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

filigree_2

Last time I was unemployed I got about £35 a week benefits, which didn't even pay the rent. I should have got Housing Benefit but various incompetent public servants messed up my claim and I never got it. If I'd got the full whack of benefits I'd have got about £70 a week, plus whatever freebies were on offer (probably not many).

I took a job I was hugely overqualified for which paid £333 a month after taxes ie about £75 a week. Out of that I had to pay my travel expenses so I can safely say I was WORSE off than someone on the dole! I didn't qualify for any low income benefits like Housing Benefit because I earned too much!

The pay sucked and the job was pretty menial but they gave me extensive training and promoted me and with payrises I eventually had a well paid job.

Would I take a job that "only" offered me £40 more than benefits? Damn right I would!

seven-day-weekend

My son, who has mild AS which causes him problems with organisation and other things, was unemployed for nearly three years. He applied for jobs and most of the time didn't even get an interview.

He applied to Matalan twice, didn't even have an acknowledgement letter, even though he had two years experience of retail work.

He was then sent by the Jobcentre on a course to help him find a job and asked the centre he attended if they could help get him a placement at Matalan.

He worked for Matalan on this basis (no payment) for two weeks and at the end was offered a job. He has been there ten weeks now and is enjoying it and doing well. He has been told he is particularly good on the till (fast, acccurate and friendly) and he can cope well with the work as it is in bite-size chunks.

My point being, is there any way you could get a work placement in a field that suits your skills? Matalan employed my son because he had a chance to show them what he could do. If you are registered unemployed, maybe the JObcentre can help?

Oh yes....and meant to say, because my son's job is part-time, if he works his coontracted hours he is only £25 a week better off. Usually however he gets plenty of overtime, but he took he job expecting to be only slightly better off.

Wishing you well.

vtmil

Big up your voluntary work, and relate it to the job your applying for... thats what i did and it worked for me. I've not got the most confidence and am one of those ppl always worring about what to say in conversation but i think you should practice what you could say, and then adapt these to the questions they could ask. Bring in hobbies and personal experience too...explain what you did on your degree, what you liked, what you were good at etc... be flexible, friendly, enthusastic. Do not just focus on education, i would say experience (personal,voluntary,any work youve done) is just as is important. Relate this to the job - eg i managed to relate a 1hr/week cleaning job when i was 14 to how it would help me in the job i do now(teaching assistant)!

By the way, because of childcare costs, I actually earn less than i did when we relied on the other halfs wage, wtc and ctc. However, for me its my start, i'll be able to move up the ladder, gain more qualifications and achieve my career goals.

It also helps with interpersonal skills , ie having a career to talk about, experiencing lif, interacting with others, developing new social networks, improves self esteem, etc etc

Keep on trying.

hullight

Sorry to seem like I'm boasting but I'm 17 and started out cleaning when I was 16 for £5.05 an hour, then did an apprenticeship but only lasted four months. This was in August. Now I am on £11,000 a year working in accounts. I think I have been lucky though. The first job I was working with my mam, and the one I am doing now was an accident because they interviewed me for the wrong job but they offered me it anyway.

C_Ronaldo

You have to want to change, you can change your interaction skills,

PasturesNew

Even in the grottiest job for the worst employer, when you are in any job, they will ask you to do more/different things.

While these more/different things won't usually attract any more pay, you never know when any one of them might catch the eye of the next potential employer when you list them on your CV.

Also, when you are in any job, employers look on you more favourably than somebody who isn't in a job. And if they want you, it is more likely they will offer you a tad more money than you're getting.

It takes time. As a graduate, at the end of the day you're just a school leaver with another bit of paper - and why would anybody put you straight away in a good job, when there are other graduates who have spent the last 2-3 years in grotty jobs doing god knows what waiting for their break?

Good luck anyway. I know that looking for work isn't as easy as those with a job make out. Although you're in a big city so more opportunities there than if you were stuck out in the countryside.

seven-day-weekend

This thread is several months old! Hopefully the OP has got a job by now!

moneyisenergy

Some great advise here. Of course you should work if your only going to be £42 better off. Incase you need reminding in order to receive JSA you need to be applying for jobs. If you turn a job down you are in breach of your declaration and would no longer be intiltled to JSA. I work and earn less than on benefits. Your benefits can be stopped at anytime. It's much better to work even if it's less money. Outrageous that the DSS are allowing people to do this. When everyone else is earning a living. How very dare they. Work is hard and interacting with people is differcult. You just have to force yourself. A cattle prod up the backside might work.