job seekers allowance 13 week review?

daiashthomas

recently had my 13 week review at my local JobCentreplus office, and now theyre more or less forcing me to jobs i dont want or will feel comfortable in doing, i have been employed the last 6+ yrs in the security industry, travelling all across the country installing, servicing security systems, and now the want me to wipe peoples backsides and stuff! or be stuck in an office on minimum wage! when i'm used to earning well in excess of £20k per year plus company vehicle etc......

it's not like i haven't been looking for work either! sent loads of cv's off and emailed loads of companies etc.....

what i was wondering was if i was to register self employed and actively look for contracts and my own work, could i get away with not looking for these pathetic jobs which are not to my liking.

what i'm saying is if i was registered self employed, and didn't even have any work coming in, could i get away with it untill a job in my trade came up, as me and my partner are managing financially, as she earns decent money anyway.

hope i haven't offended anyone that may work in an office or anything :A, but i hate being stuck in one place and am so used to being out and about.

Oldernotwiser

daiashthomas wrote: »

it's not like i haven't been looking for work either! sent loads of cv's off and emailed loads of companies etc.....

what i was wondering was if i was to register self employed and actively look for contracts and my own work, could i get away with not looking for these pathetic jobs which are not to my liking.

what i'm saying is if i was registered self employed, and didn't even have any work coming in, could i get away with it untill a job in my trade came up, as me and my partner are managing financially, as she earns decent money anyway.

You can do all of these things but you can't claim JSA unless you're actively seeking employment and, after 13 weeks, broadening the sort of work you're prepared to do.

Don't forget that after another 13 weeks you'll have to move onto means tested JSA which will mean that you probably won't get anything if your partner's on good money.

PasturesNew

You could apply for the jobs, without experience if you get to interview then you'd be trumped by somebody more experienced/willing than yourself. Just sound a bit vague about things when asked at interview, rather than appearing knowledgeable and keen.... and you simply won't be picked for the job.

Everybody's happy then!

CCFC_80

There appears to be a loophole to avoid the 13 week interview which I do not mind sharing. I closed my claim just prior to my 13 week appointment as I was going abroad for a week. Now after a rapid reclaim It appears that I have avoided the dreaded 13 week interview altogether as it is now 6 weeks since my re-claim and they do not appear to want to re-interview me.

However,I just wanted to clarify that I genuinely closed my claim as I genuinely did go abroad and did not close it to avoid the 13 week interview. It appears that you start a new 13 week cycle after you make a rapid reclaim !

Sues48

Andy, it's not a loophole,it's just the way the system works, but eventually,if you do it enough, the Jobcentre will catch up with you and you will have to participate in interviews if you want to continue to receive JSA.

OP, even after 13 wks you shouldn't be forced to look for jobs for which you are clearly not qualified or suitable for. I assume that you had a permitted period for the 13wks of your claim and were just looking for work in your usual occupation and salary? After 13 wks you are then expected to consider alternative jobs and sometimes, in a 20 minute inerview it is difficult to explore alternative avenues,especially if the customer cannot suggest any suitable alternatives, however, the adviser should not be putting down just any old job for the sake of completing the interview.

nexuss

Do you have a SIA licence ?

Tobiwan_Kenobi

daiashthomas wrote: »

recently had my 13 week review at my local JobCentreplus office, and now theyre more or less forcing me to jobs i dont want or will feel comfortable in doing, i have been employed the last 6+ yrs in the security industry, travelling all across the country installing, servicing security systems, and now the want me to wipe peoples backsides and stuff! or be stuck in an office on minimum wage! when i'm used to earning well in excess of £20k per year plus company vehicle etc......

it's not like i haven't been looking for work either! sent loads of cv's off and emailed loads of companies etc.....

what i was wondering was if i was to register self employed and actively look for contracts and my own work, could i get away with not looking for these pathetic jobs which are not to my liking.

what i'm saying is if i was registered self employed, and didn't even have any work coming in, could i get away with it untill a job in my trade came up, as me and my partner are managing financially, as she earns decent money anyway.

hope i haven't offended anyone that may work in an office or anything :A, but i hate being stuck in one place and am so used to being out and about.

I had them telling me to do that after just 4 weeks, in fact they even took away my NI contributions for a week citing I "wasn't looking for work". The fact was there simply were no suitable vacancies during the period in question!

I have been offered a job at the Job Centre today and had a "taster session" there this morning. Apparently on JSA you are allowed to discriminate on jobs by salary for the first 6 months, however they like you to broaden your search geographically after 13 weeks. It appears that some JobCentre employees aren't aware of this...

daiashthomas

nexuss wrote: »

Do you have a SIA licence ?

no i do not need one as i'm not doing close protection or guarding or any type of door work/key holding

gtturbo

its not a good idea to keep cancelling and redoing claims. After 26 week constant claiming u get back 2 work bonus (now called job grant) housing benefit & council tax benfit run on for 4 weeks and a grand to give to your new employer. Yeh the jsa staff are !!!!!!!s but wouldnt u be if u had to do that job.

Oldernotwiser

gtturbo wrote: »

its not a good idea to keep cancelling and redoing claims. After 26 week constant claiming u get back 2 work bonus (now called job grant) housing benefit & council tax benfit run on for 4 weeks and a grand to give to your new employer. Yeh the jsa staff are !!!!!!!s but wouldnt u be if u had to do that job.

I thanked you before I read your last sentence - you were doing so well up until then!

Kyrae

I had this problem too after my 13 week review, I was applying for tons of jobs that suited my experience and qualifications but they wanted me to apply for every job even if i was over qualified. I complained and got called in for a meeting to discuss matters further, and the lady was very helpful and let me review my job search criteria. When i joined they had ticked every box saying i'd consider part time work, full time work, shift work, temporary work and permanent work. I said I only wanted full time permanent jobs and they agreed to change my criteria, and that got rid of all the evening shift work they were trying to make me apply for. Also, as far as i know theyre only supposed to make you apply for jobs that meet the 3 job titles you entered when you signed up, so tell them you've reconsidered the work you'd like to do and put something more specific down. Eg. I wanted to work as a retail supervisor and they put me down as seeking sales assistant jobs, and I was getting lots of part time shop jobs come up. Might be worth a try