The Work Programme New Thread

donnajunkie

imatt wrote: »

Ahhh, but herein lies the problem. Firstly, many are NOT getting help looking for work. Many on the WP are being seen just once or twice a month! Some less than that!!

even that is too often. they cant help you. all they do is threaten. so the less time you are there the better.
with the way my appointments are i am expecting to have to be in there doing a jobsearch the day after new years day. now exactly how many jobs are there going to be to apply for then when most employers will have been off for a week or 2. the only thing that will save me from it is if the whole office is off on holiday. if just my advisor is on holiday she will still have me in there if the office is open, while she will be sat at home being paid to stuff her face with quality street and left over turkey.

scooby088

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

I am going for my 1st appointment this week so will let you know what they tell me. I am going in with an open mind and I want them to help me!

I do hope you have a good experience take what you can from it whether another qualification. But I guess you will have the same experience many other have had.

donnajunkie

csmw wrote: »

The reason you are unemployed may be the fact your attitude is disgraceful.... Just because you have had a bad experience dosent mean everyone does and the fact you are trying to belittle someone for saying something positive is shameful.

If you display the same kind of attitude in interviews that you do on here your going to be on jsa for a long while to come.

if someone describes something that is rubbish as rubbish why does it mean they have a bad attitude.

MissSarah1972

scooby088 wrote: »

I do hope you have a good experience take what you can from it whether another qualification. But I guess you will have the same experience many other have had.

They do not do qualifications as I have a friend who already goes there. He spends 10 mins there once a month.

scooby088

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

They do not do qualifications as I have a friend who already goes there. He spends 10 mins there once a month.

Well I know they do sia courses if you want to work in the security industry or a cscs card if you want to work in construction.

MissSarah1972

scooby088 wrote: »

Well I know they do sia courses if you want to work in the security industry or a cscs card if you want to work in construction.

erm no lol I do accounts so no use to me or my mate. What other courses? Maybe they will pay for me to do an ACCA or AAT? I doubt that as that will cost them £1000's!

donnajunkie

scooby088 wrote: »

Well I know they do sia courses if you want to work in the security industry or a cscs card if you want to work in construction.

these are usually courses that exist anyway and involve no cash cost to the provider.

scooby088

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

erm no lol I do accounts so no use to me or my mate. What other courses? Maybe they will pay for me to do an ACCA or AAT? I doubt that as that will cost them £1000's!

You may need the cscs if you get a job in the accounts office on a construction site. Like other posters have said I think the course unless free for the provider is a no no unfortunately(Which was a bug bear for me) I am sure though as I was told if you had a job lined up and it required the qualification then they would fund it.

MissSarah1972

scooby088 wrote: »

You may need the cscs if you get a job in the accounts office on a construction site. Like other posters have said I think the course unless free for the provider is a no no unfortunately(Which was a bug bear for me) I am sure though as I was told if you had a job lined up and it required the qualification then they would fund it.

LOL you never find accts teams on site at all. Construction Skills Certificate Scheme cards are not for accounts people.

If they can not and will not pay for courses then what is the point?

No they will not even fund a new passport in order to take a job as my mate over heard this at his wp office - a girl got a job but her passport run out and they wouldn't take her on till she got a new one and the WP said they could not give her the money for one till she had the job!

KevInChester

I know somebody who has worked for the work programme and they are lovely, and really try to help. There are no doubt some good people employed by these companies, unfortunately though in my experience it was of no help at all. The number of interviews I was getting shot down as I became more and more depressed at being treated like a child, and the complete lack of help.

Attitude is very important, I was depressed and I think on some level that showed in my applications. I took a step back and decided to attempt to be positive, to look on the bright side of things, rather than ruminating on the negatives. A month later I was offered:

1st. 1 confirmed job at Royal Mail (Xmas temp)

2nd 1 job offer for M&S Money in the Sanctions Department (accepted)

3rd and 4th (via a friend - also 2 managers who I have dealt with before for various things)
2 confirmed job offers, one as a worker with young people (complex needs), and another as a teaching assistant for young people (likewise). The only caveat was the need for a driving licence due to location and one of the roles of the job - it's an open ended offer and as such could still be something I do in the future.

5th Local education establishment contacted me following an interview and offered me a role. As this is something I have wanted for quite some time, I took it without hesitation.


For me it was like the buses analogy on steroids, I wanted ages for 1 job and then got offered 4 in the same week!

All of those were off my own back, no help whatsoever from the work programme. There are a couple of people I really got along with from job searching, one needs extra help, and it really saddens me to see that she hasn't been given any. She is the type of person that could really be helped by this, an increase in confidence, a workable CV, help with obtaining a CRB, and proof of residency etc No help given. I've helped her out a little, given her some good leads for jobs that she could do really well in, and also helped with her CV (after which she got an interview for the first time in years!)