Whilst waiting at the lights tomight I read the text on the car in front of me and thought what?? discount for unemployed...... am I missing something here? a week or so ago I had a conversation with BT about our low use phone calls at home as I use it for the broadband only and have a zillion free mnutes on my mobile we use less than a pound in calls per month, I asked if there was any better deal, after giving me some options we agreed on a good deal I was happy with, but as we closed the deal I thought I would ask if it could be improved upon, she said if I was unemployed I would have got a better deal...what??? so smarting from that I was dumbfounded to see the car in the picture.

 

I know there are thousands of good honest and needy people who find themselves unemployed but its becoming increasingly common to hear that once unemployed the benefits make it hard to compare working wages... or am I just lucky to not be one of the 2 million?

 

Jeff TT

 

 

 

I blame all the so called 'celebrities' that the media keep shoving down our throats. The get paid a fortune for doing fook all and now all the chavs think they're the same...

Feel for you buddy, system helps the wrong uns as you say, but the workers at the coal face do know who they can help..

 

my wife is in a similar position, we have kids and I earn a decent wage still. so we get no help at all. which should be the case ( I moan cos my taxes pay the 36K you talk about.. lol..) However she would love to go back to work full time. she was lucky to get a job working for the council part time. However now struggling to get out of the cycle you are talking about. therefore she been studying on an evening to be a para medic. its all in your own time and your own funds. which again you dont mind it you thought if I stayed at home it would be free.. In September though she now has to attend Uni full time.. so has to give up the job completely and we dont know if we can afford it.. no help at all for someone who wants to get on in life and be a help to society..

 

Probably sound like your Dad here but if you are young, nokids and can squeeze the time in, could look at some part time training/courses or voluntary work to get out of the cycle..

or do what my mate did, go to Australia and drive a bus...lol...

Feel for you buddy, system helps the wrong uns as you say, but the workers at the coal face do know who they can help..

 

my wife is in a similar position, we have kids and I earn a decent wage still. so we get no help at all. which should be the case ( I moan cos my taxes pay the 36K you talk about.. lol..) However she would love to go back to work full time. she was lucky to get a job working for the council part time. However now struggling to get out of the cycle you are talking about. therefore she been studying on an evening to be a para medic. its all in your own time and your own funds. which again you dont mind it you thought if I stayed at home it would be free.. In September though she now has to attend Uni full time.. so has to give up the job completely and we dont know if we can afford it.. no help at all for someone who wants to get on in life and be a help to society..

 

Probably sound like your Dad here but if you are young, nokids and can squeeze the time in, could look at some part time training/courses or voluntary work to get out of the cycle..

or do what my mate did, go to Australia and drive a bus...lol...

 

yup thats exactly the point, its people like yourself an dyour wife she should be supported to make better of your lives rather than the do nothing tossers. because those that want to have to fork out to get anywhere like you say it puts people off an dyou get stuck in a cycle of crap. i really should find something to do of an evening to train but the big question is what? what can i do thats worth doing. lots of things seem good on paper but actually dont help at all in the long run. ive not got to the stage where i think im not worth any more than my current pay packet and am stuck here long term.

need to keep your head up Mate... theres always light at the end of the tunnel for grafters..

Me and my missus just went to the local uni and hard a look at what was available. i did a hnd in IT and my wife the courses for nursing / paramedics.

went from managing bars to pre sales support in telecoms. missus is now looking at volunteer work with St Johns as that will get her a job later.

 

Now looking to study spanish with the kids on these family courses.

 

My advice is have a look what out there and see whats available. Also network, get to know people in areas you would want to work. I think a lot of people on here will agree, they will always look to employ a grafter.

 

Keep your head up though and keep applying, accept the knock backs, ask for feedback and alter your methods..

 

sorry if Im stating the obvious but also hope some of this helps?

yeah it all helps, my family keep pushing me to do what i do self employed, plus one or two otgher related tricks im hiding up my sleeves. but i think confidence is teh hinderance. plus i dont want to step on my bosses toes hes done me some good favours.

your boss doesnt pay the bills... if youve got a good business idea theres loads of support out there..

 

Just helped my mate get a grant etc for a air con business...

 

go for it mate. if it fails, who cares......

 

Good luck.....

cheer sbud.

I'm with you harby. The most important thing is keeping a positive attitude.

 

As I've grown a little older I have learned that school grades, degrees etc doesn't necessarily make you smart and it doesn't make you a good employee. When I was younger I thought I'd find a job easily because I had good grades. Its all about attitude. You can teach skills, but it's a shit lot harder to teach attitude.

 

I am now in the position where I am an employer. With regard to the point z32bolt made above, the reason people don't advertise full time jobs is that it is a big risk to the employer. It doesn't mean we don't want full time staff, we just want to test the water first.

It's hard to judge a good employee from the interview process, but it doesn't take long in the field. If you have the right attitude, have the willingness to learn, ask questions and be heard you're sorted. I've got guys earning 25-30k with no higher education, no trades, just the right attitude.

 

Once your onto a decent wage, save it up then do something clever. Get into property, start a business, whatever.

 

In my opinion, attitude is what's most important, not what courses you've done. Don't get me wrong, some courses are very important for specific roles but the majority are just a line on a CV. A line on a CV amongst 200, that will probably never be noticed. You could spend a year, working your ass off at nights to get a diploma. Turn up at my work with a cv and a smile, shake my hand and I'll remember you.

 

Sorry, just my opinion which is perhaps a daft one.

the main issue is with political correctness and no stigma attached anymore to being unemployes..when i left school in 1978 i was fortunate to have an aprenticeship to go to at ICI Wilton BUT ther was a 8 week gap between leaving school and strating work ....for those 8 weeks i was on the dole ...the word DOLE then had a stigma of useless unwanted work shy scrounger about it ......nobody talked to you if you were on the dole ...you were gossiped about ..it was unpleasant !! now we have unemployment benefit...why should anyone benefit from being out of work??? it is a system open..wide open to milk every last penny out of...why are there so many asylum seekers and their families over here.....its not for the weather is it !! they know we are governed by stupidly politicaly correct legislation forced upon us by Brussels and the EEC ...we should never have came out of the common wealth system and shoul dnever have joined Europe.....we would not be in the mess we are now

 

i genuienly feel for those wanting work ..my wife for one ...she can not get a job and send countless applications ..not even a handfull of replies....companies would rather take on a young ethnic and pay peanuts at minimum wage...again another major cock up of the last labour government......this country and eirope is fast heading towards the condition germany found itself in after the 1st world war and looking for scapegoats and people to blame global bankruptcy on an epic scale and who gains ..the rich share owner and corporate moguls....who loses Joe Public working man every time ......

 

i agree that any unemployment charity ( lets not call it benefit ) should be collected once 40 hours of community work has been undertaken ....painting fences, cleaning parks , whatever BUT a realistic wage should be given, make people want to work and feel that they are not geting riped off for 30 quid a week.....to get a job and any assistance the applicant should be first and foremost a UK passport holder. ......

 

just my two penneth worth

So really, instead of ace benefits, the money should be redistributed,

 

Layabouts should get minimum, people who go out and get work, they should get the bonuses, and I mean right up the tree, if you work and are on minimum wage, that wage as a goodwill gesture should be subsidised by the government to say "thanks for contributing to the country"

And on a sliding scale right the way up the employed sector.

 

People hold be rewarded for working, not for staying off with a CBA attitude.

 

That way people willing to work would be able to afford to support their families, but also continue to better themselves educationally if they choose to.

 

That's just my 2p though, after tax of course ;)

Some good ideas. Big c your attitude is rare what buisness are you in?

Some good ideas. Big c your attitude is rare what buisness are you in?

 

We do Fire and Flood restoration. Both Domestic and Commercial, mainly insurance work. Anything from a leaking washing machine in a 1 bedroom flat to a major fire in a 100 000 sq ft factory.

 

Its a tricky ol business because as you can imagine, insurers are very demanding. In addition, the market is very broad so it requires a huge list of skills and abilities. Fire and Flood restoration isnt a trade and it is very difficult to recruit. Most people with trades want to work for themselves nowadays and demand too much money. Loads of people are happy to do the stripping out, removals, grafting part but just cannot do a good job cleaning. With fire restorations, we have to do loads of cleaning.

 

There is a training structure within the fire and flood restoration market, run by the BDMA (British Damage Management Association) but there is no point in requesting somebody has the training because if they do, they already have a job.

 

So for me, i just need somebody with the right attitude. Like i say, teaching skills is easy. If people dont want to learn, dont want to graft, they wont last. Having a mouth is very important too. We constantly need to visit properties and meet with home owners. One of the key skills is having the ability to strike up a rapport with customers and reassure them. It aint easy to make somebody feel at ease when half of their house and possessions is now a pile of ash.

 

We do take people on a a low wage which also puts many people off, but i am very keen on self development. Our guys do as much training as possible and it wont take long before our guys make good money.

 

Oh, and we have a 24/7 emergency call out so overtime is essential :)