Mistreated at job centre - filing a complaint.

donnajunkie

andy46 wrote: »

You are right on this as The Job Centre Plus staff are not there to help people find jobs, they are just there to make sure you satisfy the requirements of being able to claim JSA.

They are some of the last people you should turn to if you want help getting a job.

if they arent there to help people get a job then why do they do jobsearchs for people? why do they send people onto things that supposedly help them get a job?

CCFC_80

donnajunkie wrote: »

if they arent there to help people get a job then why do they do jobsearchs for people? why do they send people onto things that supposedly help them get a job?

I think you miss my point,They have to do job searches to make sure that you are satisfying the criteria of claiming JSA to make sure that you should be applying for relevent jobs in your jobseekers agreement.

When I last claimed JSA, I was asked in that agreement you have to sign if there was any extra help they could offer. At the time I asked for CV help, interview skills help and to contact me if and when they might know of any companies that would be recruiting in my area but they couldn't help on that.

GotNoMoney

I have also noticed there seems to only be four kinds of jobs available:

- Cleaners
- Carers (real world description: wiping old people's bums!)
- Telesales (a job I would hate to do for a living)
- CNC Turner

The only viable option there (that sounds like it has got some normality to the job) is "CNC Turner"... what on earth a "CNC Turner" is I don't know, it sounds like a novelist. :rotfl:

Well, its making stuff out of rods of metal I think, or turning raw metal into rods... if I could get trained up on that there are ALWAYS jobs going doing this, I don't know why but there are.

All the other jobs are advertised because no one wants them, or they ask for previous experience in a way that you'd never get the job without it, I mean the £18,000+ per year jobs, no one is going to walk straight into that unless you just finished university with some qualification for the job.

Then again I think the local car wash has jobs going and I don't think its going to be freezing cold again yet... but that place is run by these Indian lads and the advert for it is in an Indian corner shop, they probably pay £30 cash by the day and tell you not to bother coming in Thursday and Friday. Last time I did this, they had immigrants working there getting paid £30 a day so why not, I even think its the same bunch of Asian lads, sigh, but its a different location now, which says it all.

There's a massive market - all the immigrants that cannot speak English so they don't even bother to sign on, they can't understand forms, they write in Arabic !!!!!!... but there you have loads of people that if you could cut some deal with the Job Centre... you could run a business just getting them claiming dole. I honestly don't know how most of them stay alive, I really don't. They are in a foreign country and don't speak the language.

dmg24

GotNoMoney wrote: »

I have also noticed there seems to only be four kinds of jobs available:

- Cleaners
- Carers (real world description: wiping old people's bums!)
- Telesales (a job I would hate to do for a living)
- CNC Turner

The only viable option there (that sounds like it has got some normality to the job) is "CNC Turner"... what on earth a "CNC Turner" is I don't know, it sounds like a novelist. :rotfl:

Well, its making stuff out of rods of metal I think, or turning raw metal into rods... if I could get trained up on that there are ALWAYS jobs going doing this, I don't know why but there are.

A CNC Turner is a skilled role, and there is far more to it than making stuff out of rods of metal.

donnajunkie

andy46 wrote: »

I think you miss my point,They have to do job searches to make sure that you are satisfying the criteria of claiming JSA to make sure that you should be applying for relevent jobs in your jobseekers agreement.

When I last claimed JSA, I was asked in that agreement you have to sign if there was any extra help they could offer. At the time I asked for CV help, interview skills help and to contact me if and when they might know of any companies that would be recruiting in my area but they couldn't help on that.

i agree they are useless. while doing a jobsearch can be part of testing whether you are doing what you should, it surely can also be considered help. therefore part of their job description must also be to help and not just to police.

donnajunkie

GotNoMoney wrote: »

I have also noticed there seems to only be four kinds of jobs available:

- Cleaners
- Carers (real world description: wiping old people's bums!)
- Telesales (a job I would hate to do for a living)
- CNC Turner

The only viable option there (that sounds like it has got some normality to the job) is "CNC Turner"... what on earth a "CNC Turner" is I don't know, it sounds like a novelist. :rotfl:

Well, its making stuff out of rods of metal I think, or turning raw metal into rods... if I could get trained up on that there are ALWAYS jobs going doing this, I don't know why but there are.

add catering jobs to that list. they always have them. canvasser is another that appears alot.
cnc stands for computer numerically controlled. cnc turner like cnc machinists( same thing really?) basically make parts in steel works/ factories from steel and other metals. it is usually high precision stuff. you would need an apprenticeship to get a job doing that.
here is an example of a company that employs people doing that kind of thing.
http://www.krgindustries.com/Manufacturing.aspx

saterkey

a few things to note

this lady in the job centre might see up to 30+ people a day, alot of which are not interested in getting a job at all and will do very little, she may be very cynical of everyone she meets after a while. Although granted it sounds like her customer service skills need a little tweaking!

