No longer entitled to income support as partner working 24 or more hours per week?

dktreesea

dmg24 wrote: »

I do wish people would learn to use the Quote feature correctly.

By better than I mean meets the person specification more closely. If someone has five years more experience than me I expect them to be given the role, despite the fact that I may be missing those five years due to absence through disability.

I have no idea what a grunt job is.

QUOTE]

A grunt job is a repetitive, easy to learn job. Most clerical jobs, for example, consist of a series of actions repeated over and over again. Likewise jobs like check out operators, so receptionist jobs, cleaning, dishwashing, driving a bus, driving a taxi.

As to person specifications, I've been on both sides of that coin, and from what I have seen most employers just hire the person who personally appeals to them the most. "Not enough experience" is just the excuse they churn out to the unsuccessful applicants.

Nor do I think it follows that someone with more experience should be preferred for the job, even though it may say experience required in the ad. Sometimes experience counts people out, makes them too expensive to be considered.

wantsajob

I just wished to add a few things. Regarding my ability to work, I would say I was in fact able to work also when I was Hospitalised on a psychiatric ward. The reason I was on the psychiatric ward was not because I needed to be there, but because of ignorant clueless mental health professionals who victimised me because I am different (socially due to my Asperger Syndrome) to the norm. I was misdiagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia and forced by law to stay on a psychiatric ward and take drugs that I did not need and gave me no benefit (in fact they had quit nasty and potentially life-threatening side effects, which on one occasion a nice duty doctor decided to believe I was faking). It did not help that some peculiar family circumstances and my mother's recent diagnosis of schizophrenia at that time conspired against me too. When I said a number of things that were true, sadly other people in the family said otherwise and then I was the one who wasn't believed and was thought to be disordered. When I saw that talking to the "professionals" and telling the truth gave me no benefit and in fact made things worse I simply became more withdrawn than I already was and thought there was no point in talking - sadly I didn't realise the supposed professionals would see this negatively and think unusual/abnormal things about me like that I had things to hide (and I was supposed to be the one with Schizophrenia). I was no less able to work when I was on a psychiatric ward than I was when I left, and nothing had changed at the point I had left. In fact I have probably become more depressed and unhappy with life as a result of that experience and my inability to find work. When I left hospital is when I ended up on incapacity benefits, I hardly did so by some choice, it was almost automatic.

And my difficulties really do make it almost impossible to find work. I said it before and will say it again, if I am unable to get work, then I am unable to work - because employers have decided I am not able to work. People seem to think that what needs to change is me, I would say what needs to change is the ignorant attitudes of the employers and society as a whole. You would not ask a disabled person to get out of a wheelchair and walk, so why am I expected to give a good interview and have good verbal communication and team work skills when I have a disability which makes those things difficult?! Unless you are offering me a job

You cannot imagine how it feels putting in so much effort into job interviews, then going and doing my best, only to do the same again at more interviews and to have to accept the reality and the certainty that I will never do well enough to get the job. I feel close to suicidal realising that the likely reality of my life is I will never have a job - when I have qualifications which should enable me to get a job which allows me to actually pay off my student loan (wage £15k+) - instead I'm expected to accept some minimum wage crap job or to work voluntarily because I have a disability and because employers are too stupid to be able to understand the disability discrimination act, and the law has no teeth to bite back at errant employers. It has gotten to the point where I don't want to apply for jobs because the rejection only makes me feel more suicidal. If things worked the way they should I wouldn't be here posting, I would have a job, I'd be reasonably happy and financially self-sufficient and wouldn't be using words such as suicidal. It is other people's ignorance and arrogance in general that causes this.

Here's an interesting article which describes the experiences of someone else which almost mirror mine http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2010/aug/23/blogpost

Yes I am unusual, yes I am abnormal - but most, if not all, of my problems stem from everyone around me expecting me to be just like them, when I am not and just can not be.

Indie_Kid

wantsajob wrote: »

And my difficulties really do make it almost impossible to find work. I said it before and will say it again, if I am unable to get work, then I am unable to work

You can get help with getting to work. And some jobs can be done from home.

katiesmummy

Someone has already mentioned it but I will again- have you thought about data entry? I have done pure data entry positions before and haven't had to speak to a soul.

Try registering with some employment agencies, explain your condition to them- they will hopefully be able to find you something.

Jowo_2

It is completely understandable that you are frustrated at the state of your finances and the impact of your condition on finding employment.

It’s also understandable why your confidence is eroded but unfortunately, at a time when you are most fed up, a positive attitude is key to securing employment for any job seeker and this is obviously going to be quite hard for you to demonstrate as your experiences are causing you to be overwhelmed with anger and self-pity.

When I graduated, I had 15 interviews before I secured work, each one got harder and I was more prone to fluffing them, the more I attended. Finally, I cracked it, so I do understand how you feel in not being able to sell yourself to employers.

Have you sought support from an Aspergers support organisation or registered with organisations that help those with health issues find employment? What steps do you think you need to take to repair the damage to your self-esteem and confidence? Have you considered posting on the Job seeking forum to get advice there?

1. You are stressed about not being able to pay back a career development loan. Post your circumstances on the Debt Free Wanabee board and they can tell your options for dealing with it.
2. You have no employment experience whatsoever. I think this is a major constraint and while this has come about in your opinion because of discrimination from employers, do you think you should consider voluntary work to improve your skills, confidence and experience and that it could be a springboard into paid work?
3. You say your condition impacts your social and communication skills, making you appear socially awkward, that you are shy and don’t work well with others. Are you certain you are applying for jobs that suit your soft skills and personality rather than just ones that match your qualifications? What types of jobs are you applying for and what qualifications do you hold?

Employers will always pick who they believe is the right candidate for the job and it remains up to the candidate to impress them on the application form, then at the interview. A job interview is a stressful situation but it is still the responsibility of the applicant to use it to argue and persuade a complete stranger as to why you not only meet, but exceed, what they are looking for.

This premise is not going to go away anytime soon and while it’s completely understandable that you want employers to adapt to you, and you feel unable to adapt to their expectations, I can’t figure out how this can be resolved for you in the short-term, but hopefully you’ll receive further constructive advice.

Still to this day, I can complete what I think is a high quality job application form where I meet and exceed all the essential and desirable criteria but don't get invited to interview. Or where I think the interview has gone well but I don't get the job. I now manage to be much more philosophical about rejection, not taking it personally, putting it down to the strength of competition or not meeting the employers needs, and just moving onto the next job rather than letting the disappointment accumulate. But for the life of me, i can't remember how this evolved from when I used to get very distressed about it, to these days where I just shrug my shoulders and not dwell on it, perhaps I just developed a thicker skin over the last 15 years.

However, I do remember one Job Interview advice book that made a strong impression on me and helped me. It said 'Never be a job beggar'. It made clear that a person should leap into the interview pre-armed with an attitude where it isn't believed that an employer has to be a benign benefactor and that the applicant has to grovel for a job - the applicant should go there and give the impression that it is they that are doing the employer a favour, not the other way around. I liked that thinking, putting the power back with the applicant so it's not a case of saying 'Feel sorry for me, please give me a job' but 'Ta, da! This is why you'd be a sucker not to give me a job'.

Good luck with your job hunting and thanks for sharing your experiences.

Arg

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If you are capable of working then you are claiming IS for incapacity fraudulently.

It sounds like you're crying wolf again. :T