Is the Jobcentre useless?

storminbalder

sigrid wrote: »

yes they are useless! I have never spoken to people with as little common sense!

And yet you work for them!

catenorfolk

storminbalder wrote: »

And yet you work for them!

its a job isnt it, and most people there are trying their best with the resources and information they have.
:j

coolio_2

When you go and sign fortnightly, does anyone speak to you? I am asked to hand my book in, then I get called over, sign a card and then take the book and off I go.

busy_mom_2

why have poeple always got nothing but bad things to say about jobcentre workers.
Firstly once you claim has been taken at the jobcentre your forms are then sent to the denefit delivery centre and once they have left the jobcentre we have nothing whatsoever to do with your benefit, we don't process it we don't decide when and how much you will get paid or even if you will get paid at all
secondly we are allocated 5mins per person per fortnight so what exactly do you expect us to do during that 5 mins????
If you want longer then you can ask but myself as an adviser i am booked fully for 2 weeks and those appointmnets are controlled by managers and again each person is allocated 30 or 40 mins each so again not long.
There is not a very good jobs market are we then expected to magic vacancies out of thin air and guarantee you an interview??
Staff have spent years handling lazy, benefit scrounging layabouts who don't want to work and all training is based around this, provision that is available is aimed at unskilled people. The only reason most of you are using jobcentres are because of the lack of jobs which brings me back to the first point...
When people moan to me I treat them with respect but my job is not to find you a job, we aren't an agency we are there to determin that you have satisfied the criteria for claiming a benfit and then telling the computer which will then in turn pay you so, provided you are entitled and the people in the processing office have processed your claim and not lost your paperwork.


Please, please give us a break.:mad:

Albannach1876

Dave101t wrote: »

i agree, all the jobs were menial when i went there. they pretty much ignore anyone with real qualifications. lucky i was there for a lark only.

Unfortunately job centres can only advertise the vacancies that are placed with them - if professional jobs aren't given to the job centre, they can't be advertised!!!!! Staff do try to get better vacancies, but employers usually don't want to know because of a negative impression of job centre customers and previous bad experiences with applicants not turning up or jeopardising interviews and generally just wasting their time. In those circumstances there's not a lot we can do to change their minds.

mdhughes03

Thanks for tarring us all with the same brush.

Did it ever occur that the services you are expecting from the Jobcentre may not actually be services they are supposed to provide? As a previous poster said, it is not our job to find the 2million+ unemployed people work out of thin air-we have some provision which we can refer to and we are there to ensure you qualify for, and adhere to the conditions of, certain benefits.

At the very least, could you not go by Martin's request to treat all MSErs nicely and consider that some of us work in this sector and visit this borad to offer advice where we can??

whiteroom184

mdhughes03 wrote: »

Thanks for tarring us all with the same brush.

Did it ever occur that the services you are expecting from the Jobcentre may not actually be services they are supposed to provide? As a previous poster said, it is not our job to find the 2million+ unemployed people work out of thin air-we have some provision which we can refer to and we are there to ensure you qualify for, and adhere to the conditions of, certain benefits.

At the very least, could you not go by Martin's request to treat all MSErs nicely and consider that some of us work in this sector and visit this borad to offer advice where we can??

i appreciate the above and perhaps all job centre workers are tarred with the same brush, but to be honest thats how i feel each time i sign on.
i have seen appauling behaviour in the jc by "customers" but i have also been on the receiving end of a sharp attitude and unknowledgable advisors

Smudge310

busy_mom wrote: »

why have poeple always got nothing but bad things to say about jobcentre workers.
secondly we are allocated 5mins per person per fortnight so what exactly do you expect us to do during that 5 mins????
If you want longer then you can ask but myself as an adviser i am booked fully for 2 weeks and those appointmnets are controlled by managers and again each person is allocated 30 or 40 mins each so again not long.

Busy mom

Im sorry if my original post came across as a bit confrontational, but I was just told about my claim being stopped. I know I should have cooled down before writing...:embarasse

I do appreciate its a busy time for the jobcentre at the moment but what frustrates me is the lack of information. I did not know I only had 5 mins when signing on. I thought the person I talked to was my advisor.

obviously if you know the system, its probably great. But for people like me who due to the economy this is their first visit to the Jobcentre it not very welcoming or informative.

I do also appreciate that you cant magic jobs out the air, but talking to us would help.

Im sorry to all those who work there, but for me, personally, it is very demoralizing going to the jobcentre every 2 weeks to sign on, where no-one talks to you and you feel like you've just joined the benifit train, but theres no way to get off!

debtdesperado

I find it hilariously rubbish... I have to sign on this friday after my month long Easter break - seriously!! I only have to go in for 15 minutes a fortnight, but over Easter, I get a letter from the jobcentre saying that I don't have to go in for a month.

The last time I was in there I had to wait next to a white van man who drones on at me that single mothers are taking all the money and council houses. He gets up to sign and his place is taken by a woman with a buggy (no wedding ring).

She then proceeds to start moaning that all the black people are taking the council houses and benefits. Finally her claim is heard, and a black woman sits down.

She tells me in a loud stage whisper that it's all the homosexuals who are getting the council houses, and no one else can get anything. By this stage all I can do is nod politely as I'm trying so hard not to laugh!

So funny - I guess everyone thinks the grass is always greener and someone else is always getting more than their share!!!

I_luv_cats

They are overwhelmed because the idiots didn't see the down-turn coming and closed loads of Job Centres and staff numbers were cut when things were looking artificially rosy!

It is mostly self service except when they call you in for an Interview or to sign on.

One good thing is that the Job Point vacancies are more up-to-date than the printed job cards a while ago.

Most services are on the phone these days (Benefit Q. / personal job search / New Claims Booking / Social Fund etc.)