To absolutely despise job centre staff?

[backacge]

I receive universal credit to top me up. I am a masters student in a vocational subject that will 100 percent result in a job, I work ten - twelve hours a week, sometimes more and am a single mum. I am trying my best. Over summer I work as often as I can also and make enough that the job centre aren't on my back as I'm earning enough.

Just received a notification that I must attend a work review on Thursday. Number 1 - I have uni that day. Number 2 - what more do they actually want me to do? I am in uni 3 days out the week then the other 2 I am studying. Saturday I work.

I am beyond frustrated. I always find the staff there to be rude and obnoxious and look down their nose at me, even though im probably more qualified than them.

I know many who are in full time work and are doing masters.

Do you think all Masters have the same requirement? If she is doing say a Master's in nursing or occupational therapy or social work or any other Masters that gives you the qualification needed to become part of a regulated profession (because you can have an undergrad degree in psychology or something and then get the Masters to qualify you in the profession you want) then she won't be able to work FT alongside it. They are intensive courses full of placements.

You could’ve continued funding your own lifestyle instead of going for the masters and relied on the handout if you didn’t want to meet with these people who you clearly think are below you.

A full time Masters (eg social work, OT, various others) can't be done part time and involves work placements. Just because some people have managed to work f/t whilst doing so doesn't mean the OP can.

The benefits system is a punitive, inflexible, divisive mess. Its a nonsense that a single parent who is studying fulltime and still earning gets this level of performative hassle when (re)training for the better paid jobs the Tories are extolling us all to find.

There's no need to be sneery about the staff though. They have no choice or agency.

There's no excuse for being rude to people who are just doing their job.

JCP staff do take a heck of a lot of abuse, and often it's no fault of their own, it's just because of the way the system is.

It's not a job that most people would want to do.

It’s not a lot of ‘mays’, it’s one – and the OP has confirmed that she has indeed been a working taxpayer for 25 years.

The second ‘may’ (🙄 lol) was more rhetorical – the overwhelming majority of (if not all) taxpayers are also beneficiaries of the system. That’s the whole point.

Not sure who the comment about degrees and intelligence is addressed to, but in any case I don’t think anyone has argued otherwise.

Well quite, but also just to point out it is actually irrelevent whether or not OP is/ was a taxpayer.

She would still be (rightly) entitled to the same thing under our benefits system.

Perhaps you could have saved money over your 25 years so you wouldn't have to claim UC and not have to lower your standards to those less qualified than you.

Are you doing a Social Work Masters.or something similar ? Well done if you are as the study and placements are like a full time job and as you probably know really hard core. . Just keep focussed on where you are going

You’ll get a hard time here op. I think from now on you will be forced to attend weekly meetings because of the changes Truss has made. They’ve upped the minimum earnings but I don’t think it’s been publicised with all the pound crashing chaos. You’ll have to find a way to make it work I fear or lose the money.

The new regime means anyone on less than £142.50 a week – some 120,000 people, according to the Government’s estimates – will need to attend these sessions or face having their benefits cut.

As for JC staff I found most to be very helpful. Only one I met was an annoying jobsworth. They must be used to dealing with all sorts from all walks of life so they presumably need some personal skills.

Attend the job centre meeting or there’s a high chance you’ll face sanctions which are far worse than missing a day at uni

I don't think your OP did you any favours but I do agree with you that they don't often come across as helpful.

I had a boyfriend who was very intelligent but had low self-esteem and so wasn't good with interviews etc. He found it hard to get a job even though he was really trying. Someone at the centre called him lazy and other mean things which really stuck with him. I get that they'll deal with lots of chancers and people who want to play the system but it's not helpful to be so hostile to everyone.

I went into the job centre once and they asked me what qualifications I had. I told them I had just graduated with a 2.1. The woman then said, "yes but have you got any GCSEs?" I found the whole process ridiculous and prohibitive, never bothered going back!

The number of people who walk into the Jobcentre for the first time with an "I'm more qualified than them" attitude is probably smaller than the number who walk out of there after x number of visits — where JC staff have spoken to them rudely and condescendingly, assumed they're barely literate with no qualifications and asked them to attend very basic courses aimed at that level, acted as if they have no other obligations so can and must attend JC appointments at any random time, and generally adopted a superior and dismissive attitude — and who then, in a defensive way that's entirely understandable if you know anything about human beings, might choose to lash out in an anonymous forum at the patronising way they've been treated and the assumptions made about them and their intelligence and qualifications, with something like "I'm probably more qualified than them".

