Job search distance do I HAVE to go to the maximum

mongoose2009

Hi im long term unemployed on JSA

had a bit of a disagreement with my job coach about my job searching

in my JSA agreement is says i have be willing to travel up to 90 min on public transport which i agreed to

and i have to apply for a minimum of 2 jobs a week which i agreed to

and as im long term unemployed i have to apply for any job im capable  to do which i do

so the disagreement is that she was saying i was limiting my searches as she looked up a job that was 10 miles away from me

and said why didnt you apply for that? i said i didnt see that and it was 10 miles away and would take 2 buses and about 70 min to get according to googlemaps

but as longs as im appyling for the minimum number does the distance matter? am i not allowed to look at the closest jobs first?

the rule is be willing to travel "up to" but it doesnt say i have to

and if i have to apply for a job 70 min away do i ONLY apply for job that far away and none locally?

she didnt seem to have a answer

emmajones1976

Surely you would apply for any, up to 90 mins, so apply for any that crop up?

mongoose2009

yes i apply for thing but she was saying a deliberately not applying for jobs further away

my point was that as long as i apply for the minimum number  why does the distance matter?

Bradden

Why would you want to only apply for the minimum number of jobs.. surely that would limit your ability to find work? .. or am I missing something?

theoretica

I think her point is that you are actually expected to apply for more than the minimum.

Jillanddy

The answer is in the words. You have to apply for a minimum of two jobs a week, but you should apply for any jobs that you are capable of doing within the maximum distance deemed reasonable. 90 minutes and/or 50 miles is the most common outer limit, so if there is a job that is 70 minutes away then you should apply. The fact that you have applied for two jobs already does not prevent you applying for a third, or a fourth... If there are 20 jobs that you could do, then that is how many you should be applying for. 

From what I can see, she gave you your answer. You just don't like the answer. Arguing with your job coach about what appears, even by your explanation of it, very clear terms, is probably not a good idea if you want to avoid sanctions.

Sncjw

If you are applying for the closest jobs first youe missing out on potential jobs that could secure a job and get you off benefits. 

TELLIT01

If the work coach doesn't believe you are making a genuine effort to find work, and long term unemployed only applying for the absolute minimum required could certainly be viewed that way, it's possible that there are other actions they can take.  I get a very strong impression that you really don't want to work.

MoodyMand45

I had a Job Coach try to sanction me on JSA once, unfortunately for them i kept printed proof of the jobs i had applied for and the sanction was overturned.
I think your strategy of applying for the nearest jobs first makes sense to avoid travel costs.
The JSA is is just a contract to ensure you apply for a few jobs a week, in my area new jobcentres are opening to cope with the huge amount of new UC claims at the moment so the competition for jobs is getting tougher.

lisyloo

I am a little confused.
in post number 1 you say “I have to apply for any job I’m capable to do”

wouldnt that include the jobs 70 mins away.

of course if you get a offered 2 and all others things being equal then you’d choose the closest one,  but why wouldn’t you expect to apply for ALL that fit the criteria whilst you don’t have one?

Lomast

If you are applying for a decent number of jobs a week then I think they are being unreasonable. If however you are only just meeting minimum numbers then I would suggest you don't really want a job and are just playing the system.