now i know the country is in deep dodo. this morning have been told by the employement service i have to spend 35hours a week solidly looking for work via their computer system,i also have to apply for 10 jobs minimum regardless of wether i can actually do them. im 60yrs old,ex quarry plant driver,i know nothing else and indeed my only qualifications are driving tickets for allsorts of heavy plant. my advisor,a twenty something yr old whos never had a job in her life has put me in for: a dentists assistant accountant apprentice doctors receptionist building surveyor electrician coded welder a nurse of some sort thats just this morning. so,if any of these actually want employ a old person with severe tinnitus,ongoing dermatitus and a "drivers" back(fucked) watch out cos ill be infecting all your lives quite badly,,,soon. looks like ill be homeless by xmas at this rate as it just wont happen,soon as i give my date of birth(which the dole have told me to hide)i never hear anything ever again from any of my applications. watch out for 60yr olds bearing shotguns come xmas is all i can say.
Call me old fashioned but rather that relying on the goons in the job centre actually get down to come companies and knock doors looking for driving jobs. Hit all the industrial estates in your area and make pest of yourself. How could any potential employer not be impressed by that. I know when Mrs C tried to recruit via the job centre they sent totally inappropriate people. 90% didn't even want a job but had to at least turn up so the benefits would not stop Id rob a bank and risk prison before I have anything to do with the State!
I'm 59 and will be unemployed from 6th November - like yourself, I've applied for loads of jobs and although I've got the qualifications and experience, I never hear anything back (other than a Council job), so I reckon ageism is truly against us. My son sent me a message last week saying that First Bus are desperate for drivers, but I don't think I could take to driving buses - my brother-in-law is a bus driver and tells horror stories of the abuse they get from fare dodgers and other drivers.
@Mr C,yeh been doing that,though i stupidly expected a goverment department ive paid for years to maintain to actually be of some use when i needed it. that has always been the way of things for me,have always found all my own employment,i just wasnt ready for the negative outlook of companies regarding over 50/60 yr olds,working longer cos we live longer?..load of bollocks.. was laid off last year shortly after being put on a shift with all the other over 50's and then that entire shift being shut down and laid off some 3 mths after that,couldnt believe the hypocrasy of it all. and now i can get all the way to interveiws to the point they take my d.o.b over the phone or whatever and then i hear nothing ever again. and now im being told by 20yr old "manager" im a sponger and will have to jump through insane unrealistic hoops in order to get £50 a week back from my 40+ years of taxes and sweat. and yes it appears we're both old fashioned and i certainly wouldnt wish my circumstances on anyone but it seems to the future for all over 50 newly unemployed now.. ive even taken a work plan(involved me happily working for free to gain renewed experience to an old previously gained/held qualification) to the employment service(ironic name)and they refused to even look at it. so yes will be knocking on doors,levelling my shotgun and doing what this goverment is soo good at,im going to be robbing people by the looks of things.think im over the hill at 60,think im just going to roll over and die,think again. now give me your money!! cos im getting low on sennapod and anusol.. :Hilarious:
one of the few question i got asked by the b.tch behind the desk at reception was "why are your hands dirty" in front of every one,knowing fine what she meant, i felt compel'd to inform her manager. she don't work behind the desk anymore. pretty much full employment all my life and you get treated like that. cow.
On the flip side of that coin Fin, my wife took a job working at the job centre in woolwich whilst she was inbetween jobs. She lasted a day. The people who work in these places are often confronted by some serious dregs of humanity. Sam was just too nice a person for that job, sometimes you need a bitch. But that said theres any number of reasons why your hands might be dirty. Car broke down, hobbies and a general failure of personal hygiene.
oh yes,ive seen some nasty humans in that place,not an enjoyable time for many reasons. they have loads of bouncers there,so i reckon it kicks off quite a bit. but then theres ordinary foke like me,that seriously dont want to go from 35k a yr to £50 a week and desperately need to be employed,if only to maintain our sanity and feel needed in some way. so shoot all the nasty tits and have a service that works for those that want it.. we gain and therell be more parking spaces as well. ""up the revolution""
ah MrM i see you have come to sign on to day, yip ok how long have you been in employment, all your life you say, ok and how long have you been unemployed? 3weeks i have come in to sign off i am starting my own bussiness i have just come from checking out premisses, why are your hands dirty? excuse me? i have to know if you have been doing payed work now why are your hands dirty?. should we not be doing this in private and under caution? i can now see the security guard standing next to me. once i explaind in my own inevitable style that there was an injustice going on the security guard fect off pronto and i was calmly led to a chill out room for an apology. cow and chicken.
As an employer I would say avoid job centres, my experiences with them are all negative, shocking staff and the applicants they send are rubbish if they even bother to turn up. I appreciate you may have to stick with them for various reasons. I`d recommend a temp agency in the short term, maybe a specialist driving agency based on your experience. I believe that there are also agencies that specialise in finding work for older folk. I certainly remember dealing with one briefly a few years ago. They were in St Albans I think, whereabouts are you based ?
nottingham here,land of the hot hatchback and drainpipe exhaust. would be great to find an agency that caters for over 50's for sure.
Just google Employment agencies for the over 50s and a few options will come up. I`d recommend avoiding any state run sites and concentrate on private ones. Good luck .
Try your local sainsburys Even if it's for a time between jobs it keeps you in the loop of work and gets you talking to people who maybe looking for people like you
13yrs ago everybody was full of those wonderful ideas,ive never seen a 60+yr old working in my local asda not even pushing trollies around in carpark,in fact i thought theyd taken to employing children in my local one.. :Hilarious:
We have older folk in ours. They're slow and at first that annoyed me. Then Ive come to realise it was me thats impatient and Ive chilled to their pace. We need more old folk everywhere.
you have my sympathys mate,,, here in Peterhead there is work for hgv drivers,, don't know about the money tho,,, I am sure you could handle a bus and the abuse,, there are glass screens so just ignore the nasties,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and btw,, where was the coded welder vac ?????
no idea hehe,somewhere near sheffield i think,they given me a hours travelling in all directions of notts as part of the criteria. i didnt take any notice of any of the jobs she sent my cv too,im not qualified for any of them,i spent most of the interveiw trying to figure out what drugs she could have been on. as for bus driving,im afraid id end up inside,theres a reason ive spent my life in a digger down a pit etc,i simply havent the skill to deal with people without using violence im afraid. :smile:
