I start a Work Placement

paulineb_2

BillJones wrote: »

Hard to say. I think that he probably is.

People might have said the same about me when I was unemployed. I spent two years out of work in my early 20s and Ive been unemployed for a couple of spells in my 40s.

Ive been called all the names, scrounger, why dont you go and get a job etc (Im not on JSA anymore and havent been for two years now and was previously self employed for 18 months prior to the last time I signed on). I was online one day and made a comment about how I couldnt go and sign on because of really bad weather, my sign on centre was a 6 mile round trip and the snow was knee deep and the job centre actually excused people from signing that day and was told, why dont you just walk it (the assumption being that I was lazy).

Ive also been criticised in the past by some people for doing voluntary work when I was on JSA, it can be damned if you do and damned if you dont.

Im actually motivated, I hate being out of work. Twice in my working life Ive worked for practically nothing, as a youth worker and keeping £5 a week as the rest was deducted from my benefit.

I went back to university to try and get more qualified (I already had a degree but was struggling to find work) and worked more or less full time from then until I was 41. I had done a couple of part time jobs until I went back to university including jobs that I declared to the DWP as I only had very part time hours.

I left my last full time job due to my health suffering badly due to work related stress and bullying. But I still got called the names, particularly online. When people hear you are on JSA, many of them think you are a lazy scrounger and how very dare you say you are skint.

My point is, there are many people who think I might have been playing the system in times when I couldnt find work. I wasnt.
I know gg comes across as a pain in the proverbial at times, but if hes looking for work, hes fulfilling the conditions of his jobseekers agreement.

I spoke about this earlier on in the thread, I think it was 2011, I got 2 interviews. That was it. Ive got a degree, two post grads, a lot of work experience and I retrained from the profession I used to do, Im not without qualifications.

Its tough out there even if you are motivated, have work experience and have decent qualifications.

Hes not helping himself. At all. But it is difficult to get work in this economic climate and I dont think being a moaning, groaning pain in the backside at times is enough for someone to try and put the boot in to get his JSA stopped.

red_devil

paulineb wrote: »

People might have said the same about me when I was unemployed. I spent two years out of work in my early 20s and Ive been unemployed for a couple of spells in my 40s.

Ive been called all the names, scrounger, why dont you go and get a job etc (Im not on JSA anymore and havent been for two years now and was previously self employed for 18 months prior to the last time I signed on). I was online one day and made a comment about how I couldnt go and sign on because of really bad weather, my sign on centre was a 6 mile round trip and the snow was knee deep and the job centre actually excused people from signing that day and was told, why dont you just walk it (the assumption being that I was lazy).

Ive also been criticised in the past by some people for doing voluntary work when I was on JSA, it can be damned if you do and damned if you dont.

Im actually motivated, I hate being out of work. Twice in my working life Ive worked for practically nothing, as a youth worker and keeping £5 a week as the rest was deducted from my benefit.

I went back to university to try and get more qualified (I already had a degree but was struggling to find work) and worked more or less full time from then until I was 41. I had done a couple of part time jobs until I went back to university including jobs that I declared to the DWP as I only had very part time hours.

I left my last full time job due to my health suffering badly due to work related stress and bullying. But I still got called the names, particularly online. When people hear you are on JSA, many of them think you are a lazy scrounger and how very dare you say you are skint.

My point is, there are many people who think I might have been playing the system in times when I couldnt find work. I wasnt.
I know gg comes across as a pain in the proverbial at times, but if hes looking for work, hes fulfilling the conditions of his jobseekers agreement.

I spoke about this earlier on in the thread, I think it was 2011, I got 2 interviews. That was it. Ive got a degree, two post grads, a lot of work experience and I retrained from the profession I used to do, Im not without qualifications.

Its tough out there even if you are motivated, have work experience and have decent qualifications.

Hes not helping himself. At all. But it is difficult to get work in this economic climate and I dont think being a moaning, groaning pain in the backside at times is enough for someone to try and put the boot in to get his JSA stopped.

i may have missed something here but i havent see anywhere where gg said he didnt want to work. I read the tshirt thread and also saw when he said he didnt want to do the same placement twice but does that mean he dosent want to work.

I cannot really see the point in the same placement twice.

paulineb_2

red_devil wrote: »

i may have missed something here but i havent see anywhere where gg said he didnt want to work. I read the tshirt thread and also saw when he said he didnt want to do the same placement twice but does that mean he dosent want to work.

I cannot really see the point in the same placement twice.

Where did I say in the post you quoted that he didnt want to work?
I said if hes looking for work he's fulfilling the conditions of his job seekers agreement

However, on reading back some of his other posts, he was looking for a numeracy course but couldnt ask his adviser for help on it because he was fit and he gets shy around fit guys. So because his adviser is a fit guy he cant ask to be put on a numeracy course he really needs?

There was the whole drama around the T shirt saga. He doesnt help himself and I stand by saying that.

Oh and his attempts to get voluntary work which so far seem to have come to diddly squat.

If he does really want to work, he could be doing much more to make himself employable.

marybelle01

imoneyop wrote: »

My attitude is that lazy gits like gay_guy need to be shown that their choice to scrounge of everyone else isn't going to work longterm - and I'm quite happy with it and have no intention of getting it adjusted.

