Jobcentre Plus

Having found myself unemployed for a couple of months now due to the terrible financial mis-​management of my over-​enthusiastic (and now incredibly skint) boss, I’ve had to join the ever-​increasing ranks of university graduates heading through the doors of the Jobcentre Plus office, and a pleasant experience it is not.
I’m not giving it 2 stars because of the staff — they’ve been nothing but lovely, used as they must be in the current climate to weeping girls clutching a Master’s degree, art knowledge and ambitions to be either A) a proper stand up comedian, B) a paperback writer or C) a professional lottery winner… probably. No, I’m giving it two stars because the centre itself seems to be a Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmare, as you’re shunted about from person to assistant to advisor to machine. Add to the insult, they keep asking me my marital status as a supposed ‘security question’, which only goes to reinforce my frail sense of self in these tough times. ‘SINGLE! SINGLE! I’M SODDING SINGLE!’ I almost wailed at the girl unfortunate enough to be landed with me the first time I went, as mascara cascaded down my face, almost staining my Miss Havisham-​esque wedding dress that I refuse to take off in case I meet a suitor on my travels (N.B: This is a joke. I don’t really walk around wearing a wedding dress. Not on weekdays, anyway.)
Also, I get the impression they’re not there to help you, but monitor you. I’m quite an open book, professionally, and I’m used to all kinds of office work, primarily marketing, research, event planning, business development etc etc. I’ve been applying for jobs of this ilk, and the girl stared right through me when I told her this. (Maybe it was the tear-​stained wedding dress distracting her.) I then happened to mention positions I’d been applying for with charities, mostly Programme Executive positions, and all she could find on her computer was charity fundraising, i. e shaking a bucket in the street. So yeah, it seems that they’re not there to help you find a career, just to get you into anything that gets you off their books. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but that’s just what I can’t help but think. There may be loads of people who have found lasting careers via the Job Centre, I don’t know. I’m getting the impression that maybe Recruitment Agencies are a better bet for kickstarting a career than the Job Centre? I’ve been fortunate enough never to have to know this in the fist place. Curse you, recession! Curse you, Tories!
But I must emphasise again that the staff have been really nice even if they’re not particularly helpful — my criticism is more about their computer system than them.
I will say one thing for the place, though: going there gives you that extra incentive to hone your CV/​covering letters until you think you’re reading about WonderWoman, and find a job post-​haste. It’s far too depressing to visit every ten years let alone every two weeks. No one likes having to justify being deserving of 71 quid a week, especially because of the Tory junta and their austerity measures crippling small businesses, large businesses, medium businesses and humanity in general. Here endeth the lesson.

Although there are a number of websites now dedicated to job hunting, sometimes you need to speak to someone if you’re struggling to look for work.
This Jobcentre has always serviced me well during rougher times. Although I’ve been fairly lucky in finding work throughout the years, there have been times over summers where it’s been necessary to get a second job in order to get on top of uni payments the following term. I’ve found out more about several jobs from this centre on Bath Street, and even got a lead to a T in the Park job from one of the staff! It’s a great, alternative way to see the festival if you haven’t got a ticket.
This place has been packed out as a product of the recession, but it’s well staffed and there are loads of machines available to view jobs due to this centre’s moderate size. Although the infernal job hunt is a mood ruiner, Job Centre Plus on Bath Street is a great place to start getting things back on track!