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DWP Flexible new deal scheme
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The Maths qualification was a GCSE grade 'C' equivalent, which she had not got. In her case it was useful (my son got it as well and he already had GCSE Maths at Grade C, I agree in his case it was a waste of time).
He did (at his request) a two-week work trial at Matalan and at the end of it was offered a part-time job (most jobs at Matalan are part-time). He has been there over two years now. He had applied to Matalan twice before this work trial and heard nothing back at all from them. When he was able to show them what he could do, he was offered a job.
His girlfriend was not offered a job at the end of her placement (about six weeks I think) in a high street discount shop. However, it was recent experience and a reference to put on her CV and a few weeks later she got a thirty-hour a week job as a domestic in an old peoples' home.
I'm not saying the system is perfect and certainly for some people it must feel like treading water, but surely it is better to do something than nothing whilst you are looking for work?(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
seven-day-weekend wrote: »
(most jobs at Matalan are part-time).
Most jobs are increasingly part-time or zero hours. Thereby depriving people, in particular men, of proper full-time jobs. It's a process in part driven by the availability of slave labour provided by scams like New Deal.seven-day-weekend wrote: »surely it is better to do something than nothing whilst you are looking for work?
Why? Does it make you feel good to see those people punished? How about actual paid jobs being provided for people, like they do in other countries. Of course, that would put the 'training' 'providing' scammers out of work, poor things.0 -
I just meant that seeing as there WERE not many jobs, then doing something to get some recent experience was better than not getting it. I doon't see it as punishment (neither did my son when he was doing it).
I believe in people having 'real' jobs, but not just make-work. Not many companies can afford to pay people for doing a job that is not really needed, especially with things like (imho) the ridiculously generous terms for things like maternity/paternity/parental leave floating around these days.
As for the 'zero' hours contracts - yes, those are a nasty sign of the times. My son's job at Matalan is not zero hours; however it is vey few, but he usually gets more than his minimum. It is a way of having disposable staff that is prevalent these days.
However, surely it is better than being unemployed?(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
seven-day-weekend wrote: »The Maths qualification was a GCSE grade 'C' equivalent, which she had not got. In her case it was useful (my son got it as well and he already had GCSE Maths at Grade C, I agree in his case it was a waste of time).
He did (at his request) a two-week work trial at Matalan and at the end of it was offered a part-time job (most jobs at Matalan are part-time). He has been there over two years now. He had applied to Matalan twice before this work trial and heard nothing back at all from them. When he was able to show them what he could do, he was offered a job.
His girlfriend was not offered a job at the end of her placement (about six weeks I think) in a high street discount shop. However, it was recent experience and a reference to put on her CV and a few weeks later she got a thirty-hour a week job as a domestic in an old peoples' home.
I'm not saying the system is perfect and certainly for some people it must feel like treading water, but surely it is better to do something than nothing whilst you are looking for work?
doing gcse's is pretty decent. the new deal i have been on required us to do maths and literacy tests on the first day to see whether we were at what they call level 1. people who werent at level 1 had to do the qualification. it certainly wasnt gcse. it was the kind of thing 5 year olds do, 2 + 2 etc. it was shocking the amount of adults that werent at level 1 and therefore had to do the qualification.
doing a few weeks on placement and then getting offered a job sounds fine to me. that isnt my experience on new deal though. everyone spends the whole 6 months or 12 months(as it is now) at the same company and even those who get a job have to do the full course working for their benefit before they get offered a job. in most cases the company will have decided several weeks earlier that they were going to offer them a job but choose to keep them working for free for as long as possible. that is wrong.
the problem with the idea of these work placements acting as a recent reference is if they were on a course like new deal then potential employers know you were there because you were forced and that the company took you because they got you for free and not because they thought you were good. so that makes me wonder whether these references are worth much.
regarding part time jobs. they are no good for me as i would not be any better off. they are ok for students, housewives and people paying a tenner a week board to their parents.0 -
TWO p/t jobs may be OK though? I know several people who do this. I myself did for a while.(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
seven-day-weekend wrote: »I just meant that seeing as there WERE not many jobs, then doing something to get some recent experience was better than not getting it. I doon't see it as punishment (neither did my son when he was doing it).
