Social Media and Job Search

The Government Poverty developers

The government has launched an inquiry after it was forced to admit that jobcentres have been setting targets and league tables to sanction benefit claimants despite assurances to parliament this week that no such targets were being set.

A leaked email shows staff being warned by managers that they will be disciplined unless they increase the number of claimants referred to a tougher benefit regime.

Ruth King, a jobcentre adviser manager, discloses in the email that she has received "the stricter benefit regime" figures for her area, adding: "As you can see Walthamstow are 95th in the league table out of only 109" – the number of jobcentres in London and the home counties. The employment minister, Mark Hoban, had assured MPs on Tuesday: "There are no league tables in place. We do not set targets for sanctions. I have made that point in previous discussions."

The league table could only have been drawn up through information provided by senior managers in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Hoban had told MPs that decisions on sanctioning claimants "need to be based on whether people have breached the agreements they have set out with the jobcentre, and there are no targets in place".

Faced with the email, the DWP said: "We are urgently investigating what happened in this case. If a manager has set a local target for applying sanctions this is against DWP policy and we will be taking steps to ensure these targets are removed immediately."

King says in her email: "Our district manager is not pleased … because senior managers are under pressure to improve our office output and move up the league he has to apply some pressure downwards." She continues: "Guys, we really need to up the game here. The 5% target is one thing – the fact that we are seeing over 300 people a week and only submitting six of them for possible doubts is simply not quite credible."

The email reveals that along with other area team managers King had until 15 February to show an improvement, adding that if she does not do so she will be subject to a performance improvement plan, the first stage of disciplinary action.

She says if she is threatened with disciplinary action to improve performance, she will have to threaten her own staff in the same way. She writes: "Obviously if I am on a PIP [performance improvement plan] to improve my team's Stricter Benefit Regime referral rate I will not have a choice but to consider implementing PIPs for those individuals who are clearly not delivering SBR within the team."

She also discloses that the jobcentre customers manager is looking for about 25 referrals a week. "We made six last week and so far this week have made four. There is a shortfall here."

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Liam Byrne, is due to raise the matter in parliament on Friday. He said: "This explosive letter lays bare the climate of fear in jobcentres as league tables and threats of disciplinary action are used to perpetrate a culture of sanctioning innocent people to hit targets. That is just plain wrong and must be stopped now. Either ministers have no grip on their department or they misled parliament. Either way they must now face the consequences."

The Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, said: "We have to get to the bottom of this. It is quite horrible that jobcentre staff feel they have to set people up to fail."

The DWP maintained that this was an isolated case. Hoban said: "I'm clear there should be no chasing of targets because I believe we should be making the right and fair decisions."

In the email King sets out ways jobcentre staff can catch out claimants, saying: "You should consider every doubt – if you are unsure then please conference with me." Her advice includes: "Do not accept the same job search every week, do not accept 'I dropped off CV to shops like Asda or Sainsbury's', listen for telltale phrases 'I pick up the kids', 'I look after my neighbours children/my grandchildren' or just 'I am busy' – all of which suggest that the customer may not be fully available for work, even cases where a parent shares custody can be considered."

She says someone can be deemed not to be actively seeking employment, and therefore subject to sanction "if someone is going away from home, but is not willing to return to take up employment, not willing to leave details of how they can be contacted should a job become available or not looking for work whilst away".

If you have a team working to put a spanner in the works then there can only be issues. If the political head lies we can have little respect.

Whistle blowing shouldnt be needed.

Instead of this negativity proper support and motivation is required. This is urgently needed

Political Negativity

Is it acceptable for the U.K government to label a jsa claiment a scrounger?
The vast majority o job seekers would like to be in work. Not taking a pay cut to take on work. They have stiff competition as they apply for the jobs in what ever position they seek.
The Government has no monthly national encouragement programme why? Surely that an essential aspect of support that all Job seekers need to be able to tap into.
I am fed up of hearing why job seekers are lazy rather than seeing dwp managers the play politics of negativity. I doubt if any other nation treats the unemployed in the same way.

Cameron and exemptions on Bedroom Tax

David Cameron has defended controversial changes to welfare payments including cuts to housing benefit for some tenants.

Speaking at the Commons Liaison Committee the prime minister said: "My argument is if welfare is one in three pounds the government spends it's impossible to deal with the problems of excessive public spending without looking at welfare."

It follows an announcement by ministers that foster carers and families of armed services personnel will be exempt from the changes to housing benefit.

Foster carers and families of armed services personnel will be exempt from controversial changes to housing benefit, ministers have said.

They will not face deductions in rental support as part of plans to clamp down on under-occupied properties.

Support will also be available on a discretionary basis for others, such as those with long-term medical problems.

Ministers say the housing benefit bill must be curbed. Labour says the plans amount to a tax on the vulnerable.

Changes to benefits for tenants in council houses and social housing will come into force next month, with families deemed to have too much living space seeing their rental payments reduced.

David Cameron and Ed Miliband have been involved in a fierce war of words over the issue for weeks, with the Labour leader characterising the policy as a "bedroom tax".

The prime minister has insisted the proposals are not a tax and will, instead, see curbs on what he has called existing "spare room subsidies".

'Clarification'
Amid a dispute about who will be affected by the changes, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said the government will introduce new regulations to "clarify" the impact on two groups.

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HOW WILL THE CHANGES WORK

The new rules will affect housing benefit, which is paid to less well-off tenants to help with rent. Typically claimants receive between £50 and £100 a week.
From next month, families deemed to have too much living space by their local authorities will receive a reduced payment.
Under the government's so-called "size criteria", families will be assessed for the number of bedrooms they actually need.
If tenants are deemed to have one spare room, the amount of rent eligible for housing benefit will be cut by 14%. If they have two or more spare rooms, the cut will be 25%.
The government estimates that 660,000 households will have their benefit cut, roughly a third of social sector claimants. Only those of working age will see reduced payments.
He said the 5,000 approved foster carers in the UK would continue to receive rent payments towards an "additional room" as long as they have fostered a child or become an approved foster carer in the previous 12 months.

This would apply irrespective of whether a child has been placed with them or they are between placements.

Families with adult children serving in the armed forces will also be exempt from the changes, even when on overseas deployment. They will be treated as if they were continuing to live at home.

Mr Duncan Smith said protections were being put in place for these two groups which were now "beyond doubt".

He also said he would advise local authorities that discretionary support should remain in place for other "priority groups" such as disabled people whose homes have had to be significantly adapted and those with long-term medical conditions which create difficulties in sharing a bedroom.

'Under control'
He said he would monitor how the policy was implemented and make changes if necessary. The Institute for Fiscal Studies is to carry out an evaluation of the policy in conjunction with the Cambridge Centre for Housing and polling firm Ipsos Mori.

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“
Start Quote

We have another rushed U-turn which offers nothing more and no protection for disabled children”

Liam Byrne
Shadow work and pensions secretary
But he added: "This policy focuses on the key aim of bringing housing benefit expenditure under control.

"Under the previous government, housing benefit almost doubled in 10 years to £20bn, with households living in homes which are too big for them while there are two million households in England on waiting lists and 250,000 families living in over-crowded accommodation."

The announcement was welcomed by the Lib Dems, MP Greg Mulholland saying he was "delighted" by the exemption for the specified groups.

But Labour described the move as "shallow nonsense" and said it did not address concerns about the position of reservists or others - including households with a disabled person - who were set to lose up to £700 a year from the changes.

"We have another rushed U-turn which offers nothing more and no protection for disabled children," shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said.

Rent arrears
No 10 defended the policy as a whole, saying it was important to address pressure on social housing waiting lists and growing overcrowding.

Asked if the government had bowed to Lib Dem pressure on the matter, a Downing Street spokesman said: "There has always been a very clear policy intention around exemptions. What has happened today is the issuing of guidance that removes any doubt."

In a separate development, the BBC has learned that a government pilot project that pays housing benefit directly to recipients has seen rent arrears amongst tenants increase.

Paying housing benefit directly to recipients, rather than their landlords, will form a key part of the planned new Universal Credit. The government says lessons will be learned from the pilot projects.

