Tales From The Job centre

 Tales from the Jobcentre

Well, that's the job centre done for another fortnight.....

The adviser gave more scrutiny than many of them do to my job search record and I held my breath feeling my blood pressure rise as I thought ..she's going to sanction me for not doing enough job applications. Her expression changed though as I started to explain that I have a heart condition, limited sight, arthritis and mobility issues and that I apply for every job I just might be able to get to and do , and a lot that I know I can't, but have to apply for just to get the Job seekers allowance, which is all the income I have.

In fact, I'm running out of jobs to apply for, many of them are jobs that seem to be advertised week after week, I wonder why that is, such as charity fundraising. I think the agencies that handle such vacancies must recognise the regular submission of my CV and think I must surely have got the message by now. They don't want people with a love of the idea of working for charities, who need a desk job on phones,they want people who come from a sales and target reaching background because charity fund raising is all about targets.I did once get an interview, but I never heard anything, possibly to do with my having asked if they could accept that if the lift wasn't working I wouldn't be able to come in to do my shift....ten floors up.

When the adviser heard my list of health conditions she asked, Do you want to claim another benefit instead....ESA ? Employment and support allowance for people with health barriers to getting a job ....not surprisingly I thought ...been here, done this and explained that firstly the doctor won't give me the necessary medical certificate to claim ESA and secondly, her colleagues have told me that even if I did submit the certificate and an application, as soon as my work capability assessment was done by ATOS, I would be declared fit for work and put back on Job seekers allowance. I told the adviser that I have several opportunities for freelance self employed work but cannot afford to take it, because there is no help available while I build up an income, so I need to comply with the requirements for Job seekers allowance....

The response to this was silence and she signed my job search book....

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