money for interview clothes

twice

hi all
i have an interview on thursday and i have nothing to wear,my job centre advisor has told me i'm entitled to money for clothes but does anyone know what i'm entitled to and have i left it to late to get something for thursday.

Evie82

Your advisor has a discretionary fund, i think its upto £100 that they can give you for clothes.
Go to the Jobcentre tomorrow and tell them what you need and the estimated costs.
They will fill in the forms and produce you a Giro to cash the very same day.

You will then just need to take all your reciepts to them to prove you bought clothes that you said you would.

Good luck for Thursday.

Tarry

Good luck with your job interview, I really hope you get the job I have heard from a friend of mine who was unemployed that is was indeed £100 they got to get some job interview clothes. I think they had to go to a certain store, ie, BHS I think it was?

ukdickie31

The ADF has been discussed on here several times recently.

Basically it's an ADVISER discretion fund, not an entitlement.

To qualify, you must be on New Deal or receiving JSA continuously for 26 weeks.

The adviser then discusses with you how they can assist, and to what financial level.

As this is not an entitlement, if the adviser says no, there is no right of appeal.

For interview clothing, it is normal practice to issue a voucher redeemable at shops owned by the Arcadia Group.

Cash / Giro is only used as a last resort.

Paparika

If you are entitled to it, the bad news is you have to buy the clothes first then give the receipt to your advisor who then arranges a giro for the amount you spent.

Well thats what i had to do when i got it, i was on IS and a single mum if that helps

briona

twice wrote: »

hi all
i have an interview on thursday and i have nothing to wear,my job centre advisor has told me i'm entitled to money for clothes but does anyone know what i'm entitled to and have i left it to late to get something for thursday.

What does one actually NEED for an interview?

As was said before in response to a similar thread, you can go to Primark, TK Maxx, Matalan, Peacocks, Tesco or Asda and pick up something pretty cheaply. I've had tops from Primark that cost £2, and you can get trousers for £10 from there and shoes from £4.

Actually the current issue of 'More' magazine (I didn't buy it – it came free with 'Heat' magazine ) has an article in it showing 30 full outfits (top, bottoms, shoes and in some cases a bag) for under £30... In fact if you mix and match pieces from the outfits shown you could make a perfectly acceptable interview outfit for about £23 (top, skirt and shoes).

You don't even have to buy the magazine (although at £1.30 it won't break the bank) to get the ideas – have a sneaky peek at a copy in WHSmith!

Paparika

briona wrote: »

What does one actually NEED for an interview?

As was said before in response to a similar thread, you can go to Primark, TK Maxx, Matalan, Peacocks, Tesco or Asda and pick up something pretty cheaply. I've had tops from Primark that cost £2, and you can get trousers for £10 from there and shoes from £4.

Actually the current issue of 'More' magazine (I didn't buy it – it came free with 'Heat' magazine ) has an article in it showing 30 full outfits (top, bottoms, shoes and in some cases a bag) for under £30... In fact if you mix and match pieces from the outfits shown you could make a perfectly acceptable interview outfit for about £23 (top, skirt and shoes).

You don't even have to buy the magazine (although at £1.30 it won't break the bank) to get the ideas – have a sneaky peek at a copy in WHSmith!

It's a good idea but then you have to find if they do your size
Tescos and Sainsburys do some nice things, but again it finding your size

briona

Paparika wrote: »

It's a good idea but then you have to find if they do your size
Tescos and Sainsburys do some nice things, but again it finding your size

LOL. As long as you fall within the UK average (sizes 10-16) you shouldn't have too many problems! Most of the stores I mentioned also carry an 8 and an 18. Outside of those, I'm not sure.

nesssie1702

Asda do some of their range of cloting up to a size 24. Likewise Tesco do larger sizes too. Pretty sure that Matalan's normal range goes up to a size 20 and they also have a range of clothes going up to a 28? TK Maxx have a Plus Sized Womens range (got to try things on because of the American sizing on some articles)

Good luck with the interview!

KimYeovil

Tarry wrote: »

I think they had to go to a certain store, ie, BHS I think it was?

This must be a women-only policy as BHS do not sell clothing that is suitable for work for men. They abandoned men a bunch of years ago when they stopped selling shirts. Very annoying as they had okay shirts back then.

lynzpower

try dress for success, if you live in London, its a fantastic charity

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article4774333.ece

http://www.dressforsuccess.org/affiliate.aspx?pageid=1&sisid=37