ok im new to all this ... have worked since leaving school and never claimed owt in my life... so have finally started claiming jobseekers and urgently require work..almost any work.. (mortgage etc..) and they are useless!

first off you go into the place on west street....why bother they tell you to go home and phone them up?? they have about 15 people working there dressed like security guards and armed with 2 leaflets and telephone numbers, what is the point of that building?? waste of space.

bank street.... ok this has a reasonable job search on their computers, but have you tried phoning them?.. forget it, you get bounced around switch boards from one person to another. I need a form to say im claiming job seekers by friday, so i phone up the claim line, no answer all day, try again today..no answer, so i phone up bank street 'oh you have to phone this number' (obviously the one i have been) they explain that they can give me the form but only when i have an appointment (see previous phone number) so im stuck on hold for another day trying to urgently get a hold of the info.

absolutely stupid!

I bet when I get a job and try to tell them it will take weeks to get them to stop paying me and i'll get them phoning me up to say i've been falsely claiming or something. They need to distinguish who WANTS TO WORK and who doesnt, because I saw plenty of people just hanging around and complete dossers who obviously were living off what they got (prob free council accomodation as well). I've applied for about 40 jobs in 2 weeks and the job centre has been responsible for maybe 1 of them.

****

first off you go into the place on west street....why bother they tell you to go home and phone them up?? they have about 15 people working there dressed like security guards and armed with 2 leaflets and telephone numbers, what is the point of that building?? waste of space.



That was precisely my feelings on it too! I just used the internet, got the phone numbers and reference codes and rang them up! Easy!
I guess its for people who dont have the net... They use the machine, get the code/numbers, then ring them up. But it does all seem a little bit silly to me anyways... Making a job out of nothing... Thats why I refuse to go! (Plus I always think I'm gonna get attacked or something when I go near the place!) :cry:

Its okay theo! I feel your pain! Keep ringing... oh and I know its probably not for you, but I know of a few places taking on waiters, that arent advertising on job centre... PM me and I'll let you know where :P

think im starting a job on monday ....not permanent but might stop my house being repossesed for a few months!

just signed up for a course as I can get it for free...but need to sort it on friday or im prob paying out for it.

Walk in and tell them you want to claim assluym,and you will get all sorts.:)

Walk in and tell them you want to claim assluym,and you will get all sorts.:)

:hihi: :hihi:

Walk in and tell them you want to claim assluym,and you will get all sorts.:)

What a ridiculous statement, there are so many posts on here about what asylum seekers can and can't have that you obviously haven't read! Asylum seekers are not allowed to work, they have to live in whichever part of the country they are sent, and they get less in benefits than other people. Some of the people you call asylum seekers may have been born here or lived here for a long time, or may have come here to study, or as economic migrants.

Good luck with your jobsearch Mtheo, I'm sure you'll be successful!

What a ridiculous statement, there are so many posts on here about what asylum seekers can and can't have that you obviously haven't read! Asylum seekers are not allowed to work, they have to live in whichever part of the country they are sent, and they get less in benefits than other people. Some of the people you call asylum seekers may have been born here or lived here for a long time, or may have come here to study, or as economic migrants.

Good luck with your jobsearch Mtheo, I'm sure you'll be successful!

I agree. You clearly know absolutely nothing about asylum seekers.

Really and i surpose you two plonkers do then.:)

Walk in and tell them you're rachel1000, you'll get frequent flyer miles.

Mod note: It's against forum rules to insult other forum users- please don't do it rachel1000.

Walk in and tell them you want to claim assluym,and you will get all sorts.:)

Many a true word spoken in jest.

:hihi:

I went today...useless to be honest.

I am still writing my postgraduate thesis. However I have recently been transferred from full-time to part-time.

So I thought great I haven't had any money since March, hopefully I will be able to claim something in the interim between writing up and getting a job. Which to be fair shouldn't be too long (cross fingers someone give me a job ;) ) but every little helps.

