Would you work full time to gain £42.19 a week compared with benefits?

Conor_3

anewman wrote: »

But even if I do get a job what's the point in giving away 37.5 hours of my week for the benefit of only £40 (just over £1 an hour) if I can only get the most meagre of jobs at the minimum wage end of the scale (even though past experience tells me I can't get a crap job or a good job). I'd rather have the 37.5 hours a week to myself than doing what someone wants me to do for £1 an hour.

Guess what one of the reasons you can't get a job is? LACK OF EXPERIENCE. How do you get that experience? BY STARTING AT THE BOTTOM ON CRAP MONEY.

As many graduates are finding out, a degree doesn't mean a whole lot without experience.

So you take the job with the crap pay and you get the experience. You can then apply for jobs with better pay and so on and so on.

Think yourself lucky. When I started working in 1987, national minimum wage didn't exist. Try working for £1/hr. Yet this is what people did and you get promoted, gain experience, apply for better paid jobs and you get what you want.

The problem is, young uns today seem to think that they should be able to walk into a high paid position with sod all experience behind them.

If you want work, try the agencies. They won't give a stuff about your personality as long as you're vertical and breathing. Because it's temp work, there's less pressure on you to be competent at the job.

anewman

john.xs wrote: »

how about a course on interpersonal skills /interview techniques

Have looked but never seen any.

TheWaltons_3

anewman wrote: »

Have looked but never seen any.

How about a life coach/therapist?

Some self help books even..

changkra

To be honest for an extra £42.19 a week, yes i would take the job to get off the benefits if I was on them. It's a starting point and doesn't mean you would stay in that job or on that level for along time. Also £42.19 a week is a lot of money to some people. I'm not on benefits but i can do allot with £42.19. I think it depends on your own personal view on the value of money.

tigtag02

It's not about the value of money but the value of self worth.

I would gladly work for the SAME amount as the benefits because I would be taking care of me.

No-one in the world is owed a living, I'll never understand why so many think they are!!

anewman

Emmzi wrote: »

Originally Posted by anewman
J There is little I can do about my poor interpersonal skills as that's who I am.

I'M CURRENTLY WORKING IN LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AND WOULD BEG TO DIFFER. BUT YOU HAVE TO WANT TO CHANGE.

I feel the best environment in which to develop my skills would be in work. My life as it currently is requires very little of these skills, and there's no opportunity to develop them without a need for them on a constant basis. But that's almost like the catch 22 situation in Alice Cooper's song Lost In America. There's very little I can do otherwise and I have never come across any resources or services etc. I've wanted to change for the past 13 years ever since the persistent bullying I was ill equiped to deal with at school (which is why I was bullied of course as bullies only bully because they can and get away with it) which left me so depressed I left without GCSE's. I'm not too bothered about the fact that I was bullied and am seeking no sympathy, it's in the past and don't care about it anymore, just using it to illustrate the affect me being me has had on my life in the past. Any tips?

Emmzi wrote: »

ERM, NO. YOU NEED TO DEMONSTRATE YOU ARE THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB, KEY WOPRD - DEMONSTRATE, THEY AIN'T PSYCHIC. WHICH WILL INVOLVE UPPING THOSE SKILLS....

Tried my best. Spent ages and ages preparing for interviews doing research etc. Looked at my application to try pick out what might have got them interested in me. Tried to think about possible questions I might be asked based on the job description to try and preempt any questions I might be asked, but not to sound like I am reading a script at the interview. I write lots of notes and revise them, approaching it almost like an exam. It seems like a waste of my time when all I get for my efforts is a letter thanking me but apologising that I have been unsuccsessful on that occasion. I probably put more effort into interviews than any of you reading this thread do and get the least benefit from it.

Emmzi wrote: »

WHAT DOES YOUR UNI CAREERS ADVISOR HAVE TO OFFER? (MINE DID MOCK INTERVIEWS AND ASSESSEMENT CENTRES ETC). HAVE YOU DONE ANY READING ON INTERVIEW SKILLS? cOME ON MATE.. TIME TO STOP THE PITY PARTY...

Asked a career advisor about these sort of issues and he just lent me a DVD to watch, and suggested in job applications I try to put "interpersonal skills" in a good light as they are more about how well you get on with other people than how great a communicator you are. I have to say the DVD didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. No offer of mock interviews or anything unfortunately - but as a graduate of a Yorkshire University I could go and use other Yorkshire University's career departments. Have also read many pages on the internet about interview skills. Furthermore have discussed the issue with the lecturer who was my project supervisor at University as he is one of my referees, and he thinks it would be a shame for me to miss out on getting a job simply because I might not be the best communicator face to face. He said he mentions this on my reference and that although I may not do great in interviews given time I am ok. This is obviously based on his experience of supervising my project.

Many jobs explicitly state they require a candidate with good communication and interpersonal skills. Those that do not explicitly state the requirement will still be likely to select employees based on that. I feel this is somewhat discriminatory. There are conditions such as Asperger syndrome of which symptoms include poor communication and interpersonal skills. Of course I wouldn't want to define myself as having a syndrome as that would suggest change or improvement is not possible. I would personally have thought excluding people based on these skills would be tantamount to discrimination. Although of course probably not likely to be deemed illegal by courts. Unfortunately employers can have and get what they want. It's why discrimination is rife in employment.

Also I live in Leeds and my most recent interviews were in Hull, Manchester and Huddersfield so it's not that I'm applying for jobs within such a small area. I have also tried supermarkets and little shops with no luck, not even any interviews - but I guess I need to lie about my qualifications to have any luck with those sort of jobs.

If I was who I would like to be I would have had a job right now, it wouldn't be a problem and this post wouldn't exist. I feel I have done everything I can, of course except for not continuing applying for jobs.

Savvy_Sue

Actually the numbers have just clicked in for me - would I work full-time for an extra £200 per month? YES! I could not just sit around at home doing nothing.

Now, you might say you're not 'doing nothing', but if what you ARE doing isn't improving your interpersonal skills and hence your employability, I'd say you really are wasting your time ...

You really don't want to turn into another studentphil ...

LittleVoice

Quote:
Originally posted by Mizz_Pink: Have a look at Learn Direct online, I looked earlier at improving my IT skills and there are lots of courses that you could do, online or at your local centre. I'm sure there would be something suitable that would give you some confidence.


Originally Posted by john.xs
how about a course on interpersonal skills /interview techniques

anewman wrote: »

Have looked but never seen any.

If you took the trouble to look at the Learndirect website you would have found they offer various courses in the "Management and Personal Skills" category.

pandas66

What is the benefits level?

I never worked out 'how much better off' I would be because although I started on a few hours at very low wages (but a few added extras) I needed to work up that ladder and being on benefits was never going to acheive that.
At some point you have to come off them, unless its DLA ofcourse.

Don't look at the extra as only £1 or so an hour, as you say its £42 per week extra!

Conor_3

tigtag02 wrote: »

It's not about the value of money but the value of self worth.

I would gladly work for the SAME amount as the benefits because I would be taking care of me.

No-one in the world is owed a living, I'll never understand why so many think they are!!

Exactly. I'm a cripple. I could quite legitimately sit at home on my !!!! all day on DLA/IB/IS and actually be BETTER OFF than I am working but I don't. I was forced to for 10 months when it got to the point where I could no longer walk but as soon as I could, I was back at work and even in those 10 months, I was applying for jobs I thought I could do.