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Thread: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    2,446

    Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Hello Friends,

    Hope u don't mind but I just had to vent for a minute.

    Today I went to my local jobcentre for a 3 month interview following commencing signing on. Well frankly I feel like banging my head off a brick wall.

    I resigned from my job at the hospital on health grounds in Dec 2009, as I just could not cope with the demands of A&E and the stress had become too much. My anxiety, panic attacks and DP returned with a vengeance and after years of a mental rollercoaster I decided enough was enough. It was a very hard decision to make, but one I had to make.

    It took a while for me to get my head sorted out and deal with my anxiety again after starting meds again, but during that time I was looking for work anyway, although I was very scared at starting something new.

    After 16 months of living off my savings and help from my family, I started to claim jobseekers as it got to a stage I just had to. I dug my heels in for ages as I really, really did not want to claim as I HATE the jobcentre. I find it demoralising, depressing, demeaning and to be honest stomach churning. Everyone was telling me to claim as I was entitled, but I did everything I could not to.

    So.......3 months down the line I had another 'job advisor' intervew. The woman I saw asked me how the job search was going, to which I said well, not great but the jobs I am seeking are hard to come by (school nursing/welfare assistant/GP auxiliary nurse, normal working week, no shifts) and are few and far between. I am a kids nurse too so my options are limited as adult positions are more readily availbale. Well she wasn't happy with this. She said my job search was 'too narrow' and i needed to look 'outside at other things'. I told her I had. My original agreement was to search for ' admin, nursing and retail' but retail and admin jobs were not working out for me as they all want experience for retail and specific computer skills for admin which I dont have. I have applied for tens of retail jobs to no availl. She said that the job I was seeking was ' too limited' and maybe I should look for other jobs apart from nursing, to which I told her I was a reg. nurse, i had a diploma and I could not just sit on a diploma and not use those skills. She looked at me blankly.

    To cut a long story short I felt pressured, like I was leeching off the state and that I was digging in my heels as far as work is concerned. I also explained to her about my anxiety and stress problems, so NHS nursing was a no no at this time after 12 years, but she simply ignored this and said ' so u cant look for any NHS work then?'

    She also reminded me that after 6 months on JSA they would be scrapping job 'options' and I would have to search 'outside the box' and get any job if I could do it.

    I told her that I would stop claiming all together rather than have the DWP force me into a job I don't want, to which she looked gobsmacked. I told her I had worked all my life since the age of 18 except for 3 yrs at Uni and yet I was being hounded after 3 months on benefits when some people never work a day in their lives and sit on benefits for years. She had no answer for that except, 'well yes, but those people have to have regular job centre follow ups too......YEH RIGHT.

    I tried all I could to explain my situation and that my anxieties and stress problems meant that I had to be fairly specific in terms of my work now as I wanted to stick in a job that doesnt flare everything up again, but she just was not receptive.

    It angers me so much and has made me want to jack in my claim immediately. I am not in a position to do so however.

    Sorry...just needed to let rip.xxxx
    Last edited by debs71; 25-07-11 at 17:19.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    13,533

    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    HERE HERE!!!! Well said Debs.

    I completely agree with everything you said. My best friend (qualified librarian) until recent council cuts, went to the job centre last week armed with all the information regarding jobs she had applied for and interview dates. The advisor didn't look through my friends paperwork properly and started asking her questions. Mo (my friend) had to keep telling the advisor to read the paperwork properly as all the information was in there.

    This happened about four times until the advisor was drawing her daggers. Lol

    I have a lovely advisor but i know so many of them are just plain nasty.

    Big hugs hun and take no notice



    Lisa
    xxx
    __________________
    "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice". Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself and you won't go far wrong.

  3. #3
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    Sep 2010
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    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Thanks so much Lisa xxxx

    It just really got my goat. That has also happened to me with the paperwork you have to keep about your job searches. Some of the 'advisors' (I use that term loosely, lol) there immediately ask for those and scan them scrupulously, and yet others couldn't give a monkeys!!

    The whole place is ludicrous IMO and it appears there is one rule for some, and one for another, and usually the people that are actually trying desperately to get work are hounded, and yet others can do as they like.

    Oh well....deep breaths I suppose, lol.

    Thanks again BB.xxxxx

  4. #4
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    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Debs I can really feel for you as I am in the same position as well.

    I also lose all my benefits in just over a week as I have had JSA for 6 months and then it is means tested so I won't get anything at all.