It wants to pay recipients directly as they think it will increase their sense of responsibility over their own lives and make them better able to cope should they move into a job.

The reality is that many will be affected. DWP is high. But , where are the countries leading those that are searching for work
How is Ian Duncan Smith or David Cameron do not encourage the Job seekers...They focus on "the Scrounger " rather than encouraging the Job seeker in a competitive market

Bedroom Tax...1stApril

From 1 April 2013, working age tenants living in social housing and receiving housing benefit will be affected by changes to their benefits.

Housing benefit will provide support for the number of bedrooms that a household needs.

This type of support is currently in place for renters in the private sector claiming housing benefit and social renters will now be subject to the same size criteria.

The changes are expected to affect 660,000 claimants.

Claimants can choose whether they want to pay the difference to their rent – on average £14 a week – or if they want to move to more appropriately sized accommodation.

The Government has provided councils with £155m in 2013/14 to help people affected by Housing Benefit reforms.  This includes an extra £30m funding for the under-occupancy measure to help disabled people who live in adapted properties to stay in their homes and foster carers living in social housing.

This reform will lead to a better use of housing stock at a time when:

• Nearly one third of working-age social housing tenants on Housing Benefit are living in accommodation too big for their needs
• There are approaching 1 million extra bedrooms that are paid for by Housing Benefit
•  It is estimated that this measure will save up to half-a-billion pounds a year
• There are over 250,000 households living in overcrowded accommodation in the Social Rented Sector in England, who need more space
• 1.8 million households in England are on the housing waiting list.

Extra support and exceptions

Pensioners

• The new rules will only apply to working age claimants.
• People over the qualifying age for state pension credit or with a partner over that age will be exempt.
• Current mixed aged couples will continue to be exempt.

Temporary accommodation

• Homeless people living in certain types of temporary accommodation made available under specified legislation will not be affected.

Supported accommodation

• People who receive care, support or supervision from their landlord in supported exempt accommodation will not be affected.

Parents of students

• If a student’s main residency is their parents’ home, then their bedroom will not be considered as spare.

Bereaved families

• Where under-occupancy arises due a death we allow a year’s grace so that bereaved families have some time to come to terms with their loss and are able to make the right decisions about their finances and size of accommodation.

Armed forces personnel

• Wives or husbands of those serving in the armed forces will be unaffected by these changes.

Disabled People

• £30m of the £155m in Discretionary Housing Payments will be specifically targeted at disabled people who live in significantly adapted properties as well as for foster carers.
• Councils have discretion over whether disabled children are eligible for their own bedrooms.

Rooms for carers

• Bedrooms for live-in carers are not affected. A bedroom is also allowed for an overnight carer.

This fact sheet is also available in PDF format –

• Housing Benefit reform: under-occupancy fact sheet (33KB) 

Comment

Inspiring Job Seekers stories

A63 'I need a job' stunt was desperate Hull man's highway to employment

Friday, May 13, 2011

This is HullandEastRiding

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WITH no food in the cupboard and minus £9 in the bank, Simon Mewse was a desperate man.

Having struggled to find a job since August, his hunt for employment had become so difficult he knew he had to do something drastic.

1. ​
   Simon Mewse, armed with a home-made A-board sign walked down the A63 in hope of finding a job.

So armed with a home-made A-board sign around his neck, he set off walking down the A63.

The cardboard and string sign simply read "I need a job".

"I had heard that someone else had tried something similar before and they were picked up by a multi-millionaire and given a job," said Simon, 27, from west Hull.

"So I made the placard myself and then walked down the hard shoulder of the A63.

"I thought I would pull out all the stops.

"It was getting to the point where I couldn't do anything more to get work."

Although it was one of the most unusual job applications, the sign certainly made its point.

Motorists beeped their horns as they passed Mr Mewse on Tuesday afternoon and eventually he was picked up by police.

He said: "I think they wanted to see if I was a lunatic.

"But when they realised I was okay they called a traffic officer who then took me to the JobShop at the BBC centre in Hull.

"The staff at the JobShop were really good and helpful.

"I got registered with them and a day later they said they had some possible leads for me."

