David Lock

My daughter has just finished at college and is looking for a job. Since she has just finished her education would she be entitled to above? She is genuinely looking and not toffee nosed about what she does although she would rather not stack shelves.

Advice please from those whose kids have been in similar situation. Yes we will Google and may be ask CAB but I did a quick search and it's mainly aimed at redundancy.

Oh and if anyone knows of a job going in Sussex area for willing bright young thing........ dl

wrx-kris

Yes she will, infact they will help her to find the right job too and won't be to pushy at every opportunity.
IMO it's a good idea.

David Lock

Well that'll cheer her up

Many thanks wrx-kris

dl

Clarebabes

Is she still living with you and neither or her parents are on state benefits? If that is the case, I would be very surprised if she did get it. We deal with the Job Centre here with young people and it's usually only the ones that have been kicked out of home or parents are on benefits which actually get it.

Worth a try though.

David Lock

Oh well that'll go down well

She's 21, lives at home and broke. We are not on benefits but I expect we would be entitled although it is not my style to claim anything.

No harm in asking though. Thanks for comment/s. dl

David Lock

Well I phoned up the local job centre.......

2 hours later I got a reply

Yes she would be eligible for £59.15 per week She needs to phone a number to register and then go to job centre and sign an agreement. dl

Graz

That just beggars belief. I'd far rather be stacking shelves than sponging off the state (i.e. my friggin tax bill). Tell her to get something to be going on with even if it is in the local supermarket and then carry on looking for a proper job in the meantime.

What qualifications has she got? Must be some jobs out there that fit the bill?

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

As long as she looks. Having a job, even stacking shelves will look good to a potential employer if she is looking for the right career opportunity. Shows a good work ethic and dedication.

5t.

MJW

If she's that desperate for the money, and just wants a temporary job till she can get a foothold on a career, she should take any local job really whether its stacking shelves or shovelling sh*t from one place to another !! At least then on her CV it looks like she's willing to get stuck in.
My stepdaughter has just finished her GCSEs and has two jobs, one as a waitress in a restaurant, and another helping at a kids' play-gym because she wants to go into the childcare industry. I would knock her spark out if she suggested going on the dole !!

NACRO

How marvellous, it's that kind of sentiment and parenting skills that makes the UK the place it is today............

Another point of view is let her spend some time looking around for a decent career. Personally I'm of the opinion that stacking shelves and similar is pigeonholing yourself.

When I was an IT contractor I used to work in the winter amass a good wedge and then not find another contract in the summer. Take a good 3-4months off and sign on while doing it. In my case I'd paid enough class 1 NI contributions to be entitled to non-means tested benefits.
If you are entitled to claim them then you should do so. I certainly paid enough in tax to want to reclaim as much as possible from the government. Plus I got to spend 12 weeks or more lying on the beach while I watched the drones go to work.

MJW

It was a figure of speech ....

OllyK

The only problem with that is it's eating up time that could be used for interviews / searching for the right job. When I was made redundant from my last job, I was fortunate enough to have 4 weeks notice and was allowed as much time off as required for interviews etc. On some days I had 3 interviews lined up and as a result I finished my 4 weeks at 1 company and started my new job on the following Monday. If I'd been working 8 hours a day stacking shelves I doubt I'd have been able to be that responsive.

NACRO

.......but the sentiment is there, you find the idea of claiming benefits more abhorrent than a life as a lackey. If shelf stacking is all a person can aspire to then all well and good.

Personally I think the girl in question would be better claiming then doing some voluntary work perhaps in some area she's interested in.

When I was her age all my friends were piling into low end jobs washing dishes, stacking shelves etc. I knew I'd never do jobs like that-put simply I'm too good to do them, it would be a waste of my considerable talents. It turned out I was correct while they spent summers working their fingers to the bone I got myself a job as a runner and spent it learning how a film set worked and partying.

Aim low, achieve nothing.

Graz

You have evenings and weekends to search for the perfect job.

As for interviews, why not work part time (maybe even evenings and weekends ), then you'll have days free for interviews. I'm sure it would only take two days supermarket work to earn more than £60. Most potential employers would be understanding of your current situation and fit it job interviews for when you are available. Failing that take a days leave, unpaid if necessary.

Looks far better on the CV if you have been doing some work whilst waiting for the perfect job to come up rather than sitting around on your **** collecting dole money each week. Would put me off as a potential employer as the candidate clearly has no get up and go!

wrx-kris

I'd rather my taxes went here than to some asylum seekers.

David Lock

Well I was expecting some of above

She does some work at a pub when they have a need - usually Friday or Saturday nights getting home around 2 in the morning. I started a local knife sharpening business so in the day she walks around posting flyers door-to-door; we have earned £19 so far . This leaves her time for any day time interviews. We have wondered about some voluntary work but you still need some money to support this. We have been looking at "Mercy Ships".

She just wants something with a bit of interest and yes, that would exclude shelf stacking if at all possible.

