The recession, benefits, the safety net, and the learning curve

fc123

bo_drinker wrote: »

Some do not know or look at the whole picture. I can see a familiar sign happening when folk have been in the same job/career since day 1 and never had to do anything else then they know nothing else really, and change could be daunting for some. My work dried up in January and my head was shot for a short while but I know other things and I am diversifying to go down those routes, I am lucky I can do that. It's not that easy for some as they have never been in the position to have to be flexible. I retrained @ 33 to go into construction, look where that is now, totally on it's ars3. I will be out this year. Take the bull by the horns and do some thing that will put the bread on the table I am going back in to the motorcycle trade, small acorns and all that, you are only here once. Think outside what you know. Good luck.:beer:

Small acorns are the big thing at the moment.

Funnily enough, a very wealthy banker aquaintance of ours (now based in Hong Kong) was chatting at Xmas about things.
He reckoned we were better set to westher it than him as he could do a great job, work as hard as he could and get called in at any time...he was with Bear Stearns previously.

I didn't really agree at the time but I see it clearer now. We are used to changing all the time, have opened and shut 3 things over 23 years as trends change, areas change etc.

chupov

PasturesNew wrote: »

Define "other assets are fine".

There's no point taking £10k out of the bank to, say, buy a car - because that's a depreciating liability.

What assets could one buy and be able to benefit from if one were to become unemployed? A cellar of wine? A drawing room with fine paintings on the wall? A stash of gold hidden under the mattress?

It'd have to be an asset that could be relied upon and turned into cash on demand.

stocks, gold, cash under the mattress. Anything that wont drop in value much. Even consider a few hundred into tinned food -plus booze if you want - and clothes that can be used up over time. only money in your bank account is assessed.

Its not playing it a hundred per cent straight but given how bad they treat decent folk who find themselves unemployed I woudlnt lose any sleep over it. there are hundreds of thousands of professional scroungers who do much worse with taxpayers cash not to mention MPs and bankers.

PasturesNew

In my life I've done looooads of jobs, often 2-3 at a time. When I do work, employers really want me to do everything for them and never to let me go .... unfortunately, you can't convey that in a CV or interview.

I've been: PA/Secretary, Teacher of Secretarial Studies, Telesales, Sales, PC Installations, PC Sales, Applications Training, Written Training Manuals, Delivered Training to College students at school and adults at evening class.

I've been a van hire manager for commercial vehicles. A host family organiser for a foreign language school. I've done temping in over 100 companies, from solicitors to University research departments, to running a serviced office block for a top University.

I've worked with headhunters and helped people set up all manner of businesses: a multi level marketing company, a top photographer, a new international digital library. I've worked in a garage on the till.

I've done sales, cold calling, telesales, door knocking, manager of a photo studio telesales department. I've cold called for double glazing, conservatories, fitted kitchens. I've gone door knocking and actual sales for health insurance, cavity wall insulation, double glazing.

I've done everything in IT from writing outline software specs, helpdesk, network support, helpdesk manager, data analyst.

Then into projects... project coordinator, project planner, project manager (prince2). Accounts software training, accounts systems integrations during rollouts.

I've been a tutor and an online tutor, an outreach tutor - all in software subjects.

Into marketing, I've done market research, mystery shopping, internet marketing, ppc marketing and campaign setup and management.

And I bet I've left off loads of other things I haven't even touched on there.

Can't get a job though :P

Currently just looking for anything with the word "project" in the title, anywhere in the southwest.

BitterAndTwisted

Good Lord, PasturesNew! I'd hire you in a flash.

PasturesNew

chupov wrote: »

stocks, gold, cash under the mattress.

I thought stocks dropped 40%. Gold is up/down and there are warnings not to buy as much as there is ramping to buy. As for cash under the mattress, I don't even have a bed.

chupov wrote: »

Anything that wont drop in value much. Even consider a few hundred into tinned food -plus booze if you want - and clothes that can be used up over time. only money in your bank account is assessed.