Although on the hard shoulder, Mr Mewse was taking a big risk, walking alongside cars travelling at 60mph.

But he said he felt he had no other choice as his situation had become so dire.

The father-of-two had minus £9 in the bank and was due his weekly visit from his 11-month-old daughter Macie-Lea Fullard.

But he said he'd been forced to call Macie-Lea's mother and say she couldn't come round, because there was no food in the cupboards at his home in St George's Road.

His job seekers allowance had been stopped and he was living off his army pension of £73 a month.

Mr Mewse said: "I had a job in a shop in Princes Quay but I was let go in August.

"I was a chef and driver in the army from 2002 to 2005 but I left on a medical discharge because I had a suspected case of narcolepsy.

"It isn't like I haven't been trying to get a job, I had tried everything, and walking along the A63 was the final straw.

"I'm a trained chef and had experience in retail but I was willing to do anything."

But it seems the gamble paid off and Mr Mewse has now been offered a trial at The Omelette restaurant in Albion Street, Hull.

Manager Simone Tambaros says Mr Mewse's crazy stunt proved he was willing to do anything to get a job.

Mr Mewse added: "I feel quite overwhelmed about the whole experience.

"Since people spotted me on Tuesday, they have been coming up to congratulate me.

"I am really excited about the future and hopefully the trial will lead to something permanent."

Read more: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/A63-stunt-highway-new-job/story-11962453-detail/story.html#ixzz2My8HXPBo 

Read more: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/A63-stunt-highway-new-job/story-11962453-detail/story.html#ixzz2My7czIbj
Adam searched for work with an innovative

The result of his marketing

Inspiring Job seekers

'Please give me a job!' Unemployed man bags job on the spot after standing in the rain for hours with sign

A jobless man who stood for hours in the pouring rain with a 'Please give me a job' sign was stunned when a passing businessman offered him one on the spot.

After spending the last two years out of work, 23-year-old Mark Wheeldon was fed up of living on benefits and concocted a plan to get him noticed on the job market.

He decided to stand on one of the busiest roundabouts in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, and advertise himself to passing motorists during the morning rush hour.

Lucky: Timber factory director Vince Champion, left, spotted jobless Mark Wheeldon, right, and gave him work after a 20 minute interview

So nervous was he about the job hunt mission that he lay awake all night before rising at 5am in the morning to create a sign from a piece of cardboard

But he was flabbergasted when, after nearly three hours spent standing in a torrential downpour, timber factory director Vince Champion came to his rescue.

He spotted Mark on his way to work and returned to collect him, giving him an interview straight away and offering him the job just 20 minutes later.

After a shower, Mark found himself making frames at the Smart Timber Frame Company by midday.

Mark, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, had failed to find work after spending the past two years caring for a former partner who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

Initiative: Fed up with being on benefits 23-year-old Wheeldon decided to do something different in his quest for work by standing on a busy roundabout in Stoke-on-Trent with his sign

The former mechanic, painter and decorator and butcher's assistant said: 'I was planning to stay until the evening rush hour and then keep coming back until someone gave me a job.

'I had been everywhere looking for work but I'd had no luck, so I thought I may as well as just go down to Basford Bank on the A500 and stand by the traffic.

'I had been out of work for so long, looking after my partner and doing all the little things for her like brushing her hair.

'All that time I had been looking for a job, but because I had been out of work for so long I had no current experience or references.

'One day, I decided to make a fresh start and get my life back on track. I stayed awake all night just thinking about what I was going to do.

'When I got up the next morning, I wasn't put off by the rain in the slightest. When you are desperate for work you will do anything to find a job.

'The whole time I was stood there I was just hoping that someone, anyone, would stop and ask for my number. It was all I could think about. I was freezing and soaked to the skin.

'When Vince pulled up I was over the moon that someone had finally stopped to speak to me.

'And when he offered me the job, I couldn't believe I had found one so quickly.

'Now that I'm here, it's a job I really enjoy. I get on with everyone and I get to work with my hands. My bosses are great and I'm really looking forward to building a career here.'

Vince explained how he had been driving to fetch bacon sandwiches for colleagues when he spotted Mark standing on the roundabout.

