What else can I do?

Adereterial

It's not about doing something 'else', it's now about doing things differently. What you are doing isn't working - stop flogging a dead horse and try doing something differently.

My guess is your adviser is asking you to think critically about your jobsearch, so you can identify yourself your own needs. They will then support you where they can to meet those needs. At the moment you seem to be focusing on quantity, not quality. You need to reevaluate your approach.

Martynb_

Adereterial wrote: »

It's not about doing something 'else', it's now about doing things differently. What you are doing isn't working - stop flogging a dead horse and try doing something differently.

My guess is your adviser is asking you to think critically about your jobsearch, so you can identify yourself your own needs. They will then support you where they can to meet those needs. At the moment you seem to be focusing on quantity, not quality. You need to reevaluate your approach.

The JC said I should be applying for about 50 jobs per week. That's quantity.

Martynb_

melysion wrote: »

Thats a very good point. No two jobs are the same, even if the roles are similar and you should always tailor your CV/cover letter according to the job description. I literally rewrite my CV to fit each different job description.

I got into trouble for doing that. I changed my CV for a role I applied for. I changed the wording and added words that where in the job description. But the words I used were not me. I lied. I was told off for it.

mro

Martynb_ wrote: »

Apparently I am doing something wrong.

The advisor will always says this as you're still claiming JSA & he wants you to go away.

As usual JC advisors are completely clueless & incompetent in helping people.

mro

Martynb_ wrote: »

The JC said I should be applying for about 50 jobs per week. That's quantity.

That's ridiculous, the quality of your applications will be affected, it' inevitable if your're having to find that number & apply for them.

Who said that, what does your Jobseeker's Agreement say ?

melysion

Martynb_ wrote: »

I got into trouble for doing that. I changed my CV for a role I applied for. I changed the wording and added words that where in the job description. But the words I used were not me. I lied. I was told off for it.

Lying on your CV isn't a good idea, but highlighting the skills you have to match the job description as much as possible is.

mro

Adereterial wrote: »

It's not about doing something 'else', it's now about doing things differently. What you are doing isn't working - stop flogging a dead horse and try doing something differently.

My guess is your adviser is asking you to think critically about your jobsearch, so you can identify yourself your own needs. They will then support you where they can to meet those needs. At the moment you seem to be focusing on quantity, not quality. You need to reevaluate your approach.

Did anyone tell Jobcentres, advisors, Iain Duncan Smith this ?

My guess is the advisor doesn't have a clue, is as frustrated & disillusioned as the OP.

Adereterial

mro wrote: »

Did anyone tell Jobcentres, advisors, Iain Duncan Smith this ?

My guess is the advisor doesn't have a clue, is as frustrated & disillusioned as the OP.

The approach that the JCs take has changed dramatically in the last 5 years, and continues to change with the rollout of Claimant Commitment.

However, I fail to see how this is relevant to the OP, who has been asked to rethink their jobsearch, because their approach clearly isn't working. Let's be blunt here - if you are applying for large numbers of vacancies, and are still not employed, you are doing something wrong. No one else is to blame - they're your applications, and your interviews. No one else is responsible for how you present yourself to a potential employer, so the fault lies with you, no one else. There does not appear to be a lack of advertised vacancies in the OPs area.

The adviser is entirely right to ask the OP to think about changing what they do. And that's a change in the way JCPs do things - rather than telling the OP what to do, they've encouraged them to think about it for themselves. That was not the approach 2 years ago.

mattcanary

Adereterial wrote: »

The approach that the JCs take has changed dramatically in the last 5 years, and continues to change with the rollout of Claimant Commitment.

However, I fail to see how this is relevant to the OP, who has been asked to rethink their jobsearch, because their approach clearly isn't working. Let's be blunt here - if you are applying for large numbers of vacancies, and are still not employed, you are doing something wrong. No one else is to blame - they're your applications, and your interviews. No one else is responsible for how you present yourself to a potential employer, so the fault lies with you, no one else. There does not appear to be a lack of advertised vacancies in the OPs area.

The adviser is entirely right to ask the OP to think about changing what they do. And that's a change in the way JCPs do things - rather than telling the OP what to do, they've encouraged them to think about it for themselves. That was not the approach 2 years ago.

More likely it is because the JCP staff nowadays receive very little training.

This means they don't have much idea as to how they can help claimants, so they palm all the responsibility off to the claimant.

If this adviser said that OP should be applying for around 50 jobs each week, then they are pretty clueless really.

Adereterial

mattcanary wrote: »

More likely it is because the JCP staff nowadays receive very little training.

This means they don't have much idea as to how they can help claimants, so they palm all the responsibility off to the claimant.

If this adviser said that OP should be applying for around 50 jobs each week, then they are pretty clueless really.

The level of training has increased.

It is the claimants responsibility to find work - no one else's. People need to get to grips with that - it's clearly laid out in legislation, which has not changed. It's not rocket science.

50 jobs per week may be excessive, but that depends on the type of work the OP is looking for and the method of application. 50 Universal Jobmatch applications will take no more than a couple of hours. If the OP feels 50 is unachieveable based on their circumstances, they should discuss that, and negotiate to a figure they are happy with.

The days of '3 actions a week' are gone - it's now about doing everything reasonable to find work. I don't personally view this as a bad thing, rather what should have been happening anyway.