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Job Service Providers are the REAL bludgers

jenedith
Sat, 02 Jun 2018 05:30:24 GMT

I was unemployed for 4.5 years after becoming redundant when my boss retired and sold his business in October 2012. I had worked for him as admin assistant in a small accounting firm for almost 12 years before he retired. I had no idea however how hard it would be to find another job, even though I was in my late 30s and suffered from anxiety and depression. I stupidly thought that my Job Service Provider would help me to find another job. Boy, was I wrong! The first agency I was with was Campbell Page in Salisbury, South Australia. I had to wait around three months because I received a lump sum payment of annual leave and long service leave. In January 2013 I had my first appointment where I was told for the first three months I was on my own and they wouldn't help me in that time. When I had my second appointment, I had already been unemployed for six months. The rest of the year Campbell Page did nothing except make useless appointments to make sure I was looking for and applying for jobs. That is ALL that they did! In August 2013 I got a full time job at anther accou nting firm but that only lasted one week before I got the sack. In that time I was yelled at by my supervisor a lot and treated badly by other managers. So I then had to go back to Campbell Page. After being on their books for a year, I was told they were FINALLY going to do something to help me get back into the workforce and had enrolled me into a course. Unfortunately, Centrelink yanked me out of there and made me join Community Bridging Services, a disability employment service provider. I thought they would actually help me find a job but they were as bad as Campbell Page! For my first four appointments I saw three different staff members and each time I had to retell my story. They were too lazy to look back at my notes and read them before the appointment. One staff member yelled at me and told me that it was all my fault that I was still unemployed because i didn't have a Skills and Attributes section in my resume! I was actually getting a LOT of job interviews when I was first made unemployed, but my main problem was that I was too anxious in job interviews. Drugs didn't even help me be calmer; I just failed at the final hurdle every time because of my anxiety. Having a Commerce degree and stating that in my resume seemed to harm my chances sometimes too, despite that fact that I completed the degree in 1999 but didn't go any further with my studies because I found the degree very hard. I thought it would have been better to complete my degree than to drop out but maybe I was wrong. Community Bridging Services didn't even provide computers for job seekers and did nothing to help me at all. In mid 2014 I decided to change Job Service Providers and moved to CRS Australia (a Federal Government Agency) after being assured that they would help me find a job. Unfortunately they did nothing of the sort and it was announced in August 2014 that CRS Australia would be closing because they thought that the private agencies were as good or as better as CRS Australia. They then put all of us into groups instead of having one on one appointments, and remained in groups until they closed in February 2015. I was then transferred to Status Employment Services in Salisbury and my consultant there told me that in order to get job interviews, I should put my voluntary work in my employment section in my resume but explain in job interviews that I was only a volunteer. I refused and when a new manager started, he wanted to meet with all the job seekers and told me the same thing, that I should be putting my voluntary work under employment. An argument ensued and I moved to AtWork Australia. A consultant at AtWork Australia made me sit in front of a computer for two hours every Wednesday to complete an online course in improving confidence because apparently that is what I needed. What I really needed was one on one assistance to gain a job but I never received that. In early 2017 I changed to Status Employment Services who quickly put me into a job which i was totally unsuitable for and where I got yelled at by the manager's mother. Apparently they thought it would give me confidence but it just made things a whole lot worse. I quickly moved to Matchworks in Salisbury but they were just as hopeless as the rest and told me that I shouldn't be doing voluntary work if it wasn't going to lead to paid employment. Thankfully i didn't have to deal with them for very long because i finally got a job in June 2017 on my own without the useless assistant from a job service provider. In March 2017 I was at my wit's end and decided to send a cover letter with my resume to a number of small accounting firms to see if they had any job openings. I only heard from one accountant who didn't have a job for me, but promised to pass on my resume to another accounting firm in the same building. I wasn't expecting anything to happen but I got a phone call from the office manager in late May and had an interview with her. The interview was a total disaster because I was so nervous and never did get any help with job interviews from job service providers, but she was still willing to take me on because of what my referees had said about me. I have now been working in an accounting firm for nearly a year as a full time admin assistant and it was all down to me. Nobody else helped me get the job. Sometimes it is just pure luck that you get a job, and I am hoping that I never have to deal with the useless job service providers ever again.

jjl4
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 05:36:57 GMT

They don't help the unemployed at all. They are there to get a lot of money from the government.

jenedith
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 20:15:52 GMT

Whoops, I meant in early 2017 I changed to Sureway Employment and Training in Elizabeth. Before being placed into an unsuitable job, I was told that I had to apply for 40 jobs a fortnight despite being assessed as having a reduced work capacity. Near the end of the first day of the unsuitable job that I was placed in, I was told by the manager I wouldn't be paid for that day because it was a work trial. I didn't complain because I was desperate for a job, but at the end of the third day I was shaking from anxiety due to all the yelling from the manager's mother. I quit but the manager told me I had to come in the next day. I was so glad when my last day finished. I also meant drugs as in Valium. Valium didn't help me calm down in job interviews. During the time I was unemployed, I complained to politicians but they all had their heads in the sand. When I got their response, the whole first page told me the role of the job service providers and at the end of the letter they would say "I am sorry your experience hasn't been a positive one" or something like that. They to tally ignored my complaints despite the fact that I had been with several job service providers, all of whom did nothing at all to help me get a job. I'm convinced their sole role is to make sure job seekers are applying for jobs and turning up to their useless appointments, just to take the pressure off of Centrelink. Changing job service providers is also like pulling teeth out. Unemployment seems to be big business these days; job service providers are popping up everywhere. I know I won't be voting Liberal in the next Federal election; all they want to do is punish the unemployed, not help them.

