35 hour a week work search is becoming difficult. How to not get sanctioned?

donnajunkie

gomer wrote: »

A system that offers completely free further education with no loss of benefits while you study in order to help you improve your future job prospects is set up to be a person's enemy? I've heard it all now.

The only enemy a lot of the people replying to this topic have is themselves.

One excuse after another. Some people deserve to be sanctioned.

I did not say that at all. I meant in terms of how they treat people and how they design the rules. They should be there to help but what they do is threaten and look for ways to stop peoples money. They work on the assumption thst everyone is trying to avoid work. The sanction regime is the only thing that works on the basis of guilty until proven innocent.

donnajunkie

Mr.Generous wrote: »

DJ, I think you come at this from a completely different viewpoint than I do.

My view is you are trying to find a job.

You think its about being able to claim indefinitely.

The thread is by someone seeking advice on how to fulfill the 35 hours. You made a suggestion of a task they could do. I simply pointed out how it may not be a suitable task to help fill the time if their work coach does not accept it.
How from this did you get trying to claim indefinitely? Your stance seems to be just do what you think is best to get a job. In an ideal world that would be correct. You dont seem to grasp the realities people face that means it isnt as simple as that. You have to think about what is best when dealing with the jobcentre or you risk a sanction.

donnajunkie

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

I once went for an interview and the bloke interviewing me told me a car was the only reliable way to get to work. At the time, I was living in a flat overlooking the workplace. I pointed out to him that it would take me less than 5 minutes to get to work in the morning to which he said ‘oh well when there’s snow on the ground you won’t want to walk’ to which I pointed out it might take me a few minutes longer- maybe 10- but while cars can fail or get stuck on snowy roads my two legs could make it through still. He had no answer to that!

Sounds like an idiot that was not very good at making up an excuse to not employ you.

miriamac

donnajunkie wrote: »

You dont need to do 10 per day unless of course you find 10 worth applying for. 35 hours means 5 hours per day. One good application could take an hour or even longer, they often say they dont want people to just click the apply button and thats it, they want people to spend time perfecting their applications. So 5 or even less should be enough. Then if you include other tasks, reading local paper, social media etc you can fill your time for sure.

BiB - or 7 hours a day Mon-Fri. Like a lot of jobs.

Farmer_Johnson

donnajunkie wrote: »

Perhaps they mean in relation to when they are struggling to fill the 35 hours.

Yes, I know, and tailoring the CV for each job is counted in the time and also increases the chance of getting the job.

If people put the same effort into finding work as they do into trying to play the system they’d very likely be in work by now.

I have to ask, the sort of advice you are giving, have you ever been unemployed yourself and did it not make it hard to get back in? It reads to me like a manual for becoming long term unemployed, or having a series of low skilled low paying jobs with big gaps between them.

How have you managed to stay in work if your posts on here reflect what you really think?

Farmer_Johnson

JonVarnas wrote: »

I've got a range of CV's tailored to different sectors and put the effort into jobs that I have a realistically have chance of getting but I always apply for at least 5-10 different jobs a day to cover my back in case anyone at the Jobcentre wants to be an !!!!!!.

35 hours a week job search is just stupid. It's an arbitrary number thought up by some civil servant who hasn't got the foggiest idea of what it's like at the lower paid and insecure end of the jobs market.

If you can find a job quickly on less hours then that’s great, but it’s far from an unreasonable number of hours for people who can’t.

7 to 12 every day, and you still have your afternoons and evenings free.

If you want the benefits, you need to follow the rules.

gomer

donnajunkie wrote: »

You are choosing to jump to the worst conclusions about people. What benefit do you get while going to college? It cant be jsa as you arent available for and actively seeking work.

That's because all I've heard so far are naff excuses.

Your benifit might change (wrong)
College takes too long (boo hoo - working 72hrs a week and having £500 per month taken from my salary paying for people's benefits takes too flipping long!)
You might be financially worse off (wrong)

etc etc etc excuse excuse excuse all I'm hearing from you Donna is excuse after excuse about why people can't do things, but very liite positive advice about using jobcentre to better your prospects. I have to agree the advice you are giving on this thread is toxic., not to mention unproductive.

Your benefit remains the same while you are at college. How many more times? It's still classed as jobseekers because being at college is still doing something to actively find future employment and improve your prospects. They give you a form which exempts you from signing on while you are at college.

I'm telling you this because I know it's true. I did it myself. Forget about 'what sort of benefits' you get, what type of benefits you get while at college are irrelevant. it's STILL THE SAME!!! Nothing changes with your benefits. All that matters is it stays the same and you don't lose a penny and don't pay for travel. YOU ARE NOT FINANCIALLY WORSE OFF, so stop looking for excuses.

Jesus christ. I give up. All you seem to be doing is looking for naff excuses with every post rather than looking for solutions. If you are the future job seekers then God help us we might as well give up now. Just cling onto your jobseekers and don't even bother trying to improve your chances. I don't really care anymore. lol

tuodtoearth

Excuses excuses! If you're applying for less than 40 jobs a day you're not making the effort. It took me months finding a job each time I applied 40-70 jobs every day without fail, within a 50 mile radius from my home.


Use public transport, be willing to relocate for a minimum wage job. I have walked 1hr 45 minutes each way for a job once, changed 4 trains for another, and relocated 370 miles for a minimum wage job. I saw the advert so applied for it, writing down that workplace town name on my CV and then just said at the interview I'm willing to relocate. Don't make excuses for being lazy.

JonVarnas

gomer wrote: »

All excuses.

You are not financially worse off going to college. They even pay all travel expenses. Your benefits remain the same.

Languishing on the dole with no qualifications can take a long time. Isn't it better to spend that time improving your work prospects?

If you are not confident enough for college then you have no hope in the job market. Going to college will give you confidence.

The problem is people just want to cling on to their job seekers allowance for dear life while doing as little as possible in return.

Like I said before, some people don't deserve any better than a job in a chip shop.

Some of the attitudes on this thread are astounding.

That's just utter rubbish! The only courses the DWP will send you on are CV writing courses or the most basic literacy and numeracy courses - and you still have to sign on. As for college, if you're on JSA you can't do more than 16 hours and again, the free courses are the most basic ones - and you still have to sign on. If you want to do a decent course you may be able to get a remission in fees.

gomer

JonVarnas wrote: »

That's just utter rubbish! The only courses the DWP will send you on are CV writing courses or the most basic literacy and numeracy courses - and you still have to sign on. As for college, if you're on JSA you can't do more than 16 hours and again, the free courses are the most basic ones - and you still have to sign on. If you want to do a decent course you may be able to get a remission in fees.

Can you explain how they sent me to city of Westminster college to study private security & counter terrorism" in 2014 then? Did I just imagine it? Did I just imagine not signing on? Was at college 5 days a week, hw did I sign on? I gained 2 licences and enough qualifications to be in full time work ever since. Hardly basic. I'd agree one of us is talking utter rubbish at least.


Try finding out what they offer yourself as you clearly have no idea. You can do construction to gain your licence for the construction industry, catering and hospitality, security & a whole list of other courses. The fact your JC doesn't do it doesn't make it utter rubbish. My JC did in 2014 and as far as I know still does. Perhaps find out before rubbishing people.


I really dispair with some of the people on here. No wonder they are on the dole.