£1000 in tinned beans would mean renting a bigger place! That's 1200 cans. Clothes, too, take up space (unless you're buying high end stuff and you always buy high end stuff and you won't change size/shape. I have to go out in 5 weeks and I can't even buy an outfit until the week before because I don't know what size/shape I'll be by then.

chupov wrote: »

Its not playing it a hundred per cent straight but given how bad they treat decent folk who find themselves unemployed I woudlnt lose any sleep over it. there are hundreds of thousands of professional scroungers who do much worse with taxpayers cash not to mention MPs and bankers.

The reality is, unless you're well wedged into where you are and have the space, the assets you've listed aren't feasible for many.

It's not a one size fits all solution really.

PasturesNew

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Good Lord, PasturesNew! I'd hire you in a flash.

I'm good ... but in a pile of 400 other CVs it's difficult to stand out. If applying through agencies then the agency sits with the pile of CVs and will literally only be interested in getting as far down the pile as it takes them to find 3 candidates willing to be put forward for interview... so if you're the next one in the pile when they have their allocation, that's it, they'll never even read yours.

SingleSue

I have a similar story re applying for jobs....hundreds of applications sent off, no interviews at all.

I'm not stupid, have been in senior roles and I am very diligent and hardworking.....but I have children that have different needs and although it shouldn't come up, it always does.

The courses offered by the job centre is a joke really, I asked umpteem times for help in re-training but because (and I suupose they are trying to be nice to me) I am officially a carer, I wasn't taken seriously and given access to them.

So I borrowed money from my parents and found my own courses instead.

It's a very lonely and demoralising life.

Snooze

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

"She was horrified to discover that she would only get Jobseekers Allowance for 6 months and after that she would be on her own."

Your friend's situation mirrors mine almost exactly, bar the mortgage. I am expecting to be laid off any moment (I'm temping and have been doing so for the last two years) and I don't understand how your friend would only be entitled to JSA for six months and then nada, nothing. Surely some other benefit kicks in after six months? I'm about 100 times more frightened now than I was a minute ago.

As Chupov has said to you, if you've any savings or large sums of cash in any bank accounts get it all out before you claim and hide it under the mattress or whatever. If you don't you'll get nothing from the State.

Rob

ceridwen

Glad to see this thread has been started.

As a childless person myself I can certainly relate to it. I too have paid off my mortgage/havent got any debts/live a pretty modest lifestyle - hence I know that it "should" be possible to live on J.S.A. if it came to it.

But...I'm well aware just how low the amount is and that - though part of the reason for ensuring my bills are as low as possible is "just in case" - that I would find it very difficult to even eat - never mind "live" on that level of income. I too would have absolutely no option but to eke this amount out with my savings (and what if I didnt HAVE any savings - or had used them up?).

Paying people to have children makes absolutely no sense whatsoever when they've had free choice as to whether to have them or no for about the last 35 years roughly. It is absolutely wrong for people to go ahead deliberately and have children knowing that other people will pay for them (even the childless by choice).

What is also absolutely totally irrational is giving people enough money to live on PROVIDED they have children in a country that is grossly overpopulated. Estimates vary as to what Britain's optimum population is - somewheres between 17 million and 30 million - but its nowhere near the 60 million odd Britain actually has (and thats just counting those of us here "officially" - never mind the "illegals" - about 1 million of them I gather at the last count :eek:).

It is very clear that many perfectly employable people (such as yourself) are now joining the Dole Queue - and that is a very dangerous situation for a society to be in. How many of us can - absolutely hand on heart - state categorically that we would never EVER steal anything if that would make the difference between surviving and not surviving? I know I'm an honest person and thoroughly disapprove of criminals - and wouldnt want to find myself "anywhere in the vicinity" of such acts....but can I absolutely guarantee that I wouldnt head for a supermarket (minus any money to pay for the goods I needed) - rather than my local MP's office to "bowl him out" with anger for people like me being put in such a position? I'd like to think it would be the MP's office I'd head for still......

Leesmom

I too am glad to see this thread as i have been pondering the same questions.

We get jsa couple rate of £100 per week after husband was made redundant in february, we CANNOT live on this amount and like you find it difficult to afford food for the week, quite often we miss meals in order to have enough left to pay bills, its a disgrace that after many many years of paying into this system we are forced to live like this!.

I wish you all the luck finding a new job, its not easy out there at the moment, literally 100's applying for one post, it's scary, but we have to stay positive that things will turn around.