OP needs to be a bit more on the ball, with her job applications, what she has done, which websites visited, letters received, do a spreadsheet, note everything down in the book. Dont wait for her to offer to print off job vacancies, be active in asking, see if there is anything going there, have sites in your favourites that you check on a daily basis, jobcentre directgov, nhs, council, universities, charities, anything else your interested in, checking these can be no 1 every week on your list.

Sorry but getting your dad to fight your battles is not good, you can get flac in any job, but he cant be there then to help you. Maybe some assertiveness training could help, ask for any training available next time you go in, whether it be first aid, clerical, job cv stuff or whatever is going.

Do some charity work, sign up to the cvs, get some experience in different areas, one or two could lead to a job and give you references and something else to put on your sheet.

Money is there as a back up only, and should be treated as such, primary is to get a job, this will build up your confidence even if its not the job you want, its then easier to get another.

I do feel for the people in the job centres, im sorry she gave you such a hard time, but life isnt easy im afraid. If you go in and say confidently there are the required things i needed to do and i have managed to send off for, look at and whatever else. Dont just sit there until she has to ask. Dont just do the minimum needed.

Good luck in your job hunting,

joeblack066

Heart_Shaped_Diamond wrote: »

How many jobs are there for someone with little or no qualifications and no experience. Where there are no retail jobs because of the time of season. Even the supervisor from the job centre agreed with me on that. I am being offered admin jobs on print outs but am probably not as likely to get call backs because of my lack of experience, as I previously pointed out. I also have previous illness that is known about.

I'm doing what I can. It's not that easy.

It is no longer legal for an employer to ask about medical history at application stage.

When 2 of my sons had very short periods of unemployment a few years ago, I tols them to apply for a minimum of 3 jobs a DAY, and that finding a full time job had to be their full time job (Neither was on benefits as I was supporting them. Older of the 2 took agengy work, a day here and a day there, and within a week got sent to a full time temp post, within 2 months was took on permanent. Younger one went to every jobs fair, supermarket, etc going, and got a job in 3 weeks, and has been there ever since. I know the market it tough at the moment, but you HAVE to be focussed.
I work alongside a lot of the JCP staff, I have seen everything from the good to the bad, staff and customers, but I have to say thet the bulk of the staff are committed to their work, and only want to help. Rotten to have got a rude one, but time to move on now methinks.

November5th

donnajunkie wrote: »

she probably just doesnt know. it wont be any earlier than 3pm because you have to do a minimum of 30 hours. if they are so'n'so's they wont include lunch break in your hours and that would mean the earliest finish time would be 3.30pm depending on how long lunch is.
on mine we dont finish until 6pm. we dont start until 12pm though.
if your placement is with a proper company then expect an 8 hour shift each day. it maybe less but expect 8 hours a day.

What do you do on these things? This will be so damaging to my jobseeking I can't tell you! Does this mean I won't be searching for jobs all day, keeping my skills and industry language fresh, and most importantly making applications?

GotNoMoney

I went today at 9AM to start my 4 week "mandatory" work experience, well I opted for training at the place itself (easier for me since I don't need to travel to a work placement and easier for them because its all there set up already) but at about 9:10AM (only ten minutes after me and the 11 others arrived to start this 4 week thing) we all got told the trainer who was supposed to be training us rang in and can't do it.

Then we all got asked if we want to do a job placement, I said yeah go on then and they rang the company up, but they didn't want to take anyone on (you know times are hard when you cannot even get on an UNPAID work placement lol) so then I got told I will be going back to signing on as normal, there's nothing they can do and to wait for them to send me out a new letter to restart the 4 week thing again.

So in all, it was a total waste of time me going there today.

They did provide a few cups of tea and they did refund my bus fare, which was all I cared about.

If I am honest I would rather do the training they provide in house, because you at least get something to add to your CV, maybe its not anything that meaningful but believe me there are some incredibly stupid people that are not capable of tying their shoelaces, its understandable why those people are on the dole, but work at it and get the training and employers might at least consider that you are capable of something. They will get endless CV's from people without that training on it.

The main reason I want to do the training at the place is because there is a lady working there (my "advisor") who I find irresistible, she is one of those women you'd never look twice at but when you do, well first off she had glasses on, but I can see beyond that, also she had no make up on, come on guys if a girl looks good without makeup on you KNOW she is gorgeous. She has just the right body and a cute a$$ etc... I think I need to get out more lol. Its awkward because I like her but I am "dole scum" in her eyes, dunno what she would want with a guy as poor as I am.

I keep forgetting but next time I will see if she has a wedding ring on, try to find her age out without it sounding too cheeky. It does my head in when this happens... I belong in a Mills & Boon novel. :rotfl: