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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have thought the jobcentre was meant to help you find a job?

144 replies

Houseonahill · 25/02/2019 13:20

Just had an appointment with my work coach as after a few really hard years and only working part-time since having DD I wanted some advice on my options.

I am currently unqualified (the last exams i did were GCSEs) but would like to go and train to be a counsellor I asked how training would work with UC and if I was allowed to do a full time course (I'm a single mum and can't get child care evenings and weekends so working while doing it would be hard). The answer was she didn't know.

I asked if they could help me find a college/uni or if there is any they recommend or just any advice on it really as I'm new to the area. She gave me a leaflet for a company that will help you write a CV?!

I asked if my current zero hour contract at the pub would result in me being sanctioned as when I went back to work after maternity I went back full time but wasn't coping with being a single mum to a 6 month old and working full time so dropped my hours to 20 a week and they tried to sanction me and it took months of arguing and letters from my GP and MP for them to agree not to sanction me so I was worried if I had lots of hours one month and not many the next that would count as voluntarily dropping hours and I would be sanctioned........She didn't know.

She then went on to suggest I apply for a job in asda or as a home carer for elderly or disabled people???? Where did that even come from? I have a job and a plan for my future?

So basically, they know nothing about UC and how it works and can't or won't help me get back into training so I can eventually earn enough money to not rely on benefits to top up my wages. What exactly is they are meant to be doing if it's none of the above?

Grrr sorry for the rant.

OP posts:
IM0GEN · 25/02/2019 18:45

OP - if you cant work evenings and weekends, how are you going to work as a counsellor in the private sector ?

Are you sure there are permanent full time jobs in this field? Most counsellors i know do part time sessional work.I’m not sure it’s the best career for a reliable income to support a family.

Also, do you have an introduction to counselling qualification or a certificate in counselling skills already ? You can do these part time ( evenings or weekends ) at a local college. You should also get some voluntary work experience.

HelenaDove · 25/02/2019 18:49

The fact that you see care work just as wiping bums says a lot about you Irma There is a hell of a lot more to it than that.

Comforting them when the rellies dont turn up to visit yet again.

One of the women in the care home i worked in in 1990/91 used to fly Spitfires, She was interesting to talk to and a right laugh.

Then there was the What the Butler Saw model...........

whiskeysourpuss · 25/02/2019 19:13

This thread has certainly made me look forward to the appointment I have at the jobcentre tomorrow!

Thankfully it's not as a claimant but I've had dealings with UC over the phone & although some have been helpful I have had a few complete tossers who's attitudes took drastic u-turns when I advised them that I'm not a claimant but a professional calling on behalf of a claimant Hmm

I used to work in a JC many moons ago - we were told if they don't ask about a specific benefit don't tell them. Basically if they ask about IS & they aren't eligible for it don't tell them they may get JSA.

I've also had to sign on. I was working but very little hours so could still claim £20 a week. It was horrific & they were awful... the final straw for me was the following conversation:

Adviser: why didn't you look for work that day?

Me: that was Christmas Day I was a bit busy what with having 3 kids & family to visit

Adviser: looking for a job is a 7 day a week requirement

Me: did you work on Christmas Day... thought not... you know what shove the £20 I'd rather do without it than put up with this any longer

She probably got a fucking bonus for getting me off her list!

0rangeB0ttle · 25/02/2019 19:27

It may be better if you looked for a job that includes the opportunity to complete some free courses. Example in one of my job roles I had to attend work an hour early to join a virtual class for an hour, that took several months to complete. This eventually resulted in a recognised qualification. Therefore I didn't mind attending work early.

RomanyQueen1 · 25/02/2019 19:32

The job centre stopped concerning itself with jobs when they started closing them and turning them into benefit centres.
There was a time you went to the job centre when you wanted a job, it was their only business tbh.
No idea what they do there now, apart from give out standard advice like get a job Grin

ArmchairTraveller · 25/02/2019 19:36

Apparently a lot of jobs are going to be at risk in the next decade or so, due to increased automation and AI. Sounds as if everyone at the JC could be replaced by a computer interface.

HoraceCope · 25/02/2019 19:47

@Irma such ignorance about care workers

staydazzling · 25/02/2019 19:57

eh? how many ex cons have you worked with in care homes?? isn't that was cbs/dba's are for?? I totally agree about forcing people into care homes is dead wrong not everyone is suited , you need to have a certain temperament.

leopardprintpillboxhat · 25/02/2019 20:02

The clue is in the name: Jobcentre! Not careers advice service.
Any job is better than no job surely, as long as it pays min wage or more and covers travel costs.
Work Coaches are there to coach you into getting yourself into work, the public purse can not and should not sustain career changers.
Degree students have to take out student loans, no benefits for them!

