. Not the best job in the world but I have bills to pay. You can always carry on looking even if you take this job and then find something better

I work for the department now and most of what I have read on this thread may have happened before my time but certainly isn’t the case now. I had reservations too when I joined. It has its highs and lows the same as any other job and the press make it very hard to stay positive when you only hear the negative but I hear the positive day in day out which makes it worthwhile.

@Cookiesagain do what you need to and bring as much kindness and compassion to the role as you can. Look for something else later but at least get back on the work ladder.

As a work coach in DWP you will require a positive attitude to encourage the customers into work. You need to apply the same attitude to your own employment. But you seem to be focusing on reasons not to take the job. This is not a good mind set and will make you remain unemployed. I have already told you some of the good points of working for DWP. The rest is up to you. Good luck. You will not regret it if you take the chance. You will have a long time to regret it if you don’t.