Jobcentre Rant (long)

tizhimi

I haven't event mentioned when everyone got sickness and dia... sorry I'll stop now! The photographers on my ship were from the Phillaphines (sp) and all lovely but so badly paid. If you are really really interested in working on a ship (DON'T DO IT she says!) ONLY work on P&O and Royal Carribbean. They have a higher % of British staff and treat you with more respect and the working conditions are a hell of a lot better. My dad is a chief engineer and my grand father was a captain and my brother is at marine college so we are a sea faring family but for love nor money I was not going to put up with those conditions. It was an eight week jolly for me, I got to travel and see lots however 8 weeks of sharing a cabin and having a carfew in my 20's was long enough for me.

sorry this has nothing to do with the job centre!!

vaporate

tizhimi wrote: »

I haven't event mentioned when everyone got sickness and dia... sorry I'll stop now! The photographers on my ship were from the Phillaphines (sp) and all lovely but so badly paid. If you are really really interested in working on a ship (DON'T DO IT she says!) ONLY work on P&O and Royal Carribbean. They have a higher % of British staff and treat you with more respect and the working conditions are a hell of a lot better. My dad is a chief engineer and my grand father was a captain and my brother is at marine college so we are a sea faring family but for love nor money I was not going to put up with those conditions. It was an eight week jolly for me, I got to travel and see lots however 8 weeks of sharing a cabin and having a carfew in my 20's was long enough for me.

sorry this has nothing to do with the job centre!!

It's okay, off topic or not it will help other people make the right decision, like me, so I'm thankful for your post and warning

Thank You

I'm sorry about your experience. The worst I have had so far was working on a summer camp when I was 19, though only for 9 weeks, worked from 8am till 10pm, cheap labour but I knew that from the start. Just to get free air travel and accommodation there, plus meals and 1100 dollars for the work.

(Camp America)

Again, I'm sorry about your experience. I guess I got caught up with the idea of 'seeing' the world aye.

Thanks for the heads up.

vaporate

I do believe the Phillaphine labour. Not to sound a snob myself but my dad went on a cruise and saw how badly treated the asian staff were treated, espcially by the head chef if they got something, even minor, wrong.

Don't know how these guys smile at customers all day long. Heard they work nearly 18 hours a day?

tizhimi

I hung out with some of the guys and they did 16 hours a day, boy oh boy did they work for their ten dollars a week! You know what made it worse...they couldn't even earn tips as every passenger was given a "swipe card" to buy drinks or they were on all inclusive on their card. This was to stop theives, fair enough, but a few people gave euro's or pounds or dollars on the sly to the staff (which they weren't allowed to accept but we encourged them to)

I worked for Canvas Holidays one summer between uni years and it was very badly paid but I can honestly say it was the best summer of my life. I totally loved it, the wages covered my food and drink but that was it. I learned a hell of a lot, me and a girl were dumped in Luxembourg and we had to run the Canvas Holidays part of the campsite, it was a steep learning curve but the support network was brilliant. It gave me so much confidence to realise that I could turn my hand to anything and just get on with things. By the end of the summer I was ready to live back in a house! I can honestly saying working for Canvas Holidays was the best experience of my life, hands down, we're back to key transferable skills again, but honestly, everything from dealing with a storm blowing a tent and people away (I kid you not) through to customer service on a 24/7 basis and always been nice even when you're in the bar just chilling out.

vaporate

tizhimi wrote: »

I hung out with some of the guys and they did 16 hours a day, boy oh boy did they work for their ten dollars a week! You know what made it worse...they couldn't even earn tips as every passenger was given a "swipe card" to buy drinks or they were on all inclusive on their card. This was to stop theives, fair enough, but a few people gave euro's or pounds or dollars on the sly to the staff (which they weren't allowed to accept but we encourged them to)

I worked for Canvas Holidays one summer between uni years and it was very badly paid but I can honestly say it was the best summer of my life. I totally loved it, the wages covered my food and drink but that was it. I learned a hell of a lot, me and a girl were dumped in Luxembourg and we had to run the Canvas Holidays part of the campsite, it was a steep learning curve but the support network was brilliant. It gave me so much confidence to realise that I could turn my hand to anything and just get on with things. By the end of the summer I was ready to live back in a house! I can honestly saying working for Canvas Holidays was the best experience of my life, hands down, we're back to key transferable skills again, but honestly, everything from dealing with a storm blowing a tent and people away (I kid you not) through to customer service on a 24/7 basis and always been nice even when you're in the bar just chilling out.

Yeh I heard about the swipe card!, you pay all drinks on it at the end of the cruise. My parents did just that.

My camp was a strange one. It was Camp Paquatuck, long island, new york state. Camp for the mentally disadvantaged. I was kind of peed off actually because I was doing social care work before I did this camp thing, as well as before university. (summer 2005)

Was hoping for a 'normal' camp. Boy was I glad I did maintenance and not camp counsellor lol. The counsellors slept with these kids in cabins and, I kid you not, wiped their behind for some kids.
In fact, Maintenance and kitchen staff had more time off too!! No responsibility for kids you see.

Sod that.

I'm glad I did it though, I wouldnt chnage a thing. It makes you more mature.

tizhimi

vaporate wrote: »

Was hoping for a 'normal' camp. Boy was I glad I did maintenance and not camp counsellor lol. The counsellors slept with these kids in cabins and, I kid you not, wiped their behind for some kids.
In fact, Maintenance and kitchen staff had more time off too!! No responsibility for kids you see.

Sod that.

:rotfl:lol,:rotfl: nah, every job you should get something out of it, wiping bottoms is not my thing however I'm sure its good for the "soul" or something! My friend I worked with in Luxembourg went to Camp America and she said it was fun, but not all that. I suppose the good thing she got out of it was the fact she got to go over there for free and experience a different lifestyle for a bit. I try and look on the positive side of jobs however sometimes you just can't!

vaporate

Yeh I did browse the camp america chat forum a few months ago and laugh a little, in a nice way, of how excited these kids are about going on the Camp America programme lol

Bit like bernard matthews grinning at a chicken lol

Still, I don't regret a thing.

RandomJaffa

Just so you know, Jobcentre Plus staff don't get bonuses, we're all salaried staff, we get the same every month no matter how much work gets done.
I'll leave you to decide if that's a good or bad thing :rotfl:

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

If the issue is the way she spoke to him then she needs to remember manners cost nothing and talking down to, and demeaning people isn't going to help them get work (and get off JSA and get the advisor their bonuses...). We all have bad days but you can't take it out the customer/client, its unprofessional (and i'm saying that even though there were times i have wanted to-gamblers could be a nightmare at times)

And back to not wanting menial jobs after graduating, i had to get any job i could to survive, i ended up working in a call centre, it was !!!! but it paid the bills. (and also drove me to a nervous breakdown but thats another story!).

Blackpool_Saver

Yes and next thing will be one of those terrible back to work courses, sitting in a room with a tutor who's grammar is worse than the participants...........

vaporate

lol Deffinately. I had only one of those back to work sessions.

Real worth it. It's pointless. We all know getting a job takes time and its the internet or papers only.