To this is absolutely insane! Universal Credit Sanction

[ThisIsInsane]

Adult DD has had an absolute nightmare trying to get a job since she was fired just before Christmas,

She wasn’t happy in the role previous to that so applied for another, got it, gave her resignation. Three days into the new role, she was told, she wasn’t a good fit and immediately fired. She did absolutely nothing wrong btw.

This has massively affected her mental health. She’s never been fired before or been unemployed.

She has literally applied for over 1500 jobs since then, only got two interviews which she wasn’t successful at.

She missed a UC appointment in June. Not sure what exactly happened but she has evidence of her job search. At every appointment they tell her she’s applying for a lot of jobs and there’s noting they can do to help.

They have sanctioned her UC so she has only got £7!

According to the letter she has been sanctioned for 30 days for a first offence of missing one appointment after 6 months in which they have not helped her find a job!

She has an appointment later today and I’m planning to go with her to complain as she isn’t in the right head space to. I just think it’s totally disgusting! She lives at home luckily but can’t pay her phone bill even!

Imagine if she was living on her own and had no support!

AIBU to think this is extreme and unjustifiable punishment?

Agree. Allowing her to stay in bed for so long will just make things worse. I’m in no way minimising mental health issues because sometimes the mere thought of getting out of bed and facing the day is awful, but getting the right support early on is crucial to avoid it deteriorating into an even bigger problem. If she declares a disability to the jobcentre she will hopefully benefit from some extra support once they’re made aware of it.

Just on the recruitment part, that's my industry and I would honestly say in my experience AI is being massively overegged as a reason. All recruiters I am aware of go through CVs manually. You do have to have a well laid out, clear CV that showcases well because there's not a lot of time to get that key bit of info clearly to the recruiter because there are a lot of applications and sadly made worse by people applying for completely irrelevant or using AI to make themselves sound relevant so hard to see the wood for the trees!

My suggestion as she sounds to be in a corporate, niche role is to seek out good recruiters and be proactive (but not stalker!) with them and get registered proactively on their books and don't wait for them to approach her with one particular role. Lots of work can be done speculatively with a strong candidate.

Also - Indeed isn't always the best. I would get her to really carefully look at her LinkedIn profile. Be networking on there. Reach out to relevant companies. Ideally pick up the phone to them. Most companies and recruiters are networking and showcasing roles on LinkedIn that aren't necessarily advertised elsewhere. Get a specialist recruiters opinion on her CV. Can she temp to close the gap? The 6 month gap will start to become more of an issue. Can she do anything freelance with anyone she knows of? The longer she leaves this, the harder it will get. It needs to be treated like a full time job.

It is a tough market. I was made redundant this year and it's difficult. There are an abundance of talented, experienced people on the market so you have to get your head out there. Show people you're motivated. It genuinely does make a difference. Just 'applying' is unfortunately not enough atm. I also doubt they are 'fake' roles. It may be one role out with numerous recruiters etc but the recruiters do have roles otherwise they wouldn't be in business!

She needs to tailor her application and send 200 strong ones instead of 1000 generic ones. People can spot that by a mile.

I don’t understand why you feel entitled to taxpayers money when she didn’t even bother to make her appointment.

What do you think will help her get a job? The hard part is if she deteriorates more with MH and just ability to get back into work.

I’d focus on that more than battling over a sanction.

So sorry to hear this OP, and to hear what your daughter's going through. Sounds awful. Job hunting is a nightmare at the best of times, and honestly, she sounds like she may have a bit of depression and might need additional support if she's sleeping so much. That's how it manifests for me most often. Anyway, YANBU - Universal Credit can be awful to deal with - my hubby was being pressured into interviewing for low-pay labour roles, over an hour away even though he's highly skilled, doesn't have a car and they were even failing to call him when they had scheduled to! He finally found a role himself and his online journal is still incomplete as they never even bothered to talk with or congratulate him after he declared it. £7 is an absolute joke, and designed to panic your daughter into complying with their processes. They will resolve it, but she needs to speak to them herself and unfortunately (as others have said) they do hold the power, however unfair it may be. Play the game, see if your daughter may need some MH support, I would suggest looking into career coaching & possibly some volunteering if she has the headspace for it. Crossed fingers for you both! x

Just on applying for jobs, Indeed is not great as you can just upload your cv etc with no real tailoring effort. She needs to adapt her CV and CL for every job, and go to the company website to apply direct. Lots of companies barely really look at the applications through 3rd party sites as they are generally very poor.

It sounds like she's bright but that is a bonkers application record - the job market is not that hard if you're applying for the right jobs in the right way.

