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  • EADD Moderators: Pissed_and_messed | Shinji Ikari

Jobseeker's Allowance Megathread ver. We're all overqualified!

knock said:
I thought you studied psychology :? :D



Anxiety I'd guess. Fear of being turned down, embarrassment about explaining to a stranger that you've "fucked it up" (even if that's not really how things are). I can understand that.

I would expect credit unions to be pretty understanding, but who knows? Some people can be cunts, or just ignorant and insensitive.
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That's right lol... I'm quite an independent person n don't really like asking for money or owing - although by being on benefits I guess I am kind of doing that. Plus I'm scared of change n frightened they will take away from my overdraft, which has been a godsend until last few years...

I have studied Psychology and have a BSc Psychology degree though I only got a 2:2, which is pretty s*** n not worth the paper it's written on... Trying to pay for my Masters which is why I'm in this bloody mess (although with all the codeine I bought). Bank blocked my account at one tine as I bought £500 worth of codeine from an online pharmacy n obviously bank were wondering where the money was going n thought someone was taking money out of my a/c. Plus the £194 per month on tuition fees. I cancelled a module this year to save money n of course, have to pay an extra £75 as I had to re-submit an assignment n the f****rs charged me for it, like I'm not paying enough as it is....

Before I get any snotty comments, I had £4,600 in savings when I started my masters n did not know at the time I was gna have a codeine addiction which would take all of that n more. I was tight fisted with my savings, I always thought addicts were weak n stupid, had no time for them n had no sympathy when Whitney Houston died (ended up annoying a lot of ppl on Facebook over that...) So I never expected to become an addict myself when I was prescribed codeine for L5/S1 disc herniation....

S***, sorry for the novel I was only trying to explain why I was stupid enough to get myself in this situation encase I get a snotty comment like I had off a friend like "Why'd you take the course on for if you can't afford it... f***** jealous b***t"

Evey xxxx

PS Knock, I agree with MDB, 'not been that great but I'd rather not go into it,' sounds a decent answer. You're not lying that way, are you?
 
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Eveleivibe said:
Oh if you ain't claiming benefit you can't get housing or council tax benefit. Well it's possibly. But MDB aint earning or on benefits to put something down on the forms. That's the council for ya - unless it's different in England maybe???
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Google " housing benefit nil income statement ". Not had to try this myself just putting this out there as it may be of use to someone in dire need.
 
JSA appointment tomorrow at fucking 9am. How am I going to do this? Need to be asleep by midnight. Diphenhydramine is not touching the sides.
 
Fuck, diphenhydramine is about the styrongest OTC med going ? I used to take 2 on top of my etiz dose to counteract stims. Otherwise you can stay up all night and go to bed after the appointment? I suspect that they deliberately book people in at times they sense would be inconvenient. They did that to me at first, then they finally moved my default time to 12:30 pm which i was able to accommodate
 
knock said:
JSA appointment tomorrow at fucking 9am. How am I going to do this? Need to be asleep by midnight. Diphenhydramine is not touching the sides.
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Good luck with that, Knock.
I'm not trying to sound judgemental but did you not know that you had an appointment for 9 am tomorrow?
Anyway if you like coffee just drink a load of it in the morning, you'll be fine.

Not sure about JSA myself but someone on here mentioned the agreement that you have to make at the beginning and being reasonable with it or they give you an infraction or whatever they call it if you don't do what you agreed. Not trying to come off as funny I just don't want you ending up losing money if you agree to do something and can't do but I'm not sure who it was who mentioned it. All the best with it anyway, really hope it gets sorted for you xxxx
 
Eveleivibe said:
Good luck with that, Knock.
I'm not trying to sound judgemental but did you not know that you had an appointment for 9 am tomorrow?
Anyway if you like coffee just drink a load of it in the morning, you'll be fine.
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Yeah I've known since Friday :)

The issue is that my current sleeping pattern is something like: sleep at 7am, wake at 1pm. Lie in bed wondering what the fuck's going on until 3pm.

I will make sure I have a coffee before I go.

Not sure about JSA myself but someone on here mentioned the agreement that you have to make at the beginning and being reasonable with it or they give you an infraction or whatever they call it if you don't do what you agreed. Not trying to come off as funny I just don't want you ending up losing money if you agree to do something and can't do but I'm not sure who it was who mentioned it. All the best with it anyway, really hope it gets sorted for you xxxx
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Yeah I read those posts, very useful, all noted!
 
Result, 150mg diphenhydramine, 1.5mg etizolam and 1 bottle of wine = six hours solid sleep. Woke up with my mouth full of tobacco though which wasn't great.

This appointment can get to fuck. Or I wish it would.

I've had a coffee, Evey. I'll get another one at Costa's on the way up. Now I have to jump in the shower. Earliest shower I've had in several weeks. All a bit weird.


edit

I'm now officially a jobseeker. Don't feel so bad about using this thread now.

First thing I want to say is what a stupid fucking word, "jobseeker", it sounds like it should be a missile designed to desecrate the grave of the late Apple CEO. I'd much rather just be called dole scrounging scum.



