My DWP job coach showed up at my job interview?!

ambcross1

Hi,

So I'm new on this forum but have signed up because of something which happened today - I want to know if this is normal or even allowed...

So I've been on jobseeker's for about a month and a half now - I've signed with the same woman twice in a row, and on both occasions we spoke about an upcoming interview at a cafe near the centre. Today she wished me luck for it, as I was leaving...

Later on, I'm sitting in my job interview in the cafe, and I look to my side only to notice that she's sitting on the table next to me! :huh: She had obviously arrived since my interview began, and had been sitting there for a while without me realising, in fact I only noticed her as she got up to leave, because my interviewer acknowledged her (out of politeness rather than because of recognising her, I hope).

Now, I could give her the benefit of doubt and guess that she might have forgotten I was having an interview there, but this is unlikely.... we spoke about it on two separate occasions, and in any case, she would have spotted me as soon as she went in.

Is this acceptable? I actually suspect that she was there on purpose, to check up on me and see that I really had gone.

I guess the best case scenario is that she just happened to be there, in which case I still feel like it was an invasion of my privacy, and it distracted me as I was trying to answer questions. Surely, as my job coach, she should realise I don't need the distraction of having her sitting at the table next to me.

Is it normal for job coaches to check up on you at interviews? Or was this just an honest mistake? Should I complain?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Or, most likely, a coincidence.

HappyMJ

A coincidence....

ambcross1

Like I say, she may have forgotten before turning up at the cafe, BUT upon seeing me (it's impossible that she wouldn't have seen me) she still hung around, which is what I'm mainly annoyed about, rather than the intent or reason. Her whole job is wanting people to get jobs - so leave me alone when I'm trying to do that!

(Also I still highly doubt that she wouldn't have known, after the amount we talked about it, but regardless...)

Gavin83

Is it likely she'd be there anyway, for example because it's close to the job centre?

Alter_ego

I wouldn't want to work somewhere that interviews were held in public.

mandragora_2

ambcross1 wrote: »

I only noticed her as she got up to leave, because my interviewer acknowledged her (out of politeness rather than because of recognising her, I hope).

and it distracted me as I was trying to answer questions.

Surely, as my job coach, she should realise I don't need the distraction of having her sitting at the table next to me.

Hi there - Like others, I think it was probably a coincidence. It seems as if you only noticed her as she was leaving, so hopefully the interview was almost over by then.

Hope it went well, regardless of this minor blip (along the same lines, I think, perhaps as me being asked what I'd done to be so naughty that I had to sit outside the headmaster's room, when I was, in fact, waiting for my first ever teaching interview ). These things happen. With a little luck, you'll land the job and be signed off in double-quick time. All the best!

DKLS

Alter_ego wrote: »

I wouldn't want to work somewhere that interviews were held in public.

Why? I would have missed out on some great jobs if I had that attitude.

I have had interviews in coffee shops, hotel receptions, hotel rooms, restaurants and even a nightclub once.

Sncjw

Could it not have been lunch time or her day off

Alter_ego

DKLS wrote: »

Why? I would have missed out on some great jobs if I had that attitude.

It's not just an attitude, it completely flies in the face of the Data protection act.

sangie595

I wouldn't get fixated on it. DWP staff see hundreds of people in a week, and I doubt many of them remember what someone has said by the time the person gets to the door. By that time they have moved on to someone else. She was most probably having a cup of coffee - and the likelihood is that she didn't acknowledge you because she doesn't remember any one of the hundreds of people she sees in a fortnight.


If the DWP were truly checking up on you, I think they'd be a bit cleverer than sending someone you know.