sandy011
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 03:50:28 GMT

Hi My daughter has been on same merry-go-round in both Vic and Tas. Useless as anything all of them. Current one has her doing an online course at home BUT the site who runs the course doesnt allow her to sign in so she hasnt been able to even attempt most of the course after doing day one. She has constantly informed them, the site and even Centrelink so she doesnt lose what little money she gets and has been notified just today that she has now been kicked off the course with a fail because she hasnt even tried to complete it!! She has told the employment agency who basically told her thats what you get for not trying then!! So shocked even though we shouldnt be but what hope do they give these people who do actually try. Glad you got a job - daughter is still trying but very few jobs where we live and she doesnt drive a car nor does she want to move to a bigger place just for a job. Maybe the wrong attitude but why should she have to move her life and start again just to get a job? She wouldnt be happy and can't afford to live away from home anyway

Peter
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 06:04:34 GMT

"They were too lazy to look back at my notes and read them before the appointment" - This happens so frequently with Job Network now Jobactive "consultants", their laziness or lack of preparation is just beyond belief

maxgross
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:49:26 GMT

I was with the Salvos Jobs Plus for a year and they couldn't or wouldn't get me a single job interview. When I asked to be transferred to another (*cough!*) "provider" they got narky and for the first time ever the manager phoned me. At home. In the evening. And wanted to know why I wanted to leave them. I said they had failed to help me find a job. You know what the manager's response was? She said - I kid you not! - "It's not our role to find you a job, we are here to make sure you are job-ready". WTF, right?

alfh
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 01:20:56 GMT

As long as Unions not have any power to say in this matter very few will get any jobs out of any Employment agency. I been Unemployed for now almost three years and I was only allowed " By Centrelink" to be unemployed for six month as I not was entitle to unemployment benefit. I was told I had too much assets. It is not much you need to have to come in this category. It's not much I can do about this. "This is the way the Coalition or NLP get down the unemployed numbers to 700 000 ". There is probably 2 to 3 000 000 people unemployed in Australia that looks for work and ALSO IS SKILLED WORKERS. The problem is that the Coalition not will let in any workers that either been in the Unions or Know there Rights! I am 64 years old and I had hope to be able to work for another 5 years at least as I am strong and fit. JOIN THE "GetUp" and they will solve the problem.

robertbmelb
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 02:29:22 GMT

@maxgross If only you had captured that manager's words in an audio recording, that would be gold! This seems to be part of a common thread. Sometimes agencies admit they can't be bothered finding 'clients' work (they probably don't have the means/resources, anyway, and it's not an essential part of their business model). They are conducting a warped social-engineering experiment on hapless subjects so that government can stick it to social-security recipients. Often these private businesses admit that putting effort into finding appropriate employment for their 'clients' would take away precious time from compliance and surveillance. In 19th century Britain, when poor people were given relief, they were herded into workhouses which were deliberately oppressive so as instil industry into inmates and 'cure' them of indolence. This outdated model is still favoured by some politicians!

robertbmelb
Thu, 30 Aug 2018 04:52:25 GMT

@sandy011 Unfortunately, your daughter has to do the legwork to prove she is doing the right thing. It's not fair, but that's how the system works. I apologise in advance for the burden on her. She needs to inform them in writing - by email preferably, or registered post, and with the Department, manager, local MP, minister etc. cc'ed - that the website is down and doesn't allow her to complete her activity. Attach screenshots or photos taken with her phone to prove this is the case. If they don't do anything, she can follow up with a complaint to the department or ombudsman. A paper trial would also give her proof of negligence or misconduct and this can be produced in the senate enquiry. If it's too late for that solution, she could make a complaint through a similar process. The important thing is that she can back up her claims with evidence, so it's not their word against hers and they fob her off. The AUWU website has template letters which can be used.

ruthb92
Fri, 14 Sep 2018 15:31:50 GMT

I know how you feel, I too have anxiety and depression. My Provider won't even recognise my condition, even though I have it in black and white on a medical certificate. Congrats on getting your job though! :)

neiljosephmilliner
Wed, 26 Sep 2018 21:23:19 GMT

Yes, they stopped pretending to be "job agencies" years ago. They just click and collect as the victims rock up. Kaching. They make no bones about it and even are quite proud to be so useless and failing in their role. YOU find the job, THEY get paid. Heck, I put down my business as self employment and they put in a claim that they found me the position!!!