A question about proof of "actively seeking work" for JSA

cassieB57

Emmzi wrote: »

surely it's 5 mins a day tops to fill in their form?

What's the fuss about?

about the fact that he's already spent quite some time doing a perfectly good spreadsheet and the jobcentre are being jobsworths about it. I'm surprised they have the time

Zazen999

If it's a case of really irritating the people who sign off your form, and 5 mins filling it out - what really are you gaining by refusing to fill it out? It's not as if you have any actual work to do; so just fill it out!

Emmzi

much easier for them to find the info they need and tik your box if its in a standard format, surely? i'd want to make it easy for them to keeping paying...

cassieB57

TBH the customer's own spreadsheet is no more or less difficult to check for the adviser, though it is possibly a much more efficient tool for the customer as the information is on his/her computer as well and they can refer back to previous applictions, e mails etc and see who's replied, who needs chasing up etc. As I said it is not a legal requirement to provide a written jobsearch in any case-and it doesn't matter what format it takes as long as you can satisfy the adviser of what you have done so they can confirm your entitlement.(And some people's handwriting is difficult to read at the best of times; when you're in a hurry ie have 4 minutes per customer, believe me a neatly set out spreadsheet beats a scrawl on the ES4 any day!) This was not originally a debate about which form was the right one but whether the jobcentre were right in insisting on the information being provided twice.

cassieB57

..and as tjp originally said :"This may seem like a small detail in the scheme of things but the JSA process eats away at your self-esteem and I would just like to keep this part of it under my own control."
and why not.

Zazen999

cassieB57 wrote: »

..and as tjp originally said :"This may seem like a small detail in the scheme of things but the JSA process eats away at your self-esteem and I would just like to keep this part of it under my own control."
and why not.

So, use it for the OP's own personal use and just copy the notes onto their forms. Could be done whilst sitting there for his appt.

If the JSA people had to look at completely different spreadsheets each and every time; they would be accused of time wasting and the recommendation would be to have a standard format.

Mr_Falling_Star

A jobseekers diary is, strictly speaking, not mandatory. Proof that you are jobseeking however is, so your spreadsheet should be enough if it came to the crunch. But as has already been pointed out why not just spend five minutes filling in the stupid thing anyway?

You can always spot the people who are not looking as they always say the same thing when asked. If you have done the job for a while you will know what a genuine jobseeker will say

amber1979

The requirement is (as far as I understand it) it that you provide written evidence as to your job search

However, given the sheer daftness of the jobcentre system (and a minority of its staff) it's probably less hassle to fill out the form. I too, always kept a spreadsheet of my job applications which was always perfectly adequate.

I did however encounter this level of idiocy last week:

Me: (sits down at desk) hello.

"Advisor": What have you been doing to find a job?

Me: (presents spreadsheet of 27 job applications over two weeks) Here you go.

"Advisor": Oh I can't do that, I'm no good at forms.

Me: (sound of jaw thumping to the floor) ok.... would you like me to read them out to you?

"Advisor": (grunts)

Me: (reads out three jobs)

"Advisor": Stop, I've filled all the boxes.

Me: Can I see your Supervisor please?

"Advisor": I don't care, I'm leaving on Friday (stomps off)

Spectacular or what? I'm taking a quite satisfaction in that I started my new job today and that fool is probably now on the other side of the desk.

Mr_Falling_Star

amber1979 wrote: »

The requirement is (as far as I understand it) it that you provide written evidence as to your job search

However, given the sheer daftness of the jobcentre system (and a minority of its staff) it's probably less hassle to fill out the form. I too, always kept a spreadsheet of my job applications which was always perfectly adequate.

I did however encounter this level of idiocy last week:

Me: (sits down at desk) hello.

"Advisor": What have you been doing to find a job?

Me: (presents spreadsheet of 27 job applications over two weeks) Here you go.

"Advisor": Oh I can't do that, I'm no good at forms.

Me: (sound of jaw thumping to the floor) ok.... would you like me to read them out to you?

"Advisor": (grunts)

Me: (reads out three jobs)

"Advisor": Stop, I've filled all the boxes.

Me: Can I see your Supervisor please?

"Advisor": I don't care, I'm leaving on Friday (stomps off)

Spectacular or what? I'm taking a quite satisfaction in that I started my new job today and that fool is probably now on the other side of the desk.

Welcome to a early symptom of the imminent collapse of Jobcentre plus, caused by them losing thousands of staff over the next few months

garston_T

as i said, i've never once took the book. print it all off, all your proof, have the loser behind the desk glance at it for 5 seconds while drinking their cuppa and gossiping to the staff over the way, get your 131 quid and escape the hellhole for another fortnight.