Universal Jobmatch

[sillygirl1]

I've got a 1 1/2 hour UJM session tomorrow afternoon, will report back on the findings. I am already on 6 different jobsites so this is proably duplicating what I already have applied for.

 

I will update my application list tonight and take it with me tomorrow....

[pandaspot]

I work in hb and Ctb and have to go to a training session in a couple of weeks re ujm, it run by the jcp. From what I know about it from here. What sort of questions shall I ask, and stuff I can ask to report back here? I can't see the point of us having this training anyway, maybe they are teaching us about it in preparation for when we lose our jobs when uc come in??

Edited February 6, 2013 by pandaspot

[sillygirl1]

My UJM session yesterday was a bit of a joke. I logged on and found a load of jobs, but a lot of them already had gone past the closing date - guess what, that was NOT an option for 'Why did you not apply'. The majority of jobs were 'apprentice' marked, and very low salaries.

 

However, I do have two interviews lined up in March for a major hospital, I spent some time on their website uploading my supporting documernts (Distinctions in RSA Level 3 Medical Audio typing and Medical Word Processing and AMSPAR Certificate) as well as Enhanced CRB clearance, it is surprising how many sites are now asking for supporting documentation - not quite sure of the Data Protection aspect of this.

 

The UJM should theoretically feed in from the main jobsites, so if you are on JSA and apply on the other boards, it should be able to cross refer it to the UJM site, thereby eliminating the NEED for people to go to a centre and spend 1 1/2 hours every fortnight job hunting. I fully believe that 'model' limits peoples choice of employment and is just there to 'help' the myth that it 'only takes five minutes to fill in a jobsearch form'.

[RebeccaPidgeon]

My UJM session yesterday was a bit of a joke. I logged on and found a load of jobs, but a lot of them already had gone past the closing date - guess what, that was NOT an option for 'Why did you not apply'. The majority of jobs were 'apprentice' marked, and very low salaries.

 

However, I do have two interviