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| Department for Work and Pensions logo (Image: Third Sector) |
It has been a while since I last wrote on this website, but it has been within good reason. Less than two weeks ago, I was asked the question I have been waiting someone to ask me since I left University in May 2012. That question was "Would you like the job?". I have to say, it was the best question someone could ever ask me because being unemployed for thirteen months took its toll on me. It was unbearable being unemployed for even a day, let alone a year. But the thought of a company willing to appoint me and give me money for something I enjoy doing, the feeling couldn't get much better.
Now I have finished my first full week in employment, I have been reflecting on my time being an unemployed citizen of the United Kingdom. Being one of 2.5+ million without a job for a year, I felt like I was part of a majority but now I am in a job which will enhance my career in the media industry, I am in the better majority. A more optimistic majority. A more hopeful majority. It is the sort of majority I want everyone to be part of.
Reflecting on the past twelve months had its positive moments. I was a Games Maker last summer for example and embraced the London 2012 spirit - unfortunately that short burst of positivity which cornered every part of the British isles vanished very soon afterwards. A few months later I obtained a full time internship with Comic Relief (my travel and food was expensed, I'll have you known), which was a delightful experience taking me to enchanted places I've never been before, such as Leicester. My time with a great charity was well-spent and it helped me get this permanent PR position I have today - that and also my part time position with a PR agency in Cardiff. Also, not to mention the CIPR Advanced Certificate course which I am still working towards - that has helped me to be where I'm at today.
Looking back, one must confess I was busy. I wanted to. I needed to. In University I kept myself active in the academic scene and at the same time, I enjoyed my social bubble. However, there was one thing which bothered me throughout the past year - the Department for Work and Pensions.
I claimed Job Seekers' Allowance for thirteen months and the Department for Work and Pensions irked me consistently, overshadowing a year I aimed to develop and grow. Every two weeks I would go to Job Centre Plus and in the most ideal situation I would sign on a small piece of card and leave the premises. But those moments were a rarity. I have so many stories to tell about Job Centre Plus but I fear I'd bore you with a book-load of issues I've had with them. I don't blame the staff members there, in fact I sympathise. There is nothing else you can do really. They only follow guidelines created by an out-of-touch government.
My main problem with the Department for Work and Pensions was that I had the impression they made up rules as they went along. For example, last October, I was chosen to volunteer in the media department of Comic Relief. When I announced the news to the staff members at the Job Centre, they were pleased for me adding that it was a great opportunity not to be missed - but as long as I was still actively looking for a full time paid position, which I was.
A month later, they informed me of a change in laws, which were coincidently incorporated in the fortnight I didn't do 14 "job activities" as instructed. Their opinion on my Comic Relief position changed. They claimed the role I took was a distraction and that I shouldn't be volunteering full-time, as contracted. Little did they realise that the job market at that time was extremely quiet and I didn't want to apply for jobs I knew I wasn't going to get. Because of this, I was told I was "dodging the benefits system" and the actions they took was to give me an official warning and instead of doing 14 job activities a fortnight, I had to do 64 every two weeks (which was reduced to 36 at a later date).
The leap from 14 to 64 was huge to say the least and I knew I had to take it seriously. My Comic Relief shifts would finish at 5.30pm five days a week and I'd be sat opposite the computer once I got home and applied for anything, even if I knew I wouldn't get the job. I would be at it until 2am at some nights applying for jobs. I recall receiving alerts on my emails saying I've not applied for a job in five days, at the end of December. They haven't heard of Christmas, evidently.
My time at Comic Relief ended at the end of March, much to Job Centre's relief - much to my dismay. Because I was unemployed for nine months by then, I was required to participate in a work programme. I missed the registration appointment because I had two dates in my diary mixed up. In my eyes, it was an honest mistake, considering I was early to most of my appointments prior to this one. It was of course not an honest mistake in the eyes of the Department for Work and Pensions. They decided not to pay me for four weeks. After filling two appeal applications, I was three weeks out of pocket.
I was intrigued with the work programme and had hoped they would help improve my chances of obtaining full-time employment. They didn't. They tried but the staff members fell off their chair when they discovered I had a 2:1 BA Honours degree and a half-decent CV - which was improved massively at a later date, but I'll get to that later. They didn't know what to do with me. I still attended their appointments as it was required by law but even they admitted to me that going was a waste of my time, and their resources
I suppose the final straw was around three weeks ago when I was invited to attend a job interview at a prestigious media company in Cardiff. It was a vacancy I found on the Careers Wales's Jobs Growth Wales website, which is recognised by the Welsh Assembly Government - a decent scheme, may I add. The reaction from the Job Centre was opposite to what I was expecting. I was advised not to attend the job interview as it was against the law to apply for a job from that website because I was part of a work programme. I was told that if I was to attend the job interview, I had to sign off Job Seekers' Allowance and if I didn't obtain the position, I could sign back on with no issues. Thankfully, I was told I had a job elsewhere so I signed off anyway. I wouldn't have applied for the job had the Job Centre told me not to apply from that website. I was only informed by the recruitment agency who were arranging the interviews.
I must still stress, I hold no grudge against the staff members from the Department for Work and Pensions. Someone has to work there. But through my experiences, I had the impression that their job was to make people's lives more difficult than it already was. I perhaps needed the challenge as I had to leave cloud nine and face the damning reality of planet Earth.
I am pleased that unemployment figures are now slowly decreasing but for those still without jobs and claiming Job Seeker's Allowance, have to endure the suffering. Going to a Job Centre Plus is discouraging for anyone and I can see why people would give up hope in finding employment. Attending a Job Centre appointment is a heart-wrenching experience and to be told "you haven't got a job yet" every two weeks, is bound to get people depressed and lose the will to live. There is a Welsh word which best describes the Department for Work and Pensions - "twp", which simply means stupid.
The only positive I can take out of my time at Job Centre Plus was that it encouraged me to find a job so bad, that I would never return to that place. I left University hoping I would find a job relatively quick as I had a decent BA Honours. However, I should have opened my eyes and looked at the tragic reality that I competed against hundreds-of-thousands of fellow graduates up-and-down the country who shared a similar ambition, searching for a lucky break into the real world. Some have been fortunate to secure a job as soon as they graduated, but some unfortunately gave up.
My message to those who consider giving up is to not. I thought of giving up but all you need is to think about where you're going "wrong". If your CV isn't getting you any job interviews - get it checked. Don't get your CV checked by those at the Job Centre - go to career consultants, experts. I sought social networking website LinkedIn for help and help its users gave me. I am highly appreciative towards those who guided me towards the right direction. Some CVs can look so good the employer might hire that person because of their CV alone. But giving up is not the way forward. Once you fall, get yourself back up and approach future challenges with confidence.
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