Universal Job Match at http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk

Gaz1971

The old system had flaws, its not ideal but its what we have to deal with, unfortunately.

I would love to take a stand and be a rebel, but I cant afford to be.

john539

Gaz1971 wrote: »

Random person? It was a senior JC adviser, who are you going to get your info from, the milkman?

Yes, they are 1 random person on the phone.

And what will you be saying tomorrow when you speak to someone else.

You were complaining of scaremongering & you've scared yourself with a different story into jumping through the hoops.

It's best you let it all settle down & find out when you see JC people you deal with, armed with knowledge you have.
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Gaz1971

john539 wrote: »

And what will you be saying tomorrow when you speak to someone else.

You were complaining of scaremongering & you've scared yourself with a different story into jumping through the hoops.

It's best you let it all settle down & find out when you see people you with armed with knowledge you have.

Ah but unlike you, I have got my info from a Jobcentre staff member, because I was fed up of listening to scaremongering on here. You havent, you have buried your head in the sand and think you tell them what you have to do to get your money.

You dont dictate terms to your boss at work, he tells you what you do for your money, same applies here to the JC.

john539

Gaz1971 wrote: »

Ah but unlike you, I have got my info from a Jobcentre staff member, because I was fed up of listening to scaremongering on here. You havent, you have buried your head in the sand and think you tell them what you have to do to get your money.

You dont dictate terms to your boss at work, he tells you what you do for your money, same applies here to the JC.

I've explained, but you refuse to see it.

Let's see.

You need to calm down & chill out.

Gaz1971

john539 wrote: »

I've explained, but you refuse to see it.

Let's see.

You need to calm down & chill out.

You have explained what YOU think are the rules, but you arent the one who decides if you get your money. And good luck to anyone on here who follows your lead and ends up with their benefits stopped and say 'well John on Moneysavingexpert says this' to a JC adviser.:rotfl:

Im the calmest person here, Ive been getting my info from the horses mouth.

weeta_bix

Gaz1971 wrote: »

All this private data stuff is cobblers.They already know all your personal info, you had to give it when you signed on. The only thing they will see is whether you really are searching on their site and applying for jobs.

The only people who have anything to fear are those who write on their JC diaries that they searched and applied for jobs when really they did nothing, now they will see you did nothing and quite rightly, stop you benefits.

If MissSarah really does apply for 50 jobs a week, they will see this and she will have nothing to worry about. If she is telling porkies, she will be found out, maybe thats why she is so against it:D

Your missing the point Gaz, it's not about the Jobcentre having access to your private data. It is about the 3rd parties they are allowing to view the data, as stated in there terms and conditions of the website, who they are refusing to disclose who these people are.

Also the data the Jobcentre already have is stored on OFFLINE servers.

They cannot force to disclose personal data to 3rd parties, without giving you any idea of who they are.

Also the servers are hosted in the US, so they are also transferring the data out of the EU, to a company that has already been hacked recently, which is also very dubious under the data protection act.

Jobcentre rules do not override existing laws, unless they change the law.

Gaz1971

weeta_bix wrote: »

Your missing the point Gaz, it's not about the Jobcentre having access to your private data. It is about the 3rd parties they are allowing to view the data, as stated in there terms and conditions of the website, who they are refusing to disclose who these people are.

Also the data the Jobcentre already have is stored on OFFLINE servers.

They cannot force to disclose personal data to 3rd parties, without giving you any idea of who they are.

Also the servers are hosted in the US, so they are also transferring the data out of the EU, to a company that has already been hacked recently, which is also very dubious under the data protection act.

Jobcentre rules do not override existing laws, unless they change the law.

But until someone has challenged this in court and they have ruled it illegal, which takes months, you need to be getting paid.

Al_chemist

As others have said there's a lot of assumptions (mainly incorrect) and scare-mongering on this thread. FWIW here's some facts for you - it's up to you if you chose to believe them or not, I can't force you. Apologies for a lengthy first post.

You don't HAVE to register on UJ but if your advisor thinks it would improve your prospects of finding work they can (and in many cases, WILL) issue you with a direction to register.

You CANNOT be forced, under direction or otherwise, to give DWP permission to have access to your UJ account.

If you DON'T give DWP permission to acces your account they cannot access it. It's that simple. No skullduggery.

If you DO give DWP permission to access your account they will access it via an icon on their desktop. They will need wither your user id or email to be able to do this. They will NOT be signing in to your account via your id and email in teh way that you would. They will be able to see activity on your account. They will NOT be able to see any other internet activity - that's just ridiclous to even think they would.

Your jobseeker's agreement will be changed to remove references to Jobseeker Direct and replaced with UJ.