OnlyTheWelshCanCwtch · 25/02/2019 20:05

The system worked much better when Jobcentres dealt with Unemployment Benefit, and the local offices dealt with all other benefits. And there was a counter section where you could actually go in and speak to someone
The telephone system of contact is draining, as much as staff try to deal with calls at first contact, invariably you need a callback too.

Work coaches and DWP staff aren't ogres. They are just normal people trying to earn a living

LikeYouSaid · 25/02/2019 20:05

I recall a few years back my job coach told me I was better off on benefits and to ‘keep fudging my job searchs’ Hmm I was genuinely looking too, using the money to put my DC with a babysitter whilst I travelled for interviews etc. When I went to ask if there was any help available for funding for travel / childcare my coach was incredibly unhelpful and seemed more inclined to offer advise on how to cheat the system than help me Angry

Tomtontom · 25/02/2019 20:06

The clue is in the name: Jobcentre

Very few people get jobs through the Jobcentre.

Work Coaches are there to coach you into getting yourself into work

No, work coaches are there to administer benefit claims. They have no expertise in coaching.

If you're going to make smug comments, at least try to have the first idea of what you're talking about.

HelenaDove · 25/02/2019 20:07

"Any job is better than no job surely, "

Including sex work?

NameChanger22 · 25/02/2019 20:10

I've only ever been a job centre once in my life. I was a student at the time, back in about 1992, I went in because a friend was signing on. I saw a job in there at 75p an hour, I was disgusted and I've never been inside a job centre ever since.

Madein1995 · 25/02/2019 20:12

Also agree that care work is pushed on people, I was UC and had it suggested. No matter how many times I explained that I don't drive and crucially, do not have the will to be a carer. It's not as though caring is like factory work. It isn't suited to everyone. Don't our elderly deserve staff that actually care?!

Those attitudes towards nurseries and care homes are part of the problem. Low wages, shit hours and low qualification requirements mean many staff see it as 'just a job'. When in reality caring isn't, you need a certain personality to be a carer. This is why you hear stories of neglect in care homes, because many of the staff see it as a job and not a vocation. Things need to be turned around. Wasn't nursing viewed in a similar light once? A good step would be raising entrance conditions and pay.

Madein1995 · 25/02/2019 20:13

Although I'm sure by 'any job' the person meant a job that is legal and that you have to apply for! Supermarket, factory, warehouse, etc, not sex work or making dolls or flogging Younique products

leopardprintpillboxhat · 25/02/2019 20:16

Sex work is not and never has been promoted by Jobcentres as suitable employment! A ‘Job’ needs to be ethical and morally acceptable by claimants and society at large.
Why mention sex work? No one at Jobcentres would ever offer or suggest this route.

crackofdoom · 25/02/2019 20:19

I got a job from an advert in a job centre once. In about 1996, it was. In London.

(wonders if she may have been the last person ever to have done so).

leopardprintpillboxhat · 25/02/2019 20:21

Work Coaches are actually trained in coaching skills.
Benefit admin is not their job now at all. That is now done in remote centres.
Some Coaches are lazy and should be put out to grass.
Some are good.
We are all taxpayers\or hoping to be,we need some realism as to what can be delivered and what is expected.

HelenaDove · 25/02/2019 20:22

Because a pp said "Any job is better than no job"

HelenaDove · 25/02/2019 20:24

NameChanger 1992 was when the wages councils started being abolished. I was seeing jobs for £1 an hour in our local JC in 1997

safariboot · 25/02/2019 20:30

Lol. No.

When I was signing on back in 2010, they seemed to basically be there to check that I was looking for work. Since then all the reports are that they've become much more heavy-handed on it, demanding claimants do even more and finding any excuse to stop payments.

I got a bit of advice and support, but that seemed like a minor part of the jobcentre staff's work.

MsFrosty · 25/02/2019 20:34

I rarely have a conversation about starting work. Most of my conversations are benefit related, health related and dealing with housing. Rightly so by the time I see them it's there main concern and I'm dealing with people who have massively complex issues.
I do work in a more deprived area though and we do a lot of partnership work but I def feel massively unrestrained to deal with some people's problems.

Original poster
Houseonahill · 25/02/2019 20:35

A bit off my original topic but I would be more than happy to do care work, I enjoy care work and before DD worked 50+ hours a week as a care worker in the community. I have rang 6 care homes in my area (all the ones I could travel to) before taking this pub job and they ALL said it's 12 hour shifts and Saturday and Sunday every other week except one who said it's 12 hour shifts and Saturday or Sunday one week both the next week and then a weekend off. This also baffles me because they are crying out for care workers and then turning down good experienced people? Also the pay is crap and I would still be reliant on benefit top ups forever and I want to get off benefits and support myself and my DD.

OP posts:
MsFrosty · 25/02/2019 20:35

I would also say we are specifically not allowed to give career advise as we don't have the qualifications, we are only allowed to signpost to careers service for that.