As it happens she has a good degree but is not trying to use that especially but despite her age does have some work experience as varied as running kids playschemes to working in a frantic environment at Kingston uni during the start of the academic year. And she is impatient

lordretsudo

I agree with the other comments - she'd be better off working in a shop, or doing any other menial job, than just sitting back and claiming benefits; it looks really bad at interviews. When I graduated (2.1 in chemistry) in 2000, I immediately got a job working in Waterstones as I like books and had worked part time at W H Smiths during my course. In the mean time I looked for a 'proper' job related to my qualification. Several months later I got a job in a lab and left Waterstones. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) was in a similar position - she graduated in accountancy and got a job at Virgin whilst she looked for a training position. She's now a junior partner in a practice, so working in a shop for a few months didn't exactly harm her career prospects.

I really dislike the modern attitude of looking down on cleaners, people who work at McDonalds, shelf-stackers, etc. If we were all surgeons, lawyers and accountants, who do you think would do all the other jobs essential to our way of life? (and don't answer "immigrants" please!!) Having a degree doesn't automatically entitle one to a brilliant, qualification-relevant job...

Stephb1986

she would be entitled to JSA if she wanted to get it. they would also help her find a job that suits her. why doesnt she try and get a job at like waterstones like above thats not a bad job and not exactly rocket science

Longjing

I don't agree with work-at-all-costs argument. I signed on when I left university and looked for a job, and again after doing various unskilled jobs (labourer, courier). While I was working at those it wasn't that easy to look for other things - after 10 hours on a bike I was wasted. The second period helped find a better job and attitude; I borrowed, retrained and a few years later became a lawyer. From that point on, no-one really cared what I'd done a few years earlier and ten years on it's completely meaningless.

Who would be better off if I hadn't done that? I paid more tax last year than I'd have earned in years as a courier. Seems to me that if have a welfare state at all, helping young people become more productive citizens is a reasonably fair use of it. It's not about avoiding graft, it's about maximising potential.

David Lock

She does not intend to just sit back and claim benefits FFS. I wish you would actually READ what I posted. And she is NOT expecting to use her degree to sail into a job.

She does spend quite a lot of time going around shops and handing in her cv. One problem is that it is the middle of the summer and many firms won't do serious recruiting until the Autumn and there are loads of students taking up the "shop" jobs.

And we don't look down on cleaners etc - the salt of the earth but, whatever you say, I don't think that working at McDonalds for 6 months does much for a cv and must be pretty mind destroying.

I am sure she will get something in the next month or so - I was merely asking if JSA was available

PS. I said if she wanted some real money I would buy her a lampost but her mother vetoed my plan

David Lock

Thanks. She would be delighted to have something like that as a job if it was available. dl

The Zohan

Hi David,

Does she have any idea what she wants to do, can she get on a relevant training course, get paid whilst learning on the job (so to speak).

As for JSA - if she is entitled to it then no shame in claiming it whatsoever imho.
She may also be able to get financial assisitance with travel for interviews.

David Lock

Sorry I must learn how to to do one post with several quotes inside

That rather matched my experience. I got a civil engineering degree and then worked as an unskilled welder on site. Hardest work I ever did. 6 days a week with 100 mile commute across London. Ended up in Moorfields Eye Hospital (arc eye ).

All my daughter is trying to do is to get a job which is reasonably interesting and not mind numbing for a year to try and get some dosh and to get her mind around what she is really looking for in a career. She has a Bristol degree in experimental psychology but it will take a while for her to decide what direction to take. dl

David Lock

Hi Paul,

See above which answers your point a little bit. TBH she only has a vague idea of what she wants to do long term. She is clearer about what she doesn't want to do like Recruitment. Media related or whatever. This is partly why she just wants a job to get her head together. I know travel figures somewhere.

I think that one day something will come along and she will say "Yeah - that's for me!". dl (for ever the optimist).

Longjing

I guess the truth is that there's no one answer that's right for everyone. Sooner or later you have to put a bit of work in to get somewhere, whatever you do. For my money there's nothing wrong with taking time to try and find something you like or are good at.

Good luck to her anyway!

lordretsudo

Fair enough, I think my post probably came off more than a little snooty. I do honestly think that any graduate is better off working than not working, regardless of what they do. It really doesn't take up that much time to fill in applications and attend interviews.

I was wondering if the degree in question might be psychology-related... there seemed to be a vast number of people studying psychology and sociology even when I was at uni 7-10 years ago, though media studies seems to be replacing them a little bit as the 'in' course these days. I'd be genuinely interested to know how many good jobs there are in these areas compared to the number of people graduating...?

A similar situation exists in my field - the number of people studying forensic science greatly outnumbers those studying chemistry at most universities, yet there are only a handful of forensic science jobs available to graduates each year nationwide. I always wonder what people think they're going to end up doing by studying such a course? I blame too much CSI on the telly!

David Lock

Thanks guys

Nido

Why does she not do some agency work? That way she'll be earning, and gaining experience of different working environments, perhaps helping decide on a career. It's also flexible, she can tell them the days she is available for work, that allows time off for interviews etc.

As an employer, if I had two candidates in front of me and they were level pegging for the job but one had done a few months temping whilst job hunting, whilst the other had been on JSA whilst job hunting, the position would be going to the former without a shadow of doubt. I'm sure I wouldn't be alone in doing so either.

David Lock

She went around Horsham and Brighton signing on at various temp agencies. Nothing back so far. dl