They do some cunty things, like giving you things to sign with the paper folded over so you can't see what you're signing! I made a point of unfolding it and reading. We had a brief chat, he'd asked about any medical problems and I explained about my spondylosis of the neck and my RSI, and how It means I can't spend long periods working at a computer. He wrote this all down and he seemed to understand that I'm not able to do computing work as a full-time job. He asked me "what's your experience" as if we were going to have a chat about things. I thought we were now having a possibly useful discussion about my situation. He clarified that he meant "work experience", and I told him I'd been in computing most of my working life. He asked about my strengths and weaknesses, so I said "computing", he said "teamwork?" I said yes, definitely, then he said "time keeping" and started to type that in. I said "you can put that if you want but it would be a lie", so he deleted it :)

So I made a bit of a mistake while we were doing this. He asked me what sort of work I was most likely to get. We'd been over my CV which is all computing, he'd written "computing" down under experience, he'd put "computing" as my main strength (actually he put commuting but he changed it), so I said "well, the job I'm most likely to get is probably computing, seeing as that's all my experience, but because of my medical problems I'm trying to find work in a different field." We'd already discussed this, and he seemed to understand. But he's just written down "Computing work", and now this appears in "My Jobseeker Profile", so it looks like I'm going to be looking for computing jobs, which I am not. I knew he was typing this up, but I didn't read the text that goes next to the boxes he was filling in. Taken as a whole, this Jobseeker Profile seems to be a statement of intent and expectation about what sort of work I am looking for, but I wasn't aware of that until now.

I'm not sure how this is going to play out, I don't think it's a major problem because there is nothing saying that I must look for work in line with what's gone into my Jobseeker Profile, but I wish I hadn't said that now. I should just have said "I don't know". But he was asking questions without context, and he didn't even do them in the same order that they appear in the Profile.

The question "what sort of job are you most likely to get" is a bit ambiguous. It could mean "What sort of job would you be likely to have the most success with from applications" and I answered it in that way. But it could also mean "what sort of job do you expect or hope to have when you get into work" and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to put down Computing for that.

Other than that, it wasn't too bad, I didn't have to agree to any particular number of applications or anything, just activities to do daily/weekly etc. That might change though as I have another appointment tomorrow, signing on and meeting my coach! I've got a coach :)

Is there anything else I should be applying for? I know council tax doesn't cover mortgage payments, and I'm sure JSA won't either, although they wanted all my mortgage details, what's that about? I noticed the other day going through my paperwork that the council had written to me about paying council tax as if my home is a "holiday home" or "second home" or something ridiculous like that, I need to check up what that was about.
 
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Just make sure that you comply with the daily/weekly activities that they have put down Knock cos if you don't that is the easiest way they can catch you out for a sanction.
 
thanks Max. Good point, I have to use UJM every day. Do they actually check to make sure you're logging in? I mean, it will be logged on their systems, maybe they don't look at it but it's technically possible to see if someone has logged in to a web site. I better get myself signed up for it anyway.
 
I havent read all you put knock as my phone has gone to mobile version n i get a headache reading small font. I will read sorry if I sem ignorant. I read a bit n glad you're a job seeker now never been on jsa myself but my ex was. He had aspergers syndrome n they treated him like shit nit picking at every tiny thing he did like the way he'd touch his nose n stuff. I sincerely hope that the system has changed now.
They made my ex do a 13 week, 9-5 placement for just an extra tenner a week n because I was on incapacity benefit they stopped his money n we had to live off my benefit. Needness to say that relationship ended how was it meant to survive with that level of stress?
I hope things have changed now.
 
Knock, you can tick/untick a box that says 'do not allow my profile to be viewed by others'.

I kept accidentally forgetting my UJM numbers and passwords. There's not a lot they can do about that. :)

They kept pushing the thing harder and harder every time i went in, but because i was fundamentally complying with my JSA requirements, i had them at quite a loss as to how they could pin me down and get me to use that dreadfull useless site. It only exists to make it easy for them to track your activitiies. The site itself has jobs that are 3 months old. It is an embarrassing joke of a white elephant. And a waste of time for everyone concerned. The whole principle of the thing is just flawed and wrong, in its assumption that unemployed people are not trying to get a job.
 
knock said:
I'm not sure how this is going to play out, I don't think it's a major problem because there is nothing saying that I must look for work in line with what's gone into my Jobseeker Profile, but I wish I hadn't said that now. I should just have said "I don't know". But he was asking questions without context, and he didn't even do them in the same order that they appear in the Profile.

The question "what sort of job are you most likely to get" is a bit ambiguous. It could mean "What sort of job would you be likely to have the most success with from applications" and I answered it in that way. But it could also mean "what sort of job do you expect or hope to have when you get into work" and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to put down Computing for that.
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You gotta be careful with those cunts at JSA. The most I've ever managed is 3 months before being chucked off. Personally i find its easier to get a fuckin job. Some of the dudes there are sound but if you get one on your case you're fucked. I got my first official warning before they chucked me off for only applying for 5 of the 7 shitty jobs they "suggested". Apparently they are not suggestions, they are jobs you must apply for. Just a heads up there mate.

