Friend never worked a day in his life

NineDeuce

Why does he need your advice if he can walk into £25k/annum?

Rosemary7391

Silvertabby wrote: »

That's really shocking, but does prove my own theory. Mr S and I retired from the RAF when we still needed 44 years (him) and 39 years (me) years of NI contributions in order to qualify for the full (old) basic State pension.

We knew we didn't qualify for actual JSA because we both had RAF pensions - but the financial advice was to sign on in order to plug the NI gap so we wouldn't lose a full year.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a 'NI only' claim - we had to jump through the JSA hoops, which included 'signing on' every 2 weeks. It was very noticable that when we walked into the job centre, a couple of the administrators made a bee-line for us. They later admitted that it was a nice break for them not to have to put up with a load of abuse.

We also noticed the ones who would scream and shout for 'their' money were pushed through the system without so much as a glance at their job seekers log.

I don't blame the administrators and they shouldn't have to put up with this. However it seems quite straightforward to systematically reduce incentives for this kind of behaviour. After a set number of incidents (even 1 per advisor, which is quite a lot), they get banned from that jobcentre and must travel to a different one to sign on. How many would they go through before they just behaved in a civil manner?

Madbags

My best friend was similar. He's 30 and the only jobs he's ever had his whole life was the same temporary one with the Royal Mail at Christmas time. He did this nearly every year since leaving school and that's all he's ever done.


He got to the point he's realised he has to do something with his life now or end up being on JSA forever and he's done it of his own back. I've never interfered with his lifestyle or tried to push him into anything as he knew in himself anyway.


He's spent the last 6 months getting fitter and stronger as he decided he wants to join the Army Engineers. He's always been very good at building almost anything from scratch, kind of like the A-Team.


He recently went on a 4 week crash course with the Army and passed it all and goes into Phase 1 training this month. I'm very proud of him even though it's taken his entire adult life to get there.


So it's never too late to turn it around.

glosoli

Just more than 10 years ago I was a friend with a guy from college who was into smoking cannabis and playing games also. Fast forward 10 years, he too has never worked a day in his life, and is now a "house husband" whilst his DW goes out to bring in an income for the family. It is like the 1950's in a parallel universe.

NineDeuce

I walked straight into a £25k/annum job, but I am bloody good though....

Slinky

glosoli wrote: »

Just more than 10 years ago I was a friend with a guy from college who was into smoking cannabis and playing games also. Fast forward 10 years, he too has never worked a day in his life, and is now a "house husband" whilst his DW goes out to bring in an income for the family. It is like the 1950's in a parallel universe.

Cor, he sounds a real catch. Pity I missed him........

DRH92

I know somebody who is turning 25 in a couple of months time who is in the same situation. Started claiming JSA after dropping out of college when he was 17 as he "couldn't be arsed getting the bus there". After threats of being sanctioned after about a year on that he suddenly developed "bad OCD" which he is still getting money for now! He has made no effort to better himself education or employability wise despite living within walking distance of a museum crying out for volunteers. His days just consist of loafing around in his Mum's house all day messing about on the internet and with his model railway, with no plans on changing his ways whatsoever...

lj876

Chloe_L wrote: »

Good evening all,

I have a friend who recently turned 26, and who has never had a job or as much as unpaid work experience. His mother unfortunately has wrapped him in cotton wool all of his adult life, and he spends most of his days playing PC computer games. Anyway, since his recent birthday he has said he determined to "turn it around" and has asked me for advice. Normally I am not bad at writing CV's for people but on this occasion I just don't know where to begin as there is literally nothing to write about.

I have explained to him that his chances will likely be best in supermarket work, or working in a fast food restaurant, to gain some experience so that he can at least use this to put on his CV and progress up the ladder a bit. This is how I done it and many people I know. However unfortunately he seems to have an idea that this type of work is "beneath his intelligence" and is not willing to consider it. He seems to think he can walk into a £25,000 year job, which is obviously unrealistic.

I want to help the guy out, but I am feeling as though he isn't wanting to help himself, no matter how much he talks about "wanting to change". Other than mastering the art of playing PC games it is very difficult to say what his skills are.

Am I wasting my time even trying to give advice here?

Yes. Absolutely yes. It's a waste of your time and energy, and I think you know it but may be looking for confirmation from others so you don't feel bad. So, don't feel bad. Everything that's stacked against him looks to be his fault.

[Deleted User]

I know somebody in their now approaching 40's who has never worked a day in their life (even brought 3 children into this world along the way) who always seems to do the maximum time on JSA/benefits until they are transferred to work programmes they sit through all the training and guidance, get to interviews to say totally the wrong stuff and wreak more then a few times of BO intentionally, so not offered a job and so back to (what used to be) JSA or ESA they would happily go. I've known this person since they were 21 and it was apparent they were just one of those who would never work. I think it registered when they reached around 25 there was little point offering help and wasting breath on this subject.

Perhaps they have done it right.

Sncjw

I would give it up.

If he says he can walk into a job earning 25k why hasn't he done it by now.

A) because he is lazy and thinks everyone else has to fund his life style

he has no clue of the real world


I know someone who love his video games because he is autistic. Autistic people can fixate on an area and it becomes a passion and skill for them. He has worked his way from school and done numerous courses at college in relation to IT but he can't find anyone that would take him on.

The IT world is a tough industry to get into due to the specialist skills. He is profienct in certain areas of IT. I guess not with him giving up on college. How does he expect to walk into the job with no proir knowledge or qualifications.

You say his jsa money would be pocket money to him. This sounds like he gets money from Else where. Does his mother fund all his gaming stuff. If that was my mother at the age of 26 she woild expect me to pay for my own luxuries.

He needs to grow up and get a shock of what life is really like. His mother isn't going to be here all the time.