Signing on - first interview tomorrow - any tips?

Cutzee

Well, I signed a temporary Jobseekers Agreement (if there is such a thing?) this morning that is to last me two weeks until I go back for a more in depth interview. On that Agreement, it states that:

I am willing to start work immediately

I do not want to limit the days and hours I am available for work (I didn't agree to that - wasn't even asked the question!)

I do not want to work more than 40 hours per week

I am prepared to travel to and from work each way, every day for up to 90 minutes using either public transport or my own vehicle (I didn't agree to that either but he said I had no choice?!)

Under "other activities" I saw the advisor cut and paste two more items from a different screen:

1) Create a personal Universal Jobmatch account, set up a profile, upload and make public at least 1 electronic CV (I expressed concerns about data safety and scam jobs)

2) Something about giving the advisor permission to access my Universal Jobmatch account which I asked him to remove....

He said don't worry - this agreement is only for two weeks and you can take it off the next time you come in. I had to say several times I'm not happy about that and I know that it is not mandatory to have access, please can you not put that on there. In the end he removed it but it took several asks.

I'm assuming I'll have to go through the same battle in two weeks time - and every two weeks beyond that until I am fortunate enough to get a job

viscachaz

http://consent.me.uk/universaljobmatch/

Might be of use to you! Print things out regarding it and highlight the relevant bits, they don't listen if you just tell them..

My advisor informed me she had personally sat down and security checked all 300,000 jobs available, and that all were safe to apply for.. Not quite sure how she managed that in a day, but who am I to question them as they seem to know it all and have the final say!!

Cutzee

viscachaz wrote: »

http://consent.me.uk/universaljobmatch/

Might be of use to you! Print things out regarding it and highlight the relevant bits, they don't listen if you just tell them..

My advisor informed me she had personally sat down and security checked all 300,000 jobs available, and that all were safe to apply for.. Not quite sure how she managed that in a day, but who am I to question them as they seem to know it all and have the final say!!

Thank you! Can I ask about this please:

“If after the Jobcentre Plus adviser has explained the benefits of the service to them, the claimant still refuses to use Universal Jobmatch, the adviser may then consider whether it is reasonable to issue a ‘Jobseeker’s Direction’ to mandate them to create a profile and upload a public CV on Universal Jobmatch.”

If this appears on my Jobseekers Agreement:

1) Create a personal Universal Jobmatch account, set up a profile, upload and make public at least 1 electronic CV

Does that mean I have been issued a "mandate" and I have to comply? I wasn't even explained about the benefits. It was just put on there without me having any say in the matter...

out_of_cash

Cutzee wrote: »

Thank you! Can I ask about this please:

“If after the Jobcentre Plus adviser has explained the benefits of the service to them, the claimant still refuses to use Universal Jobmatch, the adviser may then consider whether it is reasonable to issue a ‘Jobseeker’s Direction’ to mandate them to create a profile and upload a public CV on Universal Jobmatch.”

If this appears on my Jobseekers Agreement:

1) Create a personal Universal Jobmatch account, set up a profile, upload and make public at least 1 electronic CV

Does that mean I have been issued a "mandate" and I have to comply? I wasn't even explained about the benefits. It was just put on there without me having any say in the matter...

Hi Please have a read of this from the DWP f.o.i request.




[FONT=&quot]DWP Central Freedom of Information Team


e-mail: [/FONT][FONT=&quot]freedom-of-information-re[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

Our Ref:

---

8th January 2013

Dear ,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request which is detailed below along with our
response.

1. Registration on Universal Jobmatch can be mandatory through a Jobseekers' Direction or
Claimant Commitment, does this also mean that the Jobseeker on Welfare Benefits will also
have to enable, tick the online account box, to allow a Jobcentre Adviser see all their personal
jobseeking activity?

2. Can the Jobseeker register but not consent to let the Adviser view activity (not tick the box)?
The jobseeker cannot get a sanction for not giving permission to an Adviser to let them view
account activity, as this requires voluntary consent?

3. What exact enacted or draft regulations and laws and sections of laws and regulations can
require a Jobseeker on Welfare Benefits, like Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit, to
allow on a mandatory benefit conditional basis a Jobcentre Adviser to view their Universal
Jobmatch account activity?

At present, it is not mandatory for a Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant to give DWP access to their Universal Jobmatch account.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Access is only granted voluntarily by the JSA
claimant once they tick a box in their Universal Jobmatch profile.

4. Is fully informed consent required to register willingly or on a mandatory basis? If consent to
register and accept your online Universal Jobmatch privacy policy is withheld, when mandated
to register will that result in a benefit sanction?

We intend to introduce mandation for Universal Jobmatch in 2013.

It is not currently mandatory for jobseekers to use the Universal Jobmatch service but it has always been our intention to mandate some JSA claimants to register with Universal Jobmatch
and upload a CV so that they can make full use of the service.
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We intend to require those claimants to do this under a Jobseeker’s Direction, when some
changes have been made to the service to fully support this. Jobseeker’s Directions require
Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants to take specific actions which will help them find work, and
failure to do so without good reason may result in a benefit sanction.


[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Yours sincerely,


DWP Central FoI Team [/FONT]




They are trying to fool everyone to use this useless website.

Its been stated in freedom of information requests from the DWP that its not mandatory to use at this moment, and they have no right whatsoever to snoop on your account,consent has to be freely given and it cant be coerced if it is, complain like hell to the ico office and dwp .