He said: 'I was on my way to work at about 8am and I saw Mark standing in the pouring rain, holding a placard which read: "Please give me a job".

'I thought if someone could stand there in that deluge - and it was absolutely torrential rain - then they must be determined to find a job. My attitude was the he would be an asset to any company.

'There are not many unemployed people who would have done that and I thought that anyone who wanted a job that much deserved a chance.

'When I brought him back to the office was so soaked through that a little puddle formed under his chair while I interviewed him.

'I spoke to him for about 20 minutes and then offered him the job on the spot. I was really impressed by his determination and he has the right kind of attitude that we want here.

'Now he's getting on brilliantly and fitting right in with all the other employees. I wish more people could show the same kind of determination to find work as he did.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1297107/Please-job-Unemployed-man-bags-job-spot-standing-rain-hours-sign.html#ixzz2MyCo0kI1
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Adam Pacitti produced

As thousands of recent graduates go into the New Year unemployed, one enterprising young hopeful has made his own desperation for paid work the centre of an advertising campaign that went viral yesterday.

Adam Pacitti, who graduated from the University of Winchester with a First Class degree in Media Studies, today unveiled a billboard in the London borough of Camden that reads “I spent my last £500 on this billboard. Please give me a job”, complete with a link to his website, employadam.com, and a 10 foot self-portrait.

Within 24-hours, almost 10,000 people had tweeted references to the billboard, and as many again visited his website for more information on the unconventional mass-job application.

The 24-year-old from the Isle of Wight is yet to be offered his much sought-after first job in television production, but he is optimistic that his off-the-wall approach will bring success.

“This is it for me,” he told The Independent. “I am just looking for a job, that what it’s all about. I’m getting enough attention now that I’m hoping someone will come along and offer me one soon, hopefully in production. I’ve had no formal job offers yet, but fingers crossed within a day or so I should have something.”

Adam said he launched the campaign after hundreds of failed job applications and a string of only moderately successful home-made documentaries left him without a clear career path.

“I’ve probably sent 200 CVs out, but it’s so difficult to stand out on paper,” he said, echoing the concerns of thousands of graduates who are forced to find interesting answers to questions like 'what would you say your weaknesses are in the workplace?'.

“This is my way of trying to stand out. I had a summer job in an arcade, which I have done every summer for the last three years, but I finished that in late September and I’ve been out of work since then.”

The billboard, which was actually £530 including VAT and genuinely did cost Adam every penny in his bank account, is accompanied by a 4-minute video CV, in which the unemployed student makes a series of humorous pleas for gainful employment.

 “I am desperate, and I think I am showing that desperation,” he said. “I mean, all graduates are victims of the economic recession. People are willing to work for free, and that’s not easy. Their parents are able to fund them, but unfortunately I don’t have that luxury. It’s difficult to find a paid, entry-level job in media or anywhere.”

Though Adam's approach is original, the situation he has found himself is far from uncommon.

Update

‘Please give me a job’: Desperate teen, 18, takes to the streets with sandwich board begging for work after applying for 80 posts

An unemployed teenager is so desperate for work she has taken to the streets with a sandwich board begging: ‘Please give me a job’.

An unemployed teenager is so desperate for work she has taken to the streets with a sandwich board begging: ‘Please give me a job’.

Claire Fear, 18, was forced to ditch her dreams of becoming a dietician because of concern over building up huge debts at university and is now trying for any type of job.

The former health sciences student has applied for more than 80 jobs since finishing her college course in June.

She has now resorted to walking the streets of her home town of Bridgwater, Somerset, holding a sign pleading with employers to give her a chance.

Claire said: ‘There are no jobs and no prospects in this town so I’m having to take matters in my own hands.

‘I registered with an employment agency when I finished college, but I have only had a tiny bit of work since then. None of it is full-time.

‘I have applied for so many jobs. I did want to be a dietician, but I did not want to go to university – lots of people have told me it is not worth it because of the debts.

‘I am desperate for work and I will do pretty much anything.’

Claire left Bridgwater College with a Level 3 BTEC in health sciences this summer and has been searching for work ever since.

In one day alone she visited 50 shops in the town centre asking for a job – but none had any work.

