tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61147403870251832872024-03-12T20:52:19.317-07:00"Good Communication Skills" sucksaspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-12593939388663924852021-05-19T23:01:00.001-07:002021-05-19T23:03:35.818-07:00"Transferable skills" - the current hyped buzz phrase"Have you considered working in a new sector? Your skills could be a perfect fit"
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t45.1600-4/cp0/q90/spS444/p526x296/167130130_23847254101080254_6535012126950272643_n.png.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=67cdda&_nc_ohc=Xoo4u2ZAIgQAX-TI2zC&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&tp=31&oh=eb8e148c696315f31cc1f7b6f1240cbe&oe=60AAB044" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" src="https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t45.1600-4/cp0/q90/spS444/p526x296/167130130_23847254101080254_6535012126950272643_n.png.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=67cdda&_nc_ohc=Xoo4u2ZAIgQAX-TI2zC&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&tp=31&oh=eb8e148c696315f31cc1f7b6f1240cbe&oe=60AAB044" width="200" /></a></div><p>
This is coming up a lot lately on social media but replies show that EMPLOYERS don't think this way, because they require experience:</p><p>- "Needs employers to step out and take chances on people without experience but with enthusiasm"</p><p>- "It isn't easy even with experience. I was beyond excited to find 6 positions open at an institution in a sector I would really LOVE, asking for EXACTLY the experience I had! Although they were seasonal and low paying, I thought I would definitely embrace the struggle for a chance to get a foot in the door. I applied for all 6 "entry level, assistant, seasonal" jobs with 6 years experience in EVERY ONE of the essential criteria plus. Not one interview!"</p><p>- "I think "entry level" is a synonym for "extreme amount of experience required for very low pay"</p><p>- "Most of these courses are a nonsense, less than a weeks training is not sufficient if you are trying to switch careers. Typical government job scheme all hype no substance."</p><p>- "In my experience most people could do a wide variety of different jobs with a little on the hop training but employers all ask for proven experience, silly qualifications, and dumb interview questions."
- "everyone says experience needed, must be experienced or have x amount of years experience or must have whatever qualification it's very difficult if you've been in one sector your whole career from when you left school or college. If you can't afford to retrain as, a lot of places require you to work and train on a rubbish wage"
</p>aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-2452668093976347572020-08-25T05:12:00.003-07:002020-08-25T05:12:28.270-07:00"I would avoid hiring shy people" - Quora thread "What kind of people have the hardest time finding a job"<p><a href="https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-people-have-the-hardest-time-finding-a-job-and-what-kind-have-the-easiest-time-finding-a-job">"I would avoid hiring shy people"</a> is one of the lines in the last paragraph of the first currently shown to this Quora thread of "What kind of people have the hardest time finding a job". Yet more evidence of the rewards for people with the gift of the gab!</p><p><br /></p>aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-59578713681786337482020-08-11T02:45:00.001-07:002020-08-11T02:45:59.451-07:00Facebook group "Unfair Generalising of the Unemployed International"https://www.facebook.com/groups/61708813752/<br />
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This group have their description:<br />
<i>I have decided to start this group because I am utterly tired of a general attitude against the unemployed and particularly welfare (ie JSA- 'Job Seekers Allowance) claimants both in the UK and around the world that ignorantly puts all concerned into one negative category usually branded as lazy or 'workshy'. This is also a response to the numerous groups set up on facebook primarily to demonise welfare claimants by encouraging negative stereotyping. Words like 'Scumbags' and 'Parasites' are frequently used as are extreme approaches to solving unemployment. I believe these groups are unnecessary, inflammatory and extremely ignorant and there should be a counter against them. I would like several things to be highlighted in relation to this subject:<br />
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1) It is unfair to treat someone with disdain and a lack of respect purely because they are unemployed. It seems sometimes the rules of polite or normal conduct to people with jobs is too often dismissed when it is revealed the person is unemployed. Too many people rush to presumptions often when they have very little information on the persons situation. <br />