In fairness the reason i eventually got chucked off was because they felt that i had left my last job voluntarily, which was kind of true - though things got so fucked up there it was hard to see how i could have stayed. All that a side i genuinely did get official warnings and stuff within like 6 weeks of signing on. There's an art to it, I know dudes that's been on JSA for like 12 years and stuff but I was fucking lost at sea whenever it came to staying on the dole. I fucking hate that place anyway, having to set there with all the shit heads you havn't seen since they beat the shit out of you at school etc.. ugh.
 
I nearly ticked the dodgy Universal Jobmatch tick box! Here's a picture, so people can see what to look out for:

jobmatch-profile-tickbox.png


Some advice from my friends at the Solidarity Federation.
 
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knock said:
Result, 150mg diphenhydramine, 1.5mg etizolam and 1 bottle of wine = six hours solid sleep. Woke up with my mouth full of tobacco though which wasn't great.

This appointment can get to fuck. Or I wish it would.

I've had a coffee, Evey. I'll get another one at Costa's on the way up. Now I have to jump in the shower. Earliest shower I've had in several weeks. All a bit weird.


edit

I'm now officially a jobseeker. Don't feel so bad about using this thread now.

First thing I want to say is what a stupid fucking word, "jobseeker", it sounds like it should be a missile designed to desecrate the grave of the late Apple CEO. I'd much rather just be called dole scrounging scum.



They do some cunty things, like giving you things to sign with the paper folded over so you can't see what you're signing! I made a point of unfolding it and reading. We had a brief chat, he'd asked about any medical problems and I explained about my spondylosis of the neck and my RSI, and how It means I can't spend long periods working at a computer. He wrote this all down and he seemed to understand that I'm not able to do computing work as a full-time job. He asked me "what's your experience" as if we were going to have a chat about things. I thought we were now having a possibly useful discussion about my situation. He clarified that he meant "work experience", and I told him I'd been in computing most of my working life. He asked about my strengths and weaknesses, so I said "computing", he said "teamwork?" I said yes, definitely, then he said "time keeping" and started to type that in. I said "you can put that if you want but it would be a lie", so he deleted it :)

So I made a bit of a mistake while we were doing this. He asked me what sort of work I was most likely to get. We'd been over my CV which is all computing, he'd written "computing" down under experience, he'd put "computing" as my main strength (actually he put commuting but he changed it), so I said "well, the job I'm most likely to get is probably computing, seeing as that's all my experience, but because of my medical problems I'm trying to find work in a different field." We'd already discussed this, and he seemed to understand. But he's just written down "Computing work", and now this appears in "My Jobseeker Profile", so it looks like I'm going to be looking for computing jobs, which I am not. I knew he was typing this up, but I didn't read the text that goes next to the boxes he was filling in. Taken as a whole, this Jobseeker Profile seems to be a statement of intent and expectation about what sort of work I am looking for, but I wasn't aware of that until now.

I'm not sure how this is going to play out, I don't think it's a major problem because there is nothing saying that I must look for work in line with what's gone into my Jobseeker Profile, but I wish I hadn't said that now. I should just have said "I don't know". But he was asking questions without context, and he didn't even do them in the same order that they appear in the Profile.

The question "what sort of job are you most likely to get" is a bit ambiguous. It could mean "What sort of job would you be likely to have the most success with from applications" and I answered it in that way. But it could also mean "what sort of job do you expect or hope to have when you get into work" and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to put down Computing for that.

Other than that, it wasn't too bad, I didn't have to agree to any particular number of applications or anything, just activities to do daily/weekly etc. That might change though as I have another appointment tomorrow, signing on and meeting my coach! I've got a coach :)

Is there anything else I should be applying for? I know council tax doesn't cover mortgage payments, and I'm sure JSA won't either, although they wanted all my mortgage details, what's that about? I noticed the other day going through my paperwork that the council had written to me about paying council tax as if my home is a "holiday home" or "second home" or something ridiculous like that, I need to check up what that was about.
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This gave me a chuckle as I read this. You've got a sense of humour lol :)
I'm not sure about council tax benefit to be honest. I think you can still try and apply for it. It won't cover your mortgage - but did you not get insurance to cover the mortgage if anything was to happen like unemployment or whatever?
Maybe go and see the CAB and see if there's any way you can get help with your mortgage payments until you find work.

My ex was only given about £45 a week but there again he was under 25 and this was in 2004 so things may be different now, it may be more as that is not a lot to live on is it?!
 
knock said:
I nearly ticked the dodgy Universal Jobmatch tick box! Here's a picture, so people can see what to look out for:

jobmatch-profile-tickbox.png


Some advice from my friends at the Solidarity Federation.
Click to expand...
Well done Knock, that's one of the best things you can do buy not ticking that box as they like to use UJM site to summon up sanctions as well.
No matter what they tell you, you are not legally obliged to give them access to your UJM account and they can't sanction you for it.
I didn't give them access to mine but they do like to try and make you give them access but you don't have to.
 
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