Best of luck.

viscachaz

I signed up, making sure I didn't tick the boxes allowing them access.. you can upload a CV, but take out any identifying info.

I used it for searches, usually not logged in as I could never remember my username that was justa string of numbers, and never had any problem, being able to say "yes" whenever they asked if I was registered and using it

As it was, most jobs I found on it required applying some way other than with their "apply" button!

I'd recommend doing the above, create an account with a throwaway email address, then when they ask what it is, tell them, they can check it's registered, but can't see anything more than that address is on the UJM system, therefore we all win ^_^

DCFC79

viscachaz wrote: »

I signed up, making sure I didn't tick the boxes allowing them access..

Just wondering but why not allow them access ?

kem1

The Jobcentre can't mandate you to register on UJ, but it IS mandatory to do everything on your Jobseeker's Agreement. The difference being, if you are mandated to something you have no say in the matter, but you have signed your Jobseeker's Agreement to say that you will. Therefore, if you don't do it then yes you could be at risk of a sanction - and no point trying to argue you didn't agree to it, you shouldn't have signed it if that was the case!

Don't understand all the fuss about this - nobody at the Jobcentre is trying to catch anybody out, you should be doing everything humanly possible to find a job and registering on UJ is one of them. Nobody's pretending it's perfect but it's still one of the biggest online job sites; assuming you all know it's been created on behalf of the DWP by Monster? You can hardly just look through the local paper nowadays can you!

SaveMeDo

He said don't worry - this agreement is only for two weeks and you can take it off the next time you come in. I had to say several times I'm not happy about that and I know that it is not mandatory to have access, please can you not put that on there. In the end he removed it but it took several asks.

You did right.

Did you ask about "contribution based JSA"?

From what you have said on the other thread, you are entitled to that.

You DO want it, it's much better for you.

https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance/what-youll-get

Cutzee

kem1 wrote: »

The Jobcentre can't mandate you to register on UJ, but it IS mandatory to do everything on your Jobseeker's Agreement. The difference being, if you are mandated to something you have no say in the matter, but you have signed your Jobseeker's Agreement to say that you will. Therefore, if you don't do it then yes you could be at risk of a sanction - and no point trying to argue you didn't agree to it, you shouldn't have signed it if that was the case!

Don't understand all the fuss about this - nobody at the Jobcentre is trying to catch anybody out, you should be doing everything humanly possible to find a job and registering on UJ is one of them. Nobody's pretending it's perfect but it's still one of the biggest online job sites; assuming you all know it's been created on behalf of the DWP by Monster? You can hardly just look through the local paper nowadays can you!

Hi and thank you for clearing up my question (which was "if signing up to UJM is on my Jobseekers Agreement does that mean it is now mandatory for me to sign up"). So I guess I will sign up with a throwaway address as suggested.

From what I can gather - the fuss is about being sanctioned via the monitoring of activity along with scam jobs, confidentiality issues and data safety. In addition, I also understand that the site just refers you to other sites which many of us are already using daily to look for work so it is duplication. And I am doing everything humanly possible to look for work.

Dogger69

out_of_cash wrote: »

Hi Please have a read of this from the DWP f.o.i request.




[FONT=&quot]DWP Central Freedom of Information Team


e-mail: [/FONT][FONT=&quot]freedom-of-information-re[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

Our Ref:

---

8th January 2013

Dear ,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request which is detailed below along with our
response.

1. Registration on Universal Jobmatch can be mandatory through a Jobseekers' Direction or
Claimant Commitment, does this also mean that the Jobseeker on Welfare Benefits will also
have to enable, tick the online account box, to allow a Jobcentre Adviser see all their personal
jobseeking activity?

2. Can the Jobseeker register but not consent to let the Adviser view activity (not tick the box)?
The jobseeker cannot get a sanction for not giving permission to an Adviser to let them view
account activity, as this requires voluntary consent?

3. What exact enacted or draft regulations and laws and sections of laws and regulations can
require a Jobseeker on Welfare Benefits, like Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit, to
allow on a mandatory benefit conditional basis a Jobcentre Adviser to view their Universal
Jobmatch account activity?

At present, it is not mandatory for a Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant to give DWP access to their Universal Jobmatch account.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Access is only granted voluntarily by the JSA
claimant once they tick a box in their Universal Jobmatch profile.

4. Is fully informed consent required to register willingly or on a mandatory basis? If consent to
register and accept your online Universal Jobmatch privacy policy is withheld, when mandated
to register will that result in a benefit sanction?

We intend to introduce mandation for Universal Jobmatch in 2013.

It is not currently mandatory for jobseekers to use the Universal Jobmatch service but it has always been our intention to mandate some JSA claimants to register with Universal Jobmatch
and upload a CV so that they can make full use of the service.
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We intend to require those claimants to do this under a Jobseeker’s Direction, when some
changes have been made to the service to fully support this. Jobseeker’s Directions require
Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants to take specific actions which will help them find work, and
failure to do so without good reason may result in a benefit sanction.


[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Yours sincerely,


DWP Central FoI Team [/FONT]




They are trying to fool everyone to use this useless website.

Its been stated in freedom of information requests from the DWP that its not mandatory to use at this moment, and they have no right whatsoever to snoop on your account,consent has to be freely given and it cant be coerced if it is, complain like hell to the ico office and dwp .

Best of luck.

You might want to submit a new FOI request - the rules changed in March/ April.