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2) Unemployment and crime are two words that are too often casually moulded together, not helped by the red top press. There are plenty of cases of serious crime involving people that have normal jobs (inc. serial killers high-level fraudsters and football hooligans) and plenty of people who are unemployed or claiming welfare who do volunteer work and have never commited a crime in their lives. Furthermore the unemployed and welfare claimants have as much a right to be outraged by crime as anyone else. This also applies to the myth that only those with paid jobs are honest.<br />
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3) The idea that someone has to be in a paid job to be busy is naive at best, willfully ignorant at worst. Its very possible to keep busy without being in a paid job.<br />
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4) There are hundreds of thousands of JSA claimants in the UK- They are a widely diverse range of people with different needs, qualifications and personal situations. They have become unemployed for a range of reasons. It is therefore totally inappropriate to categorise them all together.<br />
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5) One of the widely spun myths about JSA claimants is they get something for nothing. Whilst its true that JSA claimants receive financial support from the state, in return they are required to abide by certain obligations such as making steps to find appropriate work and being present at set meetings. If these obligations aren't abided by, the claimant will loose financial support. That is hardly 'something for nothing'. Furthermore when one becomes familiar with the morally questionable unpaid work schemes they will see it is anything but free! Claimants on this scheme are forced to work for no salary whilst their fully employed workmates get a regular income. This amounts to little more than exploitation and must end. Furthermore very few claimants receive the huge amounts the tabloids imply. <br />
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6) Its very easy to say 'Get a job' but that statement (apart from obviously being rude) ignores issues like competition, driving skills and qualifications. For many claimants the situation also becomes a cycle because employers tend to give preferential treatment to those already in a job.<br />
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7) I am not naive. There are those who will abuse and manipulate the system. Criticism of these individuals is completely valid and understandable- the same criticism of everyone who happens to share their employment status is not. I am not suggesting claiming welfare is something to be proud of, but likewise it is nothing to be ashamed of, provided the claimant is making practical steps for themselves. Instead of being something that is stigmatised in todays society JSA should be recognised for what it is- necessary financial support for those with no other method to support themselves whilst trying to find an appropriate job. It would simply be wrong to leave the unemployed on their own in a civilized society. I support practical measures to crack-down on those who fraud the system- it is unfair on taxpayers and fellow claimants but the current approach is ostensibly based on collective punishment which is counterproductive and morally reprehensible. Those who are most vocal in attacking claimants seem to have nothing to say about banking bonuses. I am not saying unemployed people should be above criticism but there is a genuine atmosphere of distortion and discrimination that exists against unemployed people.<br />
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8) In conclusion the concept of this group apart from being a protest against the stigmatizing of welfare claimants is intended to demonstrate that claimants are more often than not, normal people who happen to be unemployed. These are difficult times and to discriminate against those struggling with unemployment is in my view very low.<br />
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NOTE- I will not block people with different viewpoints, however I will not tolerate the sort of abusive language used against the unemployed in other forums as one purpose of this group is to counter against that. If you are joining purely to disagree, I do ask you take all points mentioned to consideration. Any language that vilifies or slurs unemployed people will be deleted without question.</i>aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-71739566112113527052020-07-09T02:21:00.001-07:002020-08-11T03:04:46.562-07:00"How do conservatives and liberals view unemployed individuals differently"Really relate to this answer on <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-do-conservatives-and-liberals-view-unemployed-individuals-differently/answer/Janet-Ybarra">Quora.com to "How do conservatives and liberals view unemployed individuals differently"</a>. It is clearly US written but terminology is similar to the UK. "Conservative" is the name of the main, and currently governing right wing party, the US "liberal" is left although the UK "Liberal Democrat" party is slightly left of centre and not as left as the main opposition "Labour" party.