My personal experience with the Jobcentre has been limited but fine, but people I know well and trust have had the kind of treatment I'm talking about.

We're not hearing from the OP posting before her first trip to the Jobcentre, assuming it's run by thickies and that this really is all beneath her. We're hearing from someone who's been through the bureaucracy mill, and personally I'm willing to give a little leeway for defensive lashing-out. She shouldn't have added that part but it's an understandable reaction to being treated like shit on someone's shoe.

stop claiming uc then and fund your master yourself

exactly.

V true. I think the original post was in response to all the posters offended about OP ‘using taxpayers’ money’ – as if the taxpayers are somewhere else and that’s not the whole point of the system.

Hey OP, sorry you're having a hard time. You didn't come across great but I can see you're just frustrated. As someone who worked there in the last year I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions.

1. It's not about the hours but pay. The 'hours' is based on NMW so if you manage to earn £1227, as it was when I was there, in 5 hrs, were not going to ask you to work more hours as the system will out you in the working enough category.
2. There is no quota on sanctions, those are actually very hard to give and a massive pain paperwork wise. But it is a target based business model. They get the most funding out of any civil service and they are expected to show results. Most often this is targets on appointments. We would regularly be asked to drag claimants in that weren't in the group requiring appointments, just to fill diaries. Same when there is a visit and they need the job centre to look nice and full. It's the same as any business- whatever it takes to justify cost.
3. Students were a massive pain because the system doesn't really recognise you. We had to do a manual adjustment every 3 months on students and if we forgot, the system would throw you into a group requiring appointments and would automatically give you an appointment. I used to get random pissed off students I'd never seen before turn up for appointments. It was annoying for us both. You rarely have enough time to check who's in your diary for that day and get through their whole history. Even if you do manage, you don't want to cancel the appointment on the day as they've likely moved stuff around to come. It just ends up an awkward waste of time as you can't really help and they can't change their situation.
4. If you ever get an appointment you can't attend, send a journal message explaining. It's very hard/impossible to sanction someone who has done this, unless they've done this on 3 appointments running and the work coach has booked and noted the appointment according to sanction guidelines, every time. Make sure you include an alternative date and time. All job centres have Saturday appointments available.
5. There are a lot of people there with much more qualifications than you. It is a soul destroying job. It is so so hard to make a meaningful difference. The rules you're working around are difficult and you're often working within policies you don't agree with. I actually believe you when you say they aren't nice. I had the mispleasure of working with people who treated claimants horribly. The ego trips are real. However, for every horrible work coach I saw 10 horrible claimants. That wears you down, even if you start the job determined to help. Me and my friends used to laugh that after a year you become allergic to empathy as the job just wears down any of that.

Don't allow people to guilt trip you for claiming, you are a tax payer and this is your right. Try to not get annoyed and send a journal message for any cancellations or queries. The phone line people are useless. I've left now so some things might be different, but I hope this is helpful.

I doubt you're more qualified than them to do their job though which is probably what matters.

Yeah sadly they are notoriously unhelpful

The feeling is probably mutual.

This, basically. You're not helping yourself thinking you're better than them. Not a good look.

@FurryDandelionSeekingMissile There's no other courses we could send people on. The government assumes everyone who is on UC is an uneducated clamant. They also refuse to conduct any courses in house. Everything is outsourced. This means that if we send Jonny for a CV workshop, we have no idea what he's learning, who is teaching him and whether it's relevant. But the government requires us to put him on a course, won't give money for a course that'll help of course.
Some JC are better than others and have taken it upon themselves to set up Job clubs and other things.
This is a govt problem not a JC one. When labour was in power there was tons of things available.

Yep social work is what I am doing

They are very rigid, partly because people take the piss and jobcentre staff get jaded.

If you want the money you jump through the hoops, if the money isn't worth the hassle then don't bother, but personally I would suck it up.

Anyway, everyone does a “Master’s” in current, dumbing down times. It has lost its cachet.