Benefits and training - Aibu

[BongoSticks]

I'm due to to swap to job seekers allowance from income support (3 children and recently escaped an abusive relationship so luckily not UC) and after a meeting today I've been left a little amused/annoyed.

I'm just about to finish my PhD and am starting teacher training in September. However I've been told that this isn't acceptable as their conditions mean I need to be available for permanent full time employment and that I'm not to mention it to employers. I've also been told to omit my education past a levels as this will be a negative to many of their employers and therefore I will need to attend a CV workshop to create one.

She said I may be in breach of their contract if I sign it having accepted a training place. I'm rather confused as to what I'm supposed to do when I go next month to sign this contract.

I've worked very hard for my qualifications and without those I have almost nothing to put on a CV!

Has anyone dealt with this? Am I being too silly and unreasonable about lying to potential employers?

No do t change your cv that’s ridiculous. You would have to give up your course though if you find a job. Unsure why you aren’t just living of student loan and tax credits?

Depends what you want to do in the intervening months. I finished a PhD in January last year, worked abroad for 6 months got accepted onto teacher training in September 2018 for a 2019 start. So at the moment I'm doing a SKE for German and working in Greggs. When I was applying for shop jobs I made no secret of my PhD and mentioned that I was thinking of teaching (but didn't mention that I already had a place).

You should not take qualifications off your CV and they should not ask you to do so. You are entitled to look for a job for which you are trained and qualified. Of course, should such a job come up in the next six months (via the job centre, so yup, vanishingly unlikely) then you must apply for it and take it if offered.

No student loan as I paid all my fees before I left my partner, at the moment I'm getting income support to get me through to September. However the youngest turns 3 soon so I have to swap. I'm fine searching for a job, but come September I'll be quitting and doing my course.

So you've already done an undergraduate degree, a masters degree and a PhD and you now want to claim benefits to get even more education?
Maybe it's time to actually get a job with all those qualifications that you've earnt or at the very least live off standard student support rather than benefits. If you want to be a teacher there are programmes to do that while working so get involved in one of them.

User - the pgce is the only route to the job and all benefits will stop once its started. So I won't have even been claiming benefits for a whole year before I'm back to providing for myself after leaving my relationship.

But thanks anyway for the career advice 👍🏼

Actually I could have done schools direct, but the low wage would have meant I was reliant on benefits. Apologies for the error

Do whatever they tell you to do, or you are up for a sanction.

The reason they want you to change your qualifications is to fill a quota of jobs applied for and interviews. If you are over qualified for a job, you won't get an interview.

You aren't going to find a job via them, so go with the flow whilst you need to, for a quiet life.

user139328237, those 'more benefits' will ensure that the OP won't go back onto benefits in the future.

It's an excellent investment for the UK to make. A much better one than paying for the MPs, second home heating bills, 6k each.

"You are entitled to look for a job for which you are trained and qualified"

Once upon a time. But the DWP are the villian of this piece and via the contract you sign, you have to look and take a job to get you off benefits and tailor your CV to fit that.

I don't know what I'm supposed to say in an interview when they question me on skills/education if I provide a CV saying I have none. I probably won't make it to the interview stage I guess, but if I do what do I say in these interviews?

You tell the truth in an interview and say you didn't include your qualifications because they are not relevant for the position advertised. And they won't be, as no one is looking for a PhD holder through the job centre.