Found out I am only allowed to claim for contributions allowance anyway and as I currently have a shortfall of 4 years from doing a PhD anyway I don't think I can face going every two weeks just so they can pay my national insurance. Nevermind I still have a mortagage and bills to pay, apparently it is up to my boyfriend to look after me being as we live together.

It is my first experience of it and god it is just so depressing I wish I had never bothered now. I just thought I would be pro-active if I was able to claim for some much needed cash.

I am keeping my fingers crossed on a job I went for last week, it is ideal.

I can't imagine why people never want to get a job and want to be claiming all their life I don't understand it.

Sorry medusa,but a few people on hear seem to live in a dream world with the things they say.Cyclone you seam to be a little odd with that comment:loopy:

I hope everything goes well for you skatiechick.I have heard people mention this before about not been able to claim,and how useless the jobcentres seem to be.One question for (some )people on hear,why are these people who don,t want to work given help and encouraged to sponge and decent ones like skatiechick treated like dirt?

Rachel - I was just joining in since you seemed to want to throw insults around.

You are incorrect about asylum seekers, try finding one of the threads on them if you want to discuss why you're wrong.

Yes the job centre is useless. I've been signing on a few months and they seem to make it harder to get a job then if you just did it on your own.

Yes the job centre is useless. I've been signing on a few months and they seem to make it harder to get a job then if you just did it on your own.

I suppose it's in their interests to do so. After all, if everyone was in work, they'd be the unemployed :D

The job centre are ******* useless!! to put it nicely ive never known it be so bad the web site is useless you type for jobs in sheffield yet london birmingham glasgow etc comes up it ridiculous.:rant:

This was a while ago now. Before Xmas I went to the job centre and told them I was starting work in the new year. Fine she said took the book off me after I had filled in the relevant sections and told me I wouldn't need to sign on again but I would get JSA up until the day before I started work.

After xmas I had several letters.

One telling me I had missed signing on and they had arranged an interview for me to help me back to work

One telling me I hadn't signed on and they wouldn't be giving me JSA anymore from the middle of December.

One telling me I would be receiving a P45

Another letter with the P45 in.

Another letter telling me I had missed my interview for helping me back to work.

And we wonder what all our taxes are spent on, the amount of paper waste :confused:

I was a bit peeved they didn't pay JSA up until I started work when I had done nothing wrong and had followed the correct proceedures. However being as they were only paying my national insurance I couldn't be arsed to chase it up.

Since I have been out of work, we ( the wife & I ) have never claimed any benefit.
My wife's contract has just ended, menaing that we had to make a claim.

This is where we found out that she could have made a tax credit claim for myself during the time i wasn't working. We have asked for a back dated claim to be told that we can't as she isn't presently in a job.

I have also just got custody of my son and this made things worse on the claim front.

Firstly we were getting told that we had to make a joint claim, two hours later ( once we had decrypted the new claim forms ) we were told that my wife had to claim and sign for both of us as i was awaiting to claim child benefit, to receive a call the next day to say that they had made a mistake and i indeed had to sign and make an appointment to do so which would have been a different day than my wives.

2 days after this we received another call saying that I didn't have to sign as child benefit had been sorted out.

This is the first time that we have claimed any benefit as both of us have worked from leaving school and all we asked for was a bit of help from paying taxes for the last 20 years and the whole ordeal as put 20 years on us.

I enquired about courses to widen my job horizons to be told that i wouldn't qualify for any (a) because you have to be claiming for 6 months solid (b) because i don't sign on as a parent as to be available for the care of the child.

This is absolutely ridiculous!!!! My son is thirteen years old, not a baby that requires 24/7 care but it all falls under the same category.

As for trying to get on the phones in the job centre, everytime we have been there, it's all the smack rats that's on the phones, placing their orders.

