P to the Cee

For the past month I’ve been desperatley trying to find a job, to no avail. Yesterday I signed on for the first time, which will mean I’ll at least be getting some income each week, although it’s opened up a few opportunities.

The way in which I lost my job is something I haven’t really talked about yet, but the short version is this; I got a text on the 6th October saying funding had been pulled and I wasn’t needed anymore. On first look and after working for the company for four months, I had some hope that outstanding pay would be sorted swiftly and I could concentrate on getting another job without having to worry about money for the foorseeable future. Boy was I wrong!

Over a month later and it’s quite evident that my ex employer are still trading, albeit as a different entity and have even blogged about why they close the Birmingham office, rather than had their funding pulled. Emails, text messages and phone calls have gone unanswered, and I’ve now given up all hope of getting a penny of the money I’m owed.

After talking to a few people, I decided signing on was the only thing I could do to ensure I can carry on doing The Midsweep, pay bills and provide some sort of Christmas for my family. There seems to be some stigma attached to it, as the majority are seen as “the great unwashed” who sit in the pub all day blowing money that the taxpayer has provided to them. This might be true, but there are still plenty of people, like me, who have been screwed over by an employer who they believed were professional enough to pay out the money they owe their employees and, instead live the high life and not worry about anyone else.

I was given details of about ten employers who are looking at getting on board the Governments’ new Work Trial initiative. It seems that little has been done to promote the idea, but it’s quite simple; Job seekers are allowed to work for up to 15 days with an employer without losing any benefit entitlement. This enables both the employer and employee to evaluate if the job is for them, with travel expenses being subsidised by JSA.

It opens up a wealth of opportunities to people in my position to try something that they would normally not be able to due to not having the relevant experience on their CV. Over the weekend I’ll be sorting out a list of companies I’ve always wanted to work for and then contacting them over the next week in the hope that someone, somewhere bites and lets me prove myself.