Very briefly as the wife of a man who was made redundant the thought of the Job Centre plus being helpful no longer exists.
As a mortgage holder and family with two school age children my husband was only entitled to Job Seeks Allowance (JSA). This was paid for 26 weeks and then after still not successful in securing employment, this was stopped. Because I work more than 20 hours a week (I am still only part time) I am expected to support the family and bills. My husband has never been asked how much I earn. This assessment is merely done of the hours I work and not the take home pay coming into the home.
Having never claimed any benefits at all before this (but we are in a recession as you all know) we enquired about training and extra help, but, alas, there was no entitlement apparently. As you only receive 5 minutes of their time in each appointment (Governement Targets have been set), it is hardly surprising that the help is not forthcoming even if it does exist.
The Job Centre is very heavily manned by security guards and most of the staff are in-equipped with the knowledge required to help those genuinely looking for work.
Although no longer receiving JSA, National Insurance Contributions are paid on your behalf as long as you sign on every two weeks at a time specified by the centre. During these appointments, you must prove that you have been actively looking for work by showing them your recorded information. It appears to be common place for them to draw up a contract which you have to sign and adhere to. In our case, this included applying for 3 jobs a week, cold calling companies speculatively enquiring about employment and being prepared to work for National Minimum Wage within a 30 Mile radius of our home.
During your two weekly interviews, they will search their database and print off any current vacancies they decide you should apply for. You are obliged to follow them though. The few vacancies my husband has been given were either on hold or had already expired. This cost us telephone calls and time which we could not afford to waste.
Unless you have a mortgage insurance policy which needs to be completed on a monthly basis the fortnightly trip to Job Centre Plus is a complete waste of time as most of the staff are rude and inadequately trained to deal with those recently unemployed who have been employed since the age of 16.
On a positive note my husband has recently attended a second interview for a position he found himself and hopefully he will no longer need to go along and be made to feel like a second class citizen. Fingers crossed!!
I would like to add an example of the level of expert recruitment help on offer:- Although he has worked in manufacturing an engineering most of his working life, he was flabbergated to be asked if he would consider applying to be a dental nurse!
And on another occasion during the mini heatwave we experienced in June, he took a bottle of water with him as refreshment while he was waiting. When he went to open it to take a small sip, the staff member with him at the time got very flustered and told him he was to put it away. When he enquired as to why the reason given was 'Fear of Chemical Attack'!! He was so surprised he burst out laughing until he realised that the staff member was actually serious.
HUSBAND GOT THE JOB!!!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I have the job cebntre too. Glad I'm in employment
JAVER1967 31.10.2009 11:56
Excellent review
rosebud2001 30.10.2009 11:27
I hope your husband gets the job you mention here. I think the experience has been made worse by the fact the recession has made more people have to use them - they are stretched to their limit.
Advantages: With luck, you might find a job. Website is easy to use. Disadvantages: Difficult to get hold of an actual company when applying for one of their jobs
Stephoohla 23.10.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Job Centre
Oct 28th, 2009
(Nov 11th, 2009)
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (86%):
helpful by (7%):