I enquired about courses to widen my job horizons to be told that i wouldn't qualify for any (a) because you have to be claiming for 6 months solid



Good luck with a course my son has been signing on for 6 months and asked about courses and was told they dont do them anymore lack of funding.

I can sympathise with everyone on this.

I was made redundant last February and after about a month I got a job through a temping agency. This ended and basically I carried on temping for quite a while just to bring some money in. Anyway I have been applying for permament jobs but did not have much luck. I took on a temp/perm assignment at a sheffield company just outside Meadowhall. I loved it and the people I worked with where really nice. I thought if this does end up going permamnent then I will be lucky as it seemt a nice place to work. How wrong could I be.

After about two months of working there my team leader told me that they where going to extend my contract for another 3 months but it would still be a temp contract. This made me hope more that they would keep me on. Anyway, just about a week before christmas I had that horrible sickness bug and had really bad belly ache and I was off for two days. I rang them up everyday to let them know what was happening. I was due to go back two days before Christmas and rang up and told them that I was coming back>

The answer I got was SORRY WE DONT NEED YOU ANYMORE. Talk about a right kick in the guts it made me really fed up all through Christmas what a crap company to work for. I ended up going on JSA and because I claimed for a while before I got this job I was told I only had till the end of February to go before my JSA would stop as you are only allowed a certain amount of contribution based JSA.

So now its the 20 feb today and ive been to the job centre for the last time this morning to sign on. The reason I cant claim is because I live with my partner and he works full-time. So basically he has to support me till I get a job. This is really crap as Ive worked all my life and paid tax and stamp like a lot of other people cant have any money. The reason im saying this is because I feel so low that I have to ask my boyfriend for money when Im used to having my own. I do have a job interview on the 2nd of march for the N.G.H and am hoping to get it but otherwise it will be back to temping for me im afriad till I get a permament job.

Yes it is crap even if your not married they still count your boyfriends wage.

I can sympathise with everyone on this.

I was made redundant last February and after about a month I got a job through a temping agency. This ended and basically I carried on temping for quite a while just to bring some money in. Anyway I have been applying for permament jobs but did not have much luck. I took on a temp/perm assignment at a sheffield company just outside Meadowhall. I loved it and the people I worked with where really nice. I thought if this does end up going permamnent then I will be lucky as it seemt a nice place to work. How wrong could I be.

After about two months of working there my team leader told me that they where going to extend my contract for another 3 months but it would still be a temp contract. This made me hope more that they would keep me on. Anyway, just about a week before christmas I had that horrible sickness bug and had really bad belly ache and I was off for two days. I rang them up everyday to let them know what was happening. I was due to go back two days before Christmas and rang up and told them that I was coming back>

The answer I got was SORRY WE DONT NEED YOU ANYMORE. Talk about a right kick in the guts it made me really fed up all through Christmas what a crap company to work for. I ended up going on JSA and because I claimed for a while before I got this job I was told I only had till the end of February to go before my JSA would stop as you are only allowed a certain amount of contribution based JSA.

So now its the 20 feb today and ive been to the job centre for the last time this morning to sign on. The reason I cant claim is because I live with my partner and he works full-time. So basically he has to support me till I get a job. This is really crap as Ive worked all my life and paid tax and stamp like a lot of other people cant have any money. The reason im saying this is because I feel so low that I have to ask my boyfriend for money when Im used to having my own. I do have a job interview on the 2nd of march for the N.G.H and am hoping to get it but otherwise it will be back to temping for me im afriad till I get a permament job.

Its really hard if you are one half of a working couple and you lose your job. The bills still have to be paid! At one time, a married couple could at least have had their tax allowances lumped together, but that was stopped too. It does seem unfair to people who've paid into the system for years, that those who never contribute can claim for years and often have no intention of working! Can your partner claim Working Tax Credit? You can get it even with quite a high income when you have children, although not sure about the limits for couples.

I hope you get sorted soon - good luck with the NGH job. :thumbsup: