To feel humiliated in the job centre

[Auburngal]

Not been in one for 17 years and now feel awful being in one. Putting a claim for JSA.

I wouldn’t be here if head office of my previous job actually listened to our grievances and dealt the store manager properly ie sacking him. I couldn’t cope any longer with him so handed in my notice. He never acknowledged my letter or said sorry I’m leaving.

i feel worthless, struggling with finding jobs. The interview i had this morning doesn’t start til mid Jan and another one i applied for- early Feb! Signed up to various job websites and some vacancies are posted day after day.

I seriously mess up the “tell me when” questions. The thing is my last job didn’t have any targets as such. That’s not my fault.

Feeling low

I'm the same. Qualified Teacher etc. No work so far as supply .
Joined so many teaching agencies and general agencies but nothing.
CV matched to all agencies,covering letters etc.

The job centre aren't there to help or advise anymore sadly.
They are there to do as much as they can to deter you from claiming any money.
They ought to be renamed the Sanction Centres.

It's grim. I was in your position last year. It's simply a case of keeping applying and applying. I think I was too picky for the first month or so, and should have applied for anything I was even vaguely qualified for. After the Xmas break, lots more jobs were advertised (in my field anyway.)

@Auburngal - take a look at guidance for Competency Based Interviews. Something like these pages: How to answer the most common competency-based interview questions in 2025. | Totaljobs
13 Competency-Based Interview Questions and How To Prepare for the Interview | Indeed.com
I used to do a lot of interviewing, using Competency Based Interviewing. You can use lots of examples to hopefully respond. So, you don't need to have run a team, but you can have team-working skills. We used to see a lot of new graduates, and the smart ones used their Uni skills/experience to respond. Do you have a friend/family member who can help run some of these with you?
Having a really good CV, and some really strong examples of how you might respond to a set of desirables/essentials in what's being looked for, means you can have great applications made.

Best of luck to you all

Oh, and be really clear in your responses about what you ACTUALLY did. Saying 'I was involved in changing a system' isn't as helpful as saying 'I was a key member of the team involved in changing the cash handling system, where I took a lead/part in documenting the process/implementing the change/recording the improvement'. Hope that makes sense.

I found the 'tell me about a time when...' questions awkward to answer as well. I found a list of all of the most common ones and jotted down ideas I could say for each one so I had something prepared and that helped me. Also, there are some good Youtube channels on giving good answers using the STAR method that you might want to check out.