I don't like GG's attitude any more than you do. But that does not mean he is a "scrounger". We have a persona here - we have no idea what he is actually like in real life, but I'd lay bets he isn't at all like he'd portrayed himself. Really, assuming he isn't just a troll who enjoys winding up these sorts of debates (and I admit, at times I think he is - in which case he does the unemployed no service at all), he is as likely to be someone who is so insecure in who he is that he needs a "badge" to be proud of himself; someone who is poorly educated and can barely make a literate statement, and admits to lacking basic numeracy skills; someone who may actually, despite his protestations of being unable to talk to a "fit male", may actually simply be unable to express himself or ask for help; low skilled; unemployable? Being out of work does as much damage to himself as to the benefits bill - he will die younger, and suffer more ill health (both physical and mental) than the general population.


No, I don't think people should be able to claim untold benefits without a "price", so I am not being "liberal" here. I have utterly no problem with work placements and work experience - although I would like to see the quality of what is available driven up too. I have utterly no problem with sanctioning people who are deliberately milking the benefits system, provided that it is evidenced that that is what they are doing. I am also in favour of better and more targeted benefits advice that ensure that the unclaimed £millions get to the people they are intended for - unclaimed benefit is a significantly higher figure than that which is defrauded.


There is a vast difference between delivering some harsh truths to someone on an internet forum - truths that they need to hear - and deliberately and falsely accusing them of benefit fraud and reporting them, potentially denying them a basic income and the help they actually need, even if they are fighting getting that help. I freely admit, if GG is for real, I would be strongly tempted to wrap my fingers around his throat and shake him a lot. He is frustrating, annoying, and appears to have the motivation of a lemming. That doesn't make him a bad person. It makes him someone to be pitied.


If you have never met anyone who is simply an underachiever in life, you haven't been out much. I am not saying that there is a good excuse for sticking to such a pattern of life - but there are people out there who couldn't achieve much if you gave them an instruction manual on success. My opinion is that he needs help. He probably does need a good shaking. He does deserve a lot of the criticism he gets because he has not a positive thought in his head (at least on here, he doesn't). And he's not, at least here, often a very nice person. But you never know what might one day jolt him into realising that life doesn't have to be what he is making of it. Which currently isn't very much.

RichardD1970

gay_guy wrote: »

You stated, what else have I got to do?

Well lets see, how about Job seeking because how the hell can I apply for jobs when I am on work placement 9am to 5pm?

This totally sums up your "can't do" attitude. :mad:

At the end of 2012 I knew I was going to be made redundant as the factory was relocating (to Burnley actually).

So, whilst holding down a full time job, (12hr shifts, days and nights), I managed to secure numerous interviews and secured employment and am now earning more money than I have ever have.

Maybe I had a bit of good luck and things fell just right for me, but if I hadn't got off my !!!! and put the effort in, none of that would have happened.

paulineb_2

I actually dont think the OP can barely make a literate statement, yes theres the odd spelling blooper in his posts but I know people who cant spell very well and have very decent jobs indeed. I also know people who left school with barely any qualifications and who have done very well for themselves financially.

His issue is his poor attitude, the why should I? The chip on the shoulder, thinking that the world owes him a living. The immaturity of being more concerned about his sexy tutor and his fit adviser than actually getting support with skills he needs to brush up on.

Yes, it could also be a persona, Ive thought that more than once. But I do agree, reporting someone isnt the way to go, unless theres clear reason that they should be, this mornings episode was ridiculous.

gay_guy

I have just come back from my work placement and what is this about someone reporting me?

Maybe I haven't read it right yet but did someone report me because the person thinks I don't want to work?

I just like to state, of course I want to work as I don't want to be on the dole for the rest of my life. I am 27 and want to earn some more money then the rubbish dole money which is not enough to live on.

I am applying for jobs every day on Universal Jobmatch and other job sites and I always bring in proof of Job applications to my signing on appointments, if I wasn't doing enough job seeking then I would have been sanctioned long time ago.

How am I a benefit fraud/cheating the system? I only said, why should I go on this placement again when I have done it in the past, I want different work history on my CV, not the same, is that so bad that I don't want the same thing on my CV. :mad:

paulineb_2

gay_guy wrote: »

I have just come back from my work placement and what is this about someone reporting me?

Maybe I haven't read it right yet but did someone report me because the person thinks I don't want to work?

I just like to state, of course I want to work as I don't want to be on the dole for the rest of my life. I am 27 and want to earn some more money then the rubbish dole money which is not enough to live on.

I am applying for jobs every day on Universal Jobmatch and other job sites and I always bring in proof of Job applications to my signing on appointments, if I wasn't doing enough job seeking then I would have been sanctioned long time ago.

How am I a benefit fraud/cheating the system? I only said, why should I go on this placement again when I have done it in the past, I want different work history on my CV, not the same, is that so bad that I don't want the same thing on my CV. :mad:

Someone reported you to your work placement (or so they said), I assume because you were complaining about having to go, so that you would be sanctioned and your JSA would stop

I assume it was a troll post or your placement would have mentioned it to you

gay_guy

paulineb wrote: »

Someone reported you to your work placement (or so they said), I assume because you were complaining about having to go, so that you would be sanctioned and your JSA would stop

I assume it was a troll post or your placement would have mentioned it to you

I think it was a troll as my placement managers haven't mentioned anything to me at all today.

I just had my induction in the morning which last about 20 mins to complete paper work and then I went straight working in the warehouse so nothing been mentioned about someone reporting me and when I left at 3.30pm they just said to me (see you tomorrow)

tomtontom

Can I ask what you did before you were unemployed? What qualifications do you have?