Claire is baffled as to why she is repeatedly rejected but believes she is stuck in a ‘catch 22′ situation where she does not have sufficient experience for most jobs.

She now spends up to three hours a day walking the streets with her sandwich board.

The idea of using the board came from her mother.

Claire said: ‘My mum mentioned doing this as a joke a few weeks ago – I don’t think she thought I would take her seriously.

‘I have had mostly positive responses from people – one person even pulled over and said he hoped things work out for me. But there have been no job offers.’

An Essex man has come up with an unusual way of finding his next job.
Armed with only a 40mph scooter and a billboard, John Fairest is pounding the main roads offering his services to all and sundry.
Mr Fairest's quest began last week when he lost his insurance job after six months.
Initially, he placed adverts for his skills at the A12-M25 junction and along the A1, A4, and A40.
But feeling a "certain amount of desperation" he decided it was literally time to get on his bike.
"I decided that I would set off to London on my little Honda C90 - which can only go to 40 mph - with a billboard on my back, advertising my quest for employment," he told BBC News online.
Motorists give idea thumbs-up
He did not have to wait long for his first offer of employment. This was cash-in-hand labour on a building site - but his long drive also brought hope for the future through "leads" with Sun Life and Abbey Life.
Mr Fairest said the response from his fellow motorist had inspired him to keep up his scooter search for work.
"All through the six-hour round trip someone was waving and cheering me on.
"It is encouraging to me that this country is 100% behind those who get on the road to pursue the quest to move on.
"The most encouraging thing is when you're travelling down the round and people are giving you thumbs up. One person even slowed down and took my details and then phoned up my wife up at home."
Quest goes on
On Monday, Mr Fairest plans to hit the roads again, driving to London where he will distribute copies of his updated CV to insurance companies. He admits to being slightly more daunted by this prospect, as he is still learning his way around the city's streets.
But he remains optimistic and committed to his own brand of self-promotion. It has worked before - in January he found a week's work in an insurance office through the same method.
"It was originally used a year back by a semi-retired person looking for part-time work and somebody in Warwickshire area," Mr Fairest added.
"But it's the first time it's been used with quite as much courage and in such a big area. I drove from Ipswich right through to north London.

"There's a lot to be said for people going out there and doing it on their own."

Social media in use as others are insired

Youth Entrepeneurs hungry for success

Its not an easy task and Youth Entrepeneurs need more mentoring because of limited  life experience
However their energy and determination can be the key to their success. They understand their own peer market 

Groups which help young people to start their own businesses say they've seen a rise in interest in the last 12 months.

StartUp Britain, Rockstar Youth and the government's own Start-Up Loans scheme say that increasing numbers of 16 to 30-year-olds are asking for help.

More ways to get funding along with high levels of unemployment are said to be behind the rise.

The Prince's Trust says in the 12 months from October 2011 calls to its start-up helpline rose by 75%.

Continue reading the main story

If you want the economy to change we need more people to stand up, be bold and brave and create the jobs that are not there right now

Kieza De Sousa

They went up from just under 800 to nearly 1,400.

Kieza De Sousa, 19, has been given a small government loan to help him run his T-shirt printing business.

He says after leaving school aged 16 he struggled to get a job, but used skills that he developed at a community project to start his company.

"If you're coming home and your fridge is not full and you're not able to get support from your parents the only person you can rely on is you," he said.

"Eventually before I knew it people knew me as the T-shirt guy."

The government's start-up loan scheme says as of this month it has handed out more than £2 million in small loans.

Kieza designs prints for clothes and sells his own T-shirts

The average number of applications it is assessing each week has gone up.

The government's scheme, which started last year, has been criticised though.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has raised concerns that average loan amounts are too low.

Others have warned that most new companies go bust within the first few years.

Kieza admits he is now under pressure to make sure he earns enough to pay back the money, but he says getting his loan means he can buy his own equipment.

"If you want the economy to change we need more people to stand up, be bold and brave and create the jobs that are not there right now," he said.

"Being an entrepreneur sounds cool. Although it is difficult, it's very rewarding,"

The New Enterprise Allowance may help