An absolute joke. (Job Centre Plus)

Member Name: laukez

Product:	Job Centre Plus
Date:	10/11/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The website is OK

Disadvantages: The staff, the system, everything

Having recently graduated and been left with nothing but a part time casual job, I decided that it might be of some use to me to try to claim Jobseeker's Allowance as it may help me to find a job. Wrong! This review will focus on my experience of tryiong to claim Jobseeker's and find a job using their service. I found the whole system to be an absolute joke.

My first contact was a half hour phone interview, where they took all of my details of income and working pattern. This was fine - the person on the other end of the phone was pleasant and polite. However, from this point on I had nothing but problems with the service. The next appointment I could get was in 3 weeks time - I know we are in the middle of a recession etc but this seemed a very long time. It wasn't the end of the world for me, but I'd hate to think I ever needed to claim to pay the mortgage!

So, I went to my appointment at my local Jobcentre (Sunderland). What a charming place it was too. You are greeted by a surly member of staff who assumes you are a regular and told to sit down on non-existent seats. You are then called to a quick preliminary meeting, then on to a more in depth job search.

This really annoyed me. In spite of me saying I check every day for jobs the man interviewing me proceeded to explain to me how to use the internet to jobsearch. He then suggested that I should aspire to no more than minimum wage in spite of having a degree and plenty of work experience. He also hinted that maybe I shouldn't put my qualifications on my C.V. as it may intimidate employers! Good God. No thanks, I explained, I get paid more than that now and am proud of what I have acheived. He then proceeded to roll off a list of jobs that were clearly unsuited to me. So far, so unhelpful. I was then given my first signing on day.

To claim Jobseeker's allowance you need to sign on once every two weeks. I attended my first appointment and was promptly told I wasn't entitled as I had worked 18 hours the previous week. I explained that I work a month in hand, and these had been my first hours for months, meaning I hadn't been paid for several months, and wouldn't be again until nearly two months' time. Really not fair - it doesn't take into account the individual circumstances of anyone who works part-time while trying to find a job which surely better than not working??!!

Now comes the really annoying bit - the member of staff proceeded to suggest I quit my job as it was having an effect on my claim. This to me seems to be the opposite of what a Jobcentre should acheive - it's surely meant to encourage people into work, and help them find it rather than tell them to give up what little work they have managed to find. Also, I really don't understand why someone couldn't have told me I wasn't entitled earlier.

This is just a small snapshot of my experiences with the Jobcentre Plus service, but rest assured it got no better. In the end, I gave up. I really feel for anyone who needs this service - my hours at work have picked up now, and I have no responsibilites. The money they give you is barely worth having - I've no idea how people live on it.

I found the whole system is geared towards people who feel no need to work, and hate that it is this which has lead to anyone who genuinely needs to use the serivce as being branded a scrounger. The whole system of Jobcentre Plus is an absolute joke!

Summary: Bad service.