A large part of JCP's responsibility is to check conditionality - whether you are meetingthe conditions of recieving Jobseeker's Allowance. The clue is in the name of the benefit. JCP need to see that you are actually jobseeking. If you are not complying with your JSAgreement, or with a direction, they will question your conditionality - that's when it goes to a decison maker. If you say you're looking for work but refuse to register on UJ they will question your conditionality.

One of the benefits of UJ is that you can record all other jobsearch activity on it, if you want to. So if you chose to do that and give DWP permission to access your account, you will NOT need to provide written proof of your jobsearch.

Work Programme providers are private companies - they will NOT have access to your UJ account.

UJ is a brand new IT system. It's a massive project, and as with any large IT project there are teething problems, but they're being worked on all the time.
Not all jobs that were advertised with JCP when UJ went live have migrated properly, it's fair to say that as new jobs go on they should improve.
Poorly worded job adverts are down to employers - they will self-serve on UJ, they're the ones who type in the wording now.

The idea is that UJ will become the leading jobsearch site for UK - why wouldn't a genuine jobseeker want to use this to look for work?

As for registering with an alias etc - yes, brilliant idea. That's not exactly going to be appealing to an employer. Good luck with getting a job that way.

And here's a couple of thoughts for some of you... it's 2012. Online recruitment is becoming the way of the world. CV drops to shops / offices is fast becoming extinct. Jobseekers need to be using the internet an increasing amount to look for work.

If you've been sending out 50 CVs a week (online or otherwise) and just aren't getting responses - it's highly possible that your CV needs tweaking in some way.
Giving DWP access to your account means they can see if they need to help you get your CV right so it works for you. They can also have a look to see if your profile needs fiddling around with, if your skills etc need changing to increase your chances of getting matches. They can actually help you.

If you're not registered on UJ (as with any other jobsearch site) you won't be in the pot to get matched to new jobs as they come online. You'll miss out. Yes you can do a search, but the people who are registered who are matched will recieve an automatic notification - they may well have applied before you do your search. As the great lottery people say, you have to be in it to win it.

Employers can carry out a search of the labour market to see if there's anyone registered on UJ who meets their criteria without having to post a job! They will get anonymised details of the people who match (without their name etc etc), and will be able to send a message to them via the UJ system. If they find someone they like they won't therefore even advertise the job. So anyone not registered won't get a sniff.

And people who don't have computers / internet access / IT skills etc. There is an increasing amount of support out there, because as stated above, it's 2012. The chance of someone getting a job if they can't do some pretty basic stuff on the internet is really slim. Obviously I can't speak for the whole country but libraries generally have free internet access (our local one is NEVER booked out fully), many jobcentres also have computers specifically for customers to use to look for work. Some jobcentres will be able to coach people in how to use the internet to look for work. And there are free IT courses around.

So there you go, hope this clears a few things up for you. It's time to put your tinfoil hats away people :-)

john539

Gaz1971 wrote: »

You have explained what YOU think are the rules, but you arent the one who decides if you get your money. And good luck to anyone on here who follows your lead and ends up with their benefits stopped and say 'well John on Moneysavingexpert says this' to a JC adviser.:rotfl:

Im the calmest person here, Ive been getting my info from the horses mouth.

This isn't a game or a laugh, trying have a go at each other.
The Tory government would like that, divide a rule, the poor fighting amongst themselves.

I know enough for certain not to believe everything I hear or what someone in a jobcentre says.

You've got plenty of time to let system settle down, sign up to UJM as you wish without giving DWP permission, see advisors attitude, check with other people, then you can change DWP permission later if you wish as system settles down.

You don't have to decide it all today, tomorrow or next week.

weeta_bix

Gaz1971 wrote: »

But until someone has challenged this in court and they have ruled it illegal, which takes months, you need to be getting paid.

I have brought up issues about data protection like this many times in the past with the Jobcentre, after a training provider demanded I order a new birth certificate, them promptly lost it before I ever received it.

I have found that if you explain your concerns, they usually will not do anything until they have a concrete answer, which even if it won't stop you having to sign up, it will buy you time until this comes to a resolution.

Someone has to go first and by the looks of it, since I was the first person to get those print outs, it will be me. If no one ever made the effort to question the Jobcentre and people just went along with things as you a proposing, they could force you to do absolutely anything, legal or not.

Please, try to hold your nerve. Jobcentre and staff are people, and people can be reasoned with. You are assuming the very worst before it has happened.

People have suggested to get the fact that it is mandatory in writing. Perhaps this should be your next move, you would only be asking them to confirm what they have already told you on paper, and I just bet they won't do it.

I know this is very stressful, but that's exactly why I have come here. We need to be supporting each other and sharing information, not attacking one another. We can help each other.