The similarity of attitudes is the main element though, with the right wing view that "They're lazy or whatnot", given our system's focus on "targets" and "sanctions", even though what is often needed is the recognition of the many factors which contribute to why some people are disadvantaged in the open employment market. For Aspergers it comes back to this blog's title, everyone wanting "Communication Skills".aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-42360601698347295782020-01-13T01:43:00.002-08:002020-01-13T01:43:40.786-08:00Provider setting someone up to failI have listed several articles touching on the Jobcentre and associated service providers being driven by targets and payment by results. I find <a href="https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/17588/work/133139#133139">this post on the National Autistic Society message board</a> particularly troubling as the provider appeared to have deliberately set this person up to fail, pushing them into applying for jobs they weren't suitable for or qualified to do, even telling them to lie about experience, qualifications and health, just to 'get the job'. The person was, when employed, fired for not disclosing their health problems.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-39135833020149776832019-12-13T11:30:00.000-08:002019-12-20T02:53:11.153-08:00Work Christmas parties revisited!It's 9 years since I posted <a href="https://aspiejobblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/compulsory-christmas-party.html">this about a "Compulsory" Christmas party</a>. This week I found this thread on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/e9lblf/my_works_yearly_party_am_i_miserableantisocial/fajmwv7/">Reddit, where the original poster asks "am I miserable/antisocial"</a> for not wanting to go, and the link goes straight to a comment from a poster who is also autistic and admits talking in groups is extremely difficult for them. The replies mix those saying "networking is an important part of work and career" and those defending the right not to go such as "social events one attends from obligation are likely to be a pain". The job I've had in these last few years, yes there have been some meals and the dreaded "Secret Santas" but they'd understood and accepted my non-participation. With only a few working days to go before this Christmas it isn't now likely I'll be starting in a new workplace let alone dealing with whether to go to a Christmas do or not.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-33381782645062225582019-11-06T02:37:00.002-08:002019-11-06T02:37:37.719-08:00Universal credit adverts banned as 'misleading'This <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50304322">BBC article</a> about the Advertising Standards Agency received 44 complaints about six newspaper adverts and a web page being banned for misleading the public doesn't surprise me.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-64116861117238286852019-10-01T19:36:00.002-07:002020-08-11T02:42:10.679-07:00"The idea that claimants need to change"The first line of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/30/the-guardian-view-on-universal-credit-labours-plan-makes-sense">this Guardian article</a> is that "the underlying problem with the flagship Tory policy is the idea that claimants need to change". The former hard right wing Work and Pensions Secretary’s conviction that the role of the system was not simply to allocate benefits, but to "change claimants’ behaviour". I as a person with Asperger who has had a good job for nearly 8 years but about to be made redundant due to outsourcing, thus sending me back to the open job market, raise the question of "What of typical EMPLOYER behaviour?" Will the EMPLOYER choose me over a good communicator anywhere? It was all very well when the said former Work and Pensions Secretary would say "disabled people have to get back into work", but did he question EMPLOYERS on taking them on? They set their Person Specifications and choose the other person avoiding any question by just saying "the other applicant more closely matched the role profile".aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-5282525458802291892019-08-11T01:51:00.001-07:002020-08-11T02:06:59.311-07:00Annoying temp at work watching videos<p>So, with a few months to go until our reduncancies, there has been this temp at work, he is quite annoying with constant yacking, often asking colleagues very personal questions, and most annoyingly, watching videos on his work computer. Just the other day the team leader finally walked past his desk and reminded him he wasn't being paid to watch online videos, and rightly so.</p><p>Ties in with this <a href="https://www.quora.com/Do-employers-actually-take-the-time-to-monitor-what-their-employees-are-doing-on-their-computers/answer/Kirstjen-Lorenz">Quora.com debate about employers monitoring work computers.</a> The link goes straight to a reply where the poster has said <span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">they didn’t
