People on the dole

Running_Horse

My last question before signing off is this: What would you do if all benefits were stopped tomorrow? If the answer is "starve", then sadly you really do not have many options. However, I suspect the reason you started this discussion was not to justify your current existence, but because you fell unhappy and trapped, and deep down have the motivation to change your life for the better.

I do not have the answers you are looking for because my circumstances are very different, but hopefully some people here have made helpful suggestions. The time has come to start knocking on doors, very loudly, because the solution will not come looking for you.

I will leave you with two suggestions based upon my experience of job hunting. You need a full current driving license for a large percentage of jobs, even ones that don't require any driving (I missed out on loads of potential jobs because of this). All the more important in an isolated location. You need technical qualifications. My humanities degree was all very well, but many employers wanted something scientific.

Good luck. Hopefully you will be posting about the changes you have made in a few months time.

TurkishDelight

PasturesNew wrote: »

Have you thought about going to University?

I looked into it the other week - you need to apply by 15 December I think, so now would be the time to look into it.

It seemed to me that: with the student loan you get PLUS working in the holidays, it can add up to a full time income. Where Universities are, there are often (not always) lots of local companies who employ students, so it's easier to get a part-time/holiday job. And going in to employers saying "I am a student" makes them more likely to employ you than "I am unemployed".

It seems students get bar jobs - and students get Xmas shop vacancies. And once you're in the gang, they pass word round about where they're each working and will have a word with their boss, see if they'll take you on too.

It's only 3 years. Go for it.

If nothing changes, I am planning to move to Cardiff next year once I have a OU course or two to prove i'm not stupid and my (small, but helpful) trust fund comes through, scary but brilliant . Greater Cardiff, incidentally is the only part of Wales that is financially self sufficient, so it is hardly surprising that jobs are hard to find.

Hereward

TurkishDelight wrote: »

I don't think we have a local free paper, but it's a great idea thank you, research is definitely needed :T The cleaning thing is a little more tricky, as they don't pay the self-employed top-up credit to under 25's and I don't know anybody who would need a cleaner, but thanks anyway

Not that I'm condoning tax evasion, but could you not ask your parents/friends that you are thinking about starting up your own business and would they mind paying you to do their cleaning. As you are trying it out for a month, and the value would be quite low, you could always not tell the job centre, unless it’s a roaring success. You have to try and make demand sometimes as people don't always realise what the want.

If you have a newsagents near-by couldn't you try and get on their lists for a round? There are plenty of people near me that have rounds that are quite a bit older than teenagers.

PasturesNew

TurkishDelight wrote: »

If nothing changes, I am planning to move to Cardiff next year once I have a OU course or two to prove i'm not stupid and my (small, but helpful) trust fund comes through, scary but brilliant . Greater Cardiff, incidentally is the only part of Wales that is financially self sufficient, so it is hardly surprising that jobs are hard to find.

I am in Cardiff
There are 160 job agencies here I was told.
Buses are brilliant.... I've never known public transport before. They go everywhere every 10 minutes.
And there's this train thing - that goes loads of places too.
It's bloomin' marvellous.
And rents are dirt cheap. A student house share can be friom just £200-250/month.
And there are shops and those cheap shops people talk about: Primark, Peaocks.
I've seen loads of places I'd only ever heard about before. Like Starbucks, not only did I see my first one ever ... but there's more than 1.

I really am an 'innocent abroad'

TurkishDelight

Running_Horse wrote: »

My last question before signing off is this: What would you do if all benefits were stopped tomorrow? If the answer is "starve", then sadly you really do not have many options. However, I suspect the reason you started this discussion was not to justify your current existence, but because you fell unhappy and trapped, and deep down have the motivation to change your life for the better.

I do not have the answers you are looking for because my circumstances are very different, but hopefully some people here have made helpful suggestions. The time has come to start knocking on doors, very loudly, because the solution will not come looking for you.

I will leave you with two suggestions based upon my experience of job hunting. You need a full current driving license for a large percentage of jobs, even ones that don't require any driving (I missed out on loads of potential jobs because of this). All the more important in an isolated location. You need technical qualifications. My humanities degree was all very well, but many employers wanted something scientific.

Good luck. Hopefully you will be posting about the changes you have made in a few months time.

Rely heavily on family and try and persuade the executors of my great grandma's will that it really was desperate. (i've tried this with regards to the driving lessons, but they won't budge.)

Graham_Devon

Hmmmm.

Can I ask a really dumb question.

If it's so remote, how did you get to school?

PasturesNew

Probably the same way kids that live on/around Dartmoor/Exmoor do. School buses/taxis.

The moors villages are remote in terms of jobs you can get to using public transport.

TurkishDelight

Hereward wrote: »

Not that I'm condoning tax evasion, but could you not ask your parents/friends that you are thinking about starting up your own business and would they mind paying you to do their cleaning. As you are trying it out for a month, and the value would be quite low, you could always not tell the job centre, unless it’s a roaring success. You have to try and make demand sometimes as people don't always realise what the want.

If you have a newsagents near-by couldn't you try and get on their lists for a round? There are plenty of people near me that have rounds that are quite a bit older than teenagers.

I live with my parents- I do all their cleaning anyway but no, my mum was unemployed a few months ago and tried to do cleaning in the village. there was one woman who wanted it done every couple of weeks, but even she has stopped needing it done because she has been working less now and has more time. Everybody else does their own or gets one of the two cleaners in the village to do it.

TurkishDelight

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hmmmm.

Can I ask a really dumb question.

If it's so remote, how did you get to school?

I was homeschooled.

Graham_Devon

Well thats an answer I wasn't expecting.

However, it does kinda tell me something. You've never needed to get out there and fight for any type of position. Even if it's just hyriechy (sp) in the school.

You've never needed to trundle into school and go out of your way to be waiting for buses at 7.30 in the morning.

The fact that you were homeschooled says so much (to me at least) as to your 'excuses' like the accident rate thing, for not getting out there.

And thats not your fault at all, but it does say a lot.