I believe in people having 'real' jobs, but not just make-work. Not many companies can afford to pay people for doing a job that is not really needed, especially with things like (imho) the ridiculously generous terms for things like maternity/paternity/parental leave floating around these days.
its good to be doin something rather than doing nothing if it is something you are happy doing. most people hate the placments they are on but cant get off them for fear of losing their benefit. i have spent time on placements were i have been very happy and continued to volunteer for them after the course ended. i have also been on placments that i have hated were i was totally being exploited. that is why it often feels like a punishment. you can also compare it to probation and that makes it seem like a punishment. well you could mug somone and get 100 hours community service. be unemployed and you have to work full time for 12 months. which even the worst mathematicians will know is alot more than 100 hours.
it is rare that companies take people on placement who they dont really need. for example i spent time doing litter picking for the council. there were about 15 blokes based were i was based. 5 of them were on work placement. when one finished the course they would get another to replace them. it was very rare that they would actually offer one of these people a job.0 -
seven-day-weekend wrote: »TWO p/t jobs may be OK though? I know several people who do this. I myself did for a while.
i agree, its a big risk though. what if you lose one of them?0 -
donnajunkie wrote: »doing gcse's is pretty decent. the new deal i have been on required us to do maths and literacy tests on the first day to see whether we were at what they call level 1. people who werent at level 1 had to do the qualification. it certainly wasnt gcse. it was the kind of thing 5 year olds do, 2 + 2 etc. it was shocking the amount of adults that werent at level 1 and therefore had to do the qualification.
doing a few weeks on placement and then getting offered a job sounds fine to me. that isnt my experience on new deal though. everyone spends the whole 6 months or 12 months(as it is now) at the same company and even those who get a job have to do the full course working for their benefit before they get offered a job. in most cases the company will have decided several weeks earlier that they were going to offer them a job but choose to keep them working for free for as long as possible. that is wrong.
the problem with the idea of these work placements acting as a recent reference is if they were on a course like new deal then potential employers know you were there because you were forced and that the company took you because they got you for free and not because they thought you were good. so that makes me wonder whether these references are worth much.
regarding part time jobs. they are no good for me as i would not be any better off. they are ok for students, housewives and people paying a tenner a week board to their parents.
I have qualifications GCSEs in Maths and English, both at grade B and C respectively. I also got qualifications higher than A-levels. Would I still do those tests on my first day of New Deal?
I am going on New Deal early next year, probably around Februrary/March time. My area hasn't implemented Flexible New Deal (FND) yet (it starts in April 2010). I know some areas started FND in April 2009 and stage 4 started in October 2009. Hopefully, I will find a job before New Deal then.
I was looking forward to the work placement bit (either in New Deal or FND), so I could get a chance to prove I could do the job, and/or get work experience/on-the-job placement. Hopefully, they could find a placement related to my career.0 -
I have qualifications GCSEs in Maths and English, both at grade B and C respectively. I also got qualifications higher than A-levels. Would I still do those tests on my first day of New Deal?
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Yes, you would. I have been on these courses....and taught on them too! I have an honours degree in Maths, a degree-equivalent in English, and various Post-Grad qualifications...I still had to sit the tests - 3 times! (I was at 3 different providers over the years). On each occasion my Literacy/Numeracy levels were officially recorded as Level 1 (the assessment only goes up to Level 1!)
In my experience the 'course' involved no training.A typical 12 week course consisted of: 2 days of assessments/rewriting my CV (totally unnecessarily), then 10 weeks of sitting around doing absolutely nothing. (4 computers for 60 clients to share...and the staff used the computers too) and the job papers once a week. No personal newspapers were allowed, no doing crosswords, nothing. Just sit around and 'job-search' (Not possible, no jobs in local papers, only got about 30 mins on the computer each week). Followed by 2 1/2 weeks of 'work-experience' at a charity shop.
I can only hope that there has been a radical re-think on these courses....but I somehow doubt it.0 -
I have qualifications GCSEs in Maths and English, both at grade B and C respectively. I also got qualifications higher than A-levels. Would I still do those tests on my first day of New Deal?
I am going on New Deal early next year, probably around Februrary/March time. My area hasn't implemented Flexible New Deal (FND) yet (it starts in April 2010). I know some areas started FND in April 2009 and stage 4 started in October 2009. Hopefully, I will find a job before New Deal then.
I was looking forward to the work placement bit (either in New Deal or FND), so I could get a chance to prove I could do the job, and/or get work experience/on-the-job placement. Hopefully, they could find a placement related to my career.
if they are still doing the tests then you will have to do them no matter what. they dont take long and they are very easy. i believe there was talk of them stopping doing the basic maths and literacy qualifications that i have talked about. so if that is true you may not have to do the tests but that will only be because they dont do them and not because of your qualifications.
its odd that you are starting feb/march time if they are starting fnd in april. i say that because in my area they started fnd at the beginning of october. so the last people to start on the old new deal started at the end of june and only on the 13 week course. that was so they would finish by the end of september. so i suspect if you dont start the old style course in time for it to finish before fnd starts in april then you wont get refered until april and you would therefore be on fnd.
i hope they can find a placement you want. however expect them to try and get you to do things like retail and warehousing.0
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