actively monitor why their team was doing, but would notice if they were playing videos on YouTube etc.</span></span></p><p><span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Now comes the crux of the annoyance to me, if I was being interviewed against this guy for only one position, the chances are he would have been chosen. He has the gift of the gab that I, as a person with Asperger, do not. He would be brilliant at "selling himself", yet once employed, has that inclination to time-waste.<br /></span></span></p>aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-71130004157800315662019-07-19T19:30:00.000-07:002020-01-27T03:10:49.280-08:00Three buckets of skills<br />
<a href="https://social.hays.com/2019/07/16/horizontal-move-best-career-decision/">This article from Hays</a> is covering "horizontal career moves" in the context of moving sideways from one job to another, to gain the skills, experience and knowledge required to progress their upwards career path in the future. It is interesting, but what would also be worth covering would be the context of someone who did not necessarily want to "progress an upwards career path" at all, it is taken for granted that everyone should want to do that.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-57429170562592266832019-03-31T20:20:00.000-07:002019-11-13T07:35:45.593-08:00"When the Job Centre used to find people jobs"Gone direct to a comment on a thread on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/b7dlco/people_fuming_over_esther_mcveys_claims_poor/ejrjy5z/">Reddit</a> where the poster's father used to work for the Job Centre. The post describes how they met employers to match their requirements to seekers' skills and personalities. More such meetings should still be in place, this could help for the Job Centre person to introduce an Asperger jobseeker to an employer, as the Job Centre person would be able to better explain the positive offsets than the Asperger jobseeker themselves in an open interview in competition with others who do not have the condition.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-79863804854123376912018-11-28T07:30:00.000-08:002020-07-28T02:31:18.761-07:00Why do employers ask: “Why do you want this job”?This thread on <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-do-employers-ask-Why-do-you-want-this-job">Quora.com "Why do you want this job"</a> is a well thought debate on this open question. The writer himself has been recruiting for over twenty years and says "PLEASE STOP ASKING THIS QUESTION", couldn't agree more!aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-91145409699785607682018-09-15T13:09:00.001-07:002020-08-19T04:15:12.036-07:00Jobcentre ordering someone to purchase a smartphoneThis article in yesterday's <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/universal-credit-jobcentre-dwp-smartphone-196664">INews</a> shows a Jobcentre adviser ordering a 56-year-old jobseeker to purchase a smartphone for his job search because his basic model was "not good enough". Even the Department for Work and Pensions spokesman in a statement said there was no requirement for Universal Credit claimants to own a mobile phone, but this one adviser had said this.<br />
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I agree because I don't like smartphones myself, I too own only a basic mobile which can call and text, also having a calculator and alarm clock. I see people so glued to smartphones to the extent of seeming to be oblivious to everything else, and 24/7 connectivity is being thought to be detrimental to mental health.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-82555269023507443242018-01-24T21:17:00.000-08:002018-01-25T13:44:58.649-08:00"Increasingly rigid job and person specifications"This had been a comment on "21st century welfare" chapter 2 "Problems with the current system", a link which was on the DWP's own website back in 2010 (however now removed - edit Jan 2018). Most of the discussion is about "rates of welfare dependency and poverty" and "work incentives being poor", ie part time hours on mininum wage with regard to top up benefits. So much discussion of welfare reform does centre on blaming (a) unemployed people for not being willing to take jobs (b) the complexity of the system preventing the ones who ARE willing from taking many lower paid and/or part time jobs. No mention of the employer's role in this equation! First there have to be the jobs to take though, difficult enough in the current climate, then factor in the <em>willingness of employers</em> to offer them to some people who may not meet the criteria 100%, and I'm not just talking about disability here. This comment ties in with what I've often said about the need to re-educate employers. The writer touches on "Increasingly rigid job and person specifications" and the "human resources driven ‘closed shop’ mentality of employers", I've often wondered that many 'human resources' bods sometimes don't pass applications to the line managers that they might actually be interested in if they were to see them. How many applications / interviewees are turned down having only been interviewed / application seen ONLY by an HR bod and not the manager who would be responsible for them if taken on? Very good post, and standing out in that it focuses on the employer for once.