McDonald's is hiring the best way to get the job is say he wants full time work. He can change his hours when he goes back to uni or college. Carer's are always wanted.

Op, tell her to run her CV through resymatch.io to check if it gets past the AI

There’s a recruitment freeze in many areas . In England especially NQN can’t find jobs once they graduate. Many are working in coffee shops etc despite having their PIN

Well, at least four things: whatever it was in her attitude that got her fired, lying to you about what got her fired (you're still falling for it, clearly, but it just doesn't add up), thinking she doesn't have to attend UC benefits appointments, and thinking she can let her mother fight her battles for her at 25 (normal adults don't let their mums attend routine appointments with them).

I know you want to help her, but if you keep making excuses for her, it will only hinder her in the end. You have to let her grow up.

Hello OP,

3 things to do this week :

• Volunteering
• Online Course
• Gym

This will be a good start for your daughter and then she can move forward as I know it is really tough out there.

What are the volunteering opportunities like in your area as I would suggest she gets something ... anything (Oxfam Bookshop, Animal Shelter, Shelter, Save The Children) at least so she can have that on her CV and it will be good for her MH too.

Volunteering looks great on a CV and is a good way to make new contacts too and get your daughter out of bed!

Have a look on your local Council Website for volunteering opportunities too.

Online Courses - there are so many she could do ... what are her interests?

Gym - encourage to go to a gym as again this will be good or her MN, it will get her out of bed and again a great way to make new contacts.

Apologies, have not read the whole thread but will do once I can.

Where in the SE are you ... if you want to share ...

Good luck!

Dear OP,
I’m a recruitment manager and whilst the job market has taken a downturn since March/April, applying for that many jobs and only getting 2 interviews is a worry and must make her DD depressed. I’d genuinely like to offer my help if she wishes, to inbox me and send me her cv, I can help make it stand out to a potential employer. Is she going into the interviews with a positive disposition (even if she has to put it on, it’s necessary to appear confident). All the best.

I agree. But there’s no recruitment freeze in teaching, which is why I suggested that.

It's a case of everyone bring treated the same. For every person genuinely missing one appointment due to an oversight, there's probably a dozen more deliberately missing their appointments because they cant be arsed. The job centre have to treat all claimants the same.

There is in nursing which is what I was referring to

What a star you are @Lemonysnipit ... sending good vibes all round!

But they don’t though. If you contact them with a reason and proof, then you don’t get sanctioned. Even if you just contact them immediately, you’re only sanctioned for 7 days. You can even just change your appointment if you contact in advance and you won’t get sanctioned. But if you have an actual reason, then you’re fine. So they don’t treat everyone the same. They only sanction the people who simply didn’t turn up with no reason; that’s the OP daughter.

The OP’s daughter has nothing wrong with her and no reason for missing it, so that’s 7 days but then she also didn’t bother to contact them so that’s all the other days added on.

Agency tomorrow.
She needs to get any job now else she'll disappear into herself.

Locally we have an organisation called 'get Oldham working '. They do the stuff you'd think the job centre should.
Is there anything similar near you?

How old is she OP and why are you letting her sleep in all bloody day?

What makes you think this young woman has got what it takes to become a teacher...

I actually think “good for her” for telling the MD he was rude for being rude - and having a backbone and integrity, even though it cost her her job!! Not many people really stand up for what is right if there is a risk they can lose their jobs!

She’s been through a lot recently with being assaulted twice and fired from a job and sounds like she’s avoiding life and the world by sleeping a lot. It sounds like building her confidence back up is the first thing to do - could you afford to pay for some therapy for her? Can she volunteer for a short while/ get a lower paid job to get back into a structure and rhythm and build her confidence back up?

Can you check if she’s having nightmares or flashbacks from either of the assaults, also just wondering if she might be experiencing any trauma symptoms, if so EMDR might be helpful.

If what you’ve said is accurate, this is an awful situation. I’m so sorry, she sounds like she’s had a very difficult time. Would she consider more education - college to retrain into something she loves? Change direction and travel, work abroad doing something fun, just do something to give her some space. When you are down, the world just wants to knock you harder 😢

This is possibly not her first sanction if she has been sanctioned for a month, they increase the more failures to attend appointments or complete actions that you do.

Complaining it's not fair won't so anything, she (not you) needs to give a reason why she didn't attend and ask for a mandatory reconsideration. For example, if her mental health is bad, has she reported this to UC? (Report a change - health from her home page) if her mental health is making her more forgetful, she has difficulty concentrating, this could be evidence for a mandatory reconsideration.

Is her mental health affecting her ability to work? Does she need see a GP or get some mental health support?

Oh, fair. I didn’t know