Jobcentre interview...arrrghhhhhh!!

[stuart39]

this is a tricky one. i kind of know where youre coming from. for me i would have been quite happy to sign on every fortnight and just quietly live on the jobseekers allowance until all my health issues were sorted. but you can get caught between a rock and a hard place. on the one hand if you were successful in getting another job would it be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire? many people suffer jobs they feel they cannot do to their best ability not because they hate the job but because their health problems creep in and affect their work or put them into situations they cannot cope with ie: for me its - social gatherings involving meals.
you have to show the jobcentre staff every 2 weeks that you are seeking work and i dont think there is any mechanism for people certainly like me who wish to take time to seek help and recover. i wouldnt want to place undue pressure on an employer for whom id worked for a few months or years by then getting a doctors note and taking months off expecting to be paid (nice as that would be).
i was due to start a new job today and didnt turn up for it! this was out of sheer frustration anxiety and a lack of balls all because of the dysphagia. not sure if my comments help but i do know what youre going through.

[debs71]

That's what I was kind of attempting to get across to the 'advisor' as well Stuart.

My way of looking at it is that I not only want to use the diploma I have, but I also want - and more's the point - NEED to be in a job that is suitable for me in terms of not flaring up my anxiety again, which then prevents me from working, and eventually puts me back on the dole again, as that completely defeats the whole object. I so wish it was as simple as just saying 'oh anything will do' but it just won't.

Maybe it comes across as picky and prima donna-ish to some, but I damn well think I have earned the right to find a suitable and appropriate job after paying my taxes for many years and not claiming a penny.

Unfortunately, there is no leeway with this as far as the DWP is concerned, as as far as they are concerned, any job is a good one.

My philosophy is that the DWP don't live my life.....I do.

[stuart39]

mmm....the only thing i can think of is that the cuts are already eating into the numbers of staff at jobcentres. my JC has cut lots of advisors meaning the ones left have less time with each jobseeker. as bad as this sounds it could mean youre far less likely in the future to be unecessarily "grilled" or corraled into a job you do not want to do.
it is annoying to be put through some serious hoops by the DWP when youve paid into the system for year after year to pay for the lifetime spongers with no intention of working to have their 42" plasmas, beer and fags and tommi hilfiger clothes and gold chains etc.
the system has no slack in it to cater for people like us who want to work who want to progress but just need to get sorted first. exactly like you i survived for so long using up some of my savings and now they are dwindling. you feel caught in a circle.
is there a particular health issue that your anxiety is being fed off or is it just an anxiety in isoltion? usually there is something else underlying. for me all my outward signs result directly from the dysphagia. get through that and my other issues will melt away.

[snowgoose]

oooooh Debs

cant say anything that the other lovely postees havent .
it is just brutal and awful !!! so feel for you xx

been through similar myself when I had to leave my 35 year nursing vocation.
waking up each night with nightmares and weeping in my sleep .
went to job centre and got only care roles offered .........the reason I left was I was burnt out .......could have stayed and got paid half pay .
in the end I was hounded off job seekers cos I refused the sort of work that made me so ill in the first place . coudnt do it anymore . horrible tick box tyrants .

stay strong lovely lady ...............so sad this has happened to you. xxx

[eight days a week]

Call me cynical but I don't think the real (not the headline) unemployment figures have really dropped at all recently...I think it's just the staff being told to get stricter and deter more (often genuine people) from claiming/continuing to claim...

In my experience, just as with ESA it seems, it's the honest claimants who don't know how to 'play the system' who are disproportionately put off. I certainly felt picked on at my interviews, just because I was mild-mannered, and not particularly assertive way back then (also going through a very difficult and emotional time with two critically-ill family members).

I'm on ESA now, but when I feel able to change back to JSA I'm not going to take any shit from these people. I'll go for their interviews if that makes the difference, but if it's not something I feel able to do I'll tell the employers that straight to their faces. I'll also tell them (if it's not what I'm after) that I'll still be looking for something else which is if I start work with them.

If I feel able to do the job and they're happy to take me on, possibly very short-term, then great Otherwise I will continue to expect the money I have every right to from JSA.

It sickens me that people who are honestly entitled to this not-large amount of money each week are being bullied off it

/rant over

Debs, you seem very able of doing something productive right now, have you thought of voluntary work? It looks good on the CV to keep busy if you can, and you honestly never know, you might find something that interests you and that is different but a job opportunity comes up because of it. You have those qualifications and experience, so you can always go back to your career once you have some money coming in (like me with my teaching)

[snowgoose]

just an addition here

my mum is in a care home . lots of stuff in the press about the owners recently .
so good staff have been leaving obviously .
and the vacancies have been filled by resentful uninterested others who are forced into it .
I know it has to be done ................but it is awful to see [going in daily now ]
no answer I know .......

[debs71]

is there a particular health issue that your anxiety is being fed off or is it just an anxiety in isoltion? usually there is something else underlying. for me all my outward signs result directly from the dysphagia. get through that and my other issues will melt away.

It's kind of complex really Stuart. I hadn't been happy in my job for many, many years, but I carried on regardless. I knew from early on in my career that I was not dealing with the stress of the job very well at all. I would feel panicked and under pressure against time deadlines and keeping up with other nurses and their ability to handle pressure and workloads. When I first became 'in charge' on shift I remember feeling so overwhelmed I locked myself briefly in the toilet and cried, then went back out again on the ward. I felt I was not cut out for nursing, but I stayed in it as I felt that if I didn't then I had wasted 3 years at Uni. I then changed to bank nursing so I could work what hours I wanted, but even so, the two or three shifts I worked I still felt very stressed.

It culminated in a slow burn that lead to me becoming physically ill, so I couldn't work, then depression, then anxiety, panic and a breakdown.

After I recovered of sorts, I went back to work but just got on with things like before. The straw that broke the camels back was when - during a tense conversation with my manager - I had an anxiety attack and passed out. All my anxiety and panic came back again and I resigned.

I think that panic attack scared me senseless. I just became aware that something had to give.

[snowgoose]

hi Debs

have you thought of retraining in the counselling field ?
perhaps doing voluntary work with a childrens support /illness charity .it will lead to paid work .

your posts here are so eloquent and wise [not being brown nose at all ]

I see you in a very valuable role using your childrens nursing skills supporting families ........ the most valuable of roles that will use your empathy and skill without the dross that makes working on a ward killing .
like rainbow or macmillan?
xx

[debs71]

Thanks so much for your nice post snowgoose.

It is strange that you mention counselling, as it has kind of crossed my mind at times. I do love to help if I can and advise other people who suffer with the same things as I have. I get so much out of it personally.

It is something that I may well look into I think.

Thanks so much for your kind encouragement.xxxx

[Geoff2301]

Unfortunately, I suppose the job advisors have to be a bit "hard" on people as there are so many scroungers that have been on benefits for years.......... I would imagine a lot of them use mental health issues as their reason for not working which doesn't help the genuine mental health sufferers like ourselves.
I do feel though that people need to be more flexible in accepting jobs that aren't necessarily in the field they originally trained in ............ they might actually get to enjoy doing something a bit different and I always reckon keeping busy helps keep you reasonably sane!!