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-77831039057733005312016-12-11T08:53:00.001-08:002020-08-11T02:47:06.500-07:00Police investigation over fit-to-work testsLink to article in the Independent as to whether <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-police-assessing-possible-investigation-into-dwp-ministers-over-fit-to-work-tests-a7020471.html">DWP ministers could face police investigation</a> over fit-to-work tests.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-86975248460774860842016-08-07T11:30:00.001-07:002020-08-11T02:48:07.704-07:00Interview adjustments and competitionThis thread on the <a href="https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/7574/adjustments-in-interviews">National Autistic Society's own message board</a> is about Interview adjustments. The 3rd post by user Aspergerix describes up the difficulty with competition and proof of hidden prejudice from a legal stance.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-9346621424156218842015-11-26T12:36:00.000-08:002019-11-05T12:44:15.895-08:00Ken Loach - "I, Daniel Blake"<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/23/ken-loach-benefit-sanctions-jeremy-corbyn-food-banks">The Guardian reviews film "I, Daniel Blake" by Ken Loach</a>, a veteran film-maker quoted as "rarely speaking" while developing a project but is so deeply concerned about government policy on benefits and the sanctions regime. The title character worked for years as a joiner but had a heart attack which forced him to give up work and claim benefits. Ken goes on to comment on the divisive rhetoric of people into "skivers and strivers". The article ends with an amendment note by charity Mind had commenting on independent academic research that fit-for-work tests were linked to hundreds of extra suicides.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-77639294045385190902015-11-18T10:14:00.000-08:002019-11-18T03:16:18.374-08:00"What exactly are jobcentres for?"Thread from <a href="http://www.katebelgrave.com/2015/08/what-exactly-are-jobcentres-for/">Kate Belgrave</a> and shared to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/3h49xa/what_exactly_are_jobcentres_for/?sort=new">Reddit</a>. User 'KarmaUK' is right on point in several comments, especially where private companies were being paid thousands to hold courses of zero value to people who already have GCSE English and Maths and can create their own CV, and touching on the kind of 'team building exercises' going on in work training providers like the Flexible Routeways I'd been on in 2008-09.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-72599885851492861902015-09-10T21:06:00.000-07:002019-11-07T13:45:53.647-08:00Work and Pensions Secretary's latest comments in Telegraph and BBC OuchEven the right leaning <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11850772/Iain-Duncan-Smith-criticised-for-calling-people-without-a-disability-normal.html">Telegraph</a> publishes this article about the Work and Pensions Secretary being attacked for his latest comments about people with disabilities. Another take on it from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-34197074">BBC Ouch</a> blog too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34042587">This second BBC article</a> touches on whether the Work and Pensions Secretary had been 'inventing backers' for his sanctions regime, while he himself said someone in the operations department had invented the stories and would face disciplinary action for it. Much as I dislike this current Work and Pensions Secretary, I agree with the theory of the shake-up of the rules on sickness benefit to encourage more people into work being announced. I agree with the comment that the "current system was too binary - with claimants deemed either fit or unfit for work, when it would be better if they could be supported to take up what work they could, even if it was just for a few hours" and more significant than number of hours, with more account of suitable and unsuitable occupations with recognition of Aspergers being capable of much work but for most, not front-line customer facing occupations.<br />
aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-51602699226930811812015-09-05T13:55:00.000-07:002015-12-18T14:17:27.580-08:00"Focus on people with a bad attitude"Right there in the House of Commons itself a damning report by the Work and Pensions Committee, on policy beyond the Oakley Review, attacked the current system of sanctions in March and recommended 26 urgent reforms, ways in which the Conservative party were told to <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/26-ways-tories-were-told-6364780">"clean up" the system in this article in the Mirror.</a> Really all sactions should be aimed at point 17, those people "with a bad attitude". The article states that employment services professionals believe themselves, assumed to mean both in JobcentrePlus itself and associated training providers (I used to have conversation to that effect with the people where I did the "Flexible Routeway"), that such strict conditionality and sanctions are only necessary with that small minority of claimants outright refusing to work and with "history of poor engagement with employment support". The article rightly higlights the need to protect "more determined jobseekers and the vulnerable", as my own experience of being a determined jobseeker making a lot of applications and simply not being the first choice of employers.<br />
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Here's the <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmworpen/814/814.pdf">Parliament Publications PDF link</a> itself, and it is interesting to see just how many of the committee are even from the Conservative party, just a shame they can't see the sense to make one of these the secretary of state.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-53725429074188204112015-05-14T23:51:00.001-07:002015-09-10T13:17:40.971-07:00Down's syndrome article on BBC<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-32613957">The struggle to find work when you have Down's syndrome</a> documented on the BBC Ouch blog. It starts with the stats that fewer than two in 10 people with learning disabilities are in employment, a similar figure to Aspergers thought to be around 12%. It goes on to link to the <a href="http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/about-us/workfit/">Downs Syndrome Association's Workfit</a> web page, a programme to improve understanding of the condition among employers, quoting that many employers never knew that people with Down's syndrome wanted to find work. An interesting quote in the Ouch article is that when they can find employment they mostly thrive in structured roles that are process driven, very similar to those with Aspergers.<br />
aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-75888528987712276992015-03-15T04:11:00.003-07:002015-03-15T04:11:43.767-07:00"Community Service" - "all stick, no carrot" proposals designed to "punish"<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31500763">This BBC article</a> contrasts the current government party and opposition proposals primarily aimed at 18 to 21-year-olds. What I feel when I hear the references to unemployed people being sent on "Community Service" is that it implies a tar with the same brush as those sent on it as a sentence for crimes, and the article ends with even a spokesman for the smaller coalition partner party criticised the main government party proposals as "all stick, no carrot", saying they were designed to "punish" rather than to help people into work. Another point is will reading "Community Service" on a CV make an employer infer that it was as a sentence for crime and immediately write the applicant off on that assumption?<br />
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The opposition party has promised the same people a guaranteed job, so even if the jobs were of the "Community Service" type occupation they would be paid at minimum wage. This guarantee would be paid for by a tax on bankers' bonuses, which I agree is much needed.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-24588966529172468752015-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:002018-12-13T11:27:32.901-08:00'Targeting' and 'Psychotherapeutic interventions'A post on the <a href="http://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/5178/dwp-to-target-those-with-disabilities-including-autism-and-aspergers">NAS website's forum</a> about the Department for Work and Pensions "targeting those with Autism and Aspergers to undergo Psychotherapeutic interventions." The concern is the tone of blaming people for difficulties they never chose to have, as efforts should be directed at employers themselves. All the 'Psychotherapeutic interventions' are not going to make me a world class front line customer service bod, they need to be working with employers to get them to understand the possibility of placing individuals with Aspergers in the jobs that will utilise their strengths while not penalising their disability.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-58071640114417801772014-11-06T20:17:00.000-08:002019-12-20T01:21:19.036-08:00Jobcentre Target Culture - Work Programme adviser speaks outThis <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/05/work-programme-adviser-box-ticking-sanctioning-sick-people">Guardian article</a> on a Work Programme adviser speaking out on the target and tickbox culture at the Jobcentre and associated training providers.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6114740387025183287.post-53604714027300486032014-07-03T13:30:00.000-07:002016-01-25T13:34:17.932-08:00"Glenda Jackson take a bow"<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/sirajdatoo/iain-duncan-smith-would-like-to-think-he-can-walk-on-water#.qwjAbge4B">Brilliant speech from Labour MP Glenda Jackson,</a> attacking the vile work and pensions secretary, responsible for the “destruction of the welfare state and the total and utter incompetence of his department”.aspiejobbloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235207281628991583noreply@blogger.com0