Sing down the phone when he comes back - then he will know how annoying it is

really loudly and out of tune eh?? lol

and don't forget to keep telling him how important his call is to you

 Hope you finally got dealt with properly Clumsycat

I think it's hideous. You call them and end up in a call centre staffed by people who have no idea, no powers of decision making, it's a farce. I went through a nightmare when I got myself a job which paid £20 per week (the allowed amount). They started deducting from my incapacity benefit and it took 3 months to sort it out. If we still had the Jobcentre in the town, it would have taken one day, go in, talk to the people you know and sort it.

I would be wary about using their 'dedicated job search team' too. I know it's compulsory, but they will try and throw you into any old thing. When you get your appointment for a review, let them know your line of work and say you have already registered with various recruitment agencies, you have already updated your CV and  that you can speak English perfectly well and need no assistance in any of the above.

They usually give up trying to make you suck eggs after that

I got so fed up with the way they constantly suspect you of trying it on. If you're unemployed then the government and civil service treat you as if you're less than human and not deserving of any respect. It makes my blood boil

Couldn't agree more, Peter. When I was made redundant I had to go through the whole process just to keep my roof over my head. Everyone is treated the same regardless of background or work history, they don't even bother to find out about you as a person or what your intentions are. I can understand that from the Advisor's point of view, their criteria is to get people back in to work, any work. But from a claimant's point of view, I wanted to continue with the line of work I had been doing and built a career on and they couldn't seem to understand that it's sometimes a 4 or 5 stage interview process for some roles, thus taking a number of weeks. But they just presumed I wasn't actively looking for work.

Have to say though that so far, they've been ok with the health stuff. Although now the Tories are reviewing everything and everyone with some really stupid criteria proposals I would imagine my thoughts will soon be changing on this matter

No doubt they'll reinterview everyone on invalidity benefit (I can't remember the new name for it) yet again.

As for me, I finally lost patience with the whole jobseekers process today and told the private jobsearch company they've sent me to that I want to try to go self-employed. At least it'll keep them off my back for a few months and it means I don't have to spend two days out of my week at their stupid company. They just plonk you in front of a computer in an incredibly noisy room and expect you to search for jobs online for 7 hours a day. Absolutely soul-destroying.

So now instead, I have 2 weeks to teach myself how to do a business plan

All this talk about getting folk off incapacity benefit and back into work????? Why do they need to undermine the doctors recomendations?  If someone is declared unfit for work- then so be it. And when someone is finally knocked off benefits, what chance do they have of getting a job, when there are millions of able bodied folk after the same job?? Oh-- and as for this Yank woman paying druggies £200 to have a Nip job---- Yeah nice-one-- seeing as the NHS is picking up the bill. And then the NHS picking up the bill for a reversal so they can get another £200 probably.

This is exactly what I mean. This system is fine for people who need help to find any type of employment or who may need assistance writing CV's or how to present in interview, but for people like you it's a complete waste of time. You don't need a kick up the arse to find work because you want to work. And why shouldn't you be able to work in an environment where you can utilise your skills and qualifications? Surely that's one of the main catalysts for studying in the first place? But noooo, they want you to just tick their boxes to meet their poxy criteria. To them, your identity is just a number on a checklist. Gah. They do my noodle right in.

Best of luck with the business plan, have you got someone to help you with that? x

Ahhhhh-the advantages of modern day society, NOT.. Back in the day we could find work within a week based on them asking who you were previously employed with, and them looking at your hands.( Working class only)  It was a yeah or neah.

I haven't. The guy at the company has given me an outline and a workbook so I'm just going to go through that. As my start-up costs are low and I won't be applying for a loan, he said it's not as vital that I have a detailed plan.

Well that's a bonus I'll see if anyone can offer you some basic tips or guidance x

had to call them back today as the ignorant one yesterday said the systems were down n they would call me back.. well they didnt. On the plus side got a really helpful scouse lady who arranged jobcentre interview & details on 3 jobs... she was lovely

btw they will probably give me a lecture as i left my last job in a call centre after 9 weeks as it was through an agency & was high pressure to sell breakdown as well as give insurance renewals... cant do sales ... then i broke ankle so didnt look for 5 weeks until i got my pot off.
Doubt they will give me credit for working full time for the last 23 years tho ......