    The jobs they found for me were a double glazing salesperson and working in a call centre which I refused to do!
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  5. #5
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    Jul 2008
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    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Debs I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I have had long periods away from the workforce either in hospital or on the old incapacity benefit. I know that I wouldn't last five minutes in the new system. I appeciate that wherever you live in the country that there are very few jobs available in any field. I work in a specialist shop and as people leave my boss is not replacing them. He is offering us more hours and weekends to cover. There has been a lot of uncertainty as the boss hopes to convert the top two floors into a flat so we will lose a workshop and storeroom and kitchen. Uncertainty all round. Part-time doesn't really mean part-time any more. It seems that employers can expect someone to work different hours each week and have no set hours or pattern of work and still call it part-time. I hope that you are able to find suitable work very soon. EJ.

  6. #6
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    Oct 2008
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    4,936

    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Sorry you had to go through this Debs ..Being married you dont get anything if your partner is working ..While others breed like rabbits and live like theres no tomorrow off the state ,Never had a job in their liife ..Disgraceful ..Hold your head up and take no prisoners ..Cheeky swines .Hope you find something suitable soon .Many are in the same boat and the system stinks ..

    Nic ..Hope when you were offered the Double glazing job ..you told them to BOGOF ...? ..Good luck everyone in the same boat too ..Sue x

  7. #7
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    Sep 2010
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    3,750

    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Hiya Deb my lovely mate x
    I hear everything you say and agree 100%. The job centre is so depressing. How dare she make you feel that way and talk to you in such a manner....It sounds like a gestapo interview to me! Why didnt she tie you to the chair and stick a 100 watt lightbulb in your face too and go the whole hog!??

    Im glad you made it clear youd rather give up the pittance they offer you rather than take a job which will probably end up making you ill. Well done for standing by your principles. I know its hard. I had to choose between paying the bills (overdue already) or buying food. So, money is tight, but its not everything yes......you will find something you want to do I know it. Im a firm believer in Karma, and you will get that job you want...you are too wonderful not too. Anyone would be proud to work with you, you just hold on til the time is right for you. Keep your chin up kiddo x
    Last edited by paula lynne; 25-07-11 at 19:11.

  8. #8
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    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Thanks so much Nic, EJ and Sue for the lovely replies.xxxxx


    Oh Nic u made me laugh.....double glazing salesperson!!!!!! They just take the mickey, they really do. So sorry to hear of your situation, which totally sucks.

    I think that in all honesty they just want to shove you in to any job role to take you off benefits, but at the end of the day, their interest in whether you are suited to or happy in a job without it potentially creating anxiety again is a non-starter.

    You're right Sue, it is so imbalanced, the whole system.

    xxxx

  9. #9
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    Sep 2010
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    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    Paula, you always brighten my day....thanks so much for your lovely words and support.xxxxx Hope you are ok.

    I'm like you hun. The only reason I am claiming at all is to pay my one credit card bill and to give my Mum some cash for housekeeping. Were it not for that I would live on bread and water rather than take a penny from the state. Of course I am more fortunate than many as I am living with family so don't have to pay a proper rent/mortage. Goodness knows how pressured those poor people must feel by the DWP.


    xxxxxx

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    51

    Re: Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

    I've had similar experiences with the Job Centre. I had to sign on in January when my maternity cover contract as a teacher ended. When asked about what jobs I'd like to search for, I replied with just teaching jobs, the "advisor" said it was too specific and that I should add retail and customer service jobs into the search. I told him I hadn't worked on a 2 year BTEC, and a 3 year degree, racking up thousands of pounds of student debt to work in a shop! He refused to back down so I said well I'm not signing an agreement that states I have to look for and take jobs in areas I don't want to work in, only then did he let me just say teaching. While I was on JSA I did a couple of days as a supply teacher, earning about £100 a day - the Job Centre found this so difficult to process as they couldn't grasp that I wasn't working in a part time job, and wasn't contracted a specific number of hours a week, they made me feel so guilty for trying to get my face into schools and earn some cash. One advisor actually told me it would be much easier for me to not do the supply work as it would save the hassle of working through the paper work. Another advisor thought I was lying about my wage as a supply teacher, I said I earned £100 a day and he said "no, it'll be minimum wage" he just wouldn't listen. He also refused to put my occupation down as a teacher - he kept saying "we'll just say teaching assistant shall we?", I was like no, that's not my job but he was too incompetent to understand.

    In the end I signed off from JSA, half through choice (sick of the hassle involved with the demoralising, needless meetings and lectures) and half through necessity - I moved in with my boyfriend and the advisors told me his wage would stop me being allowed to claim JSA despite him not giving me a penny.

    It really annoys me when people who need to make genuine claims are treat like idiots but yet people who scrounge off the state are welcomed into the setting. One guy when I was up at the job centre was shrieking at an advisor as his Sky tv bill hadn't been paid for him and he was having to use his "booze n fags" money for it! It was at that moment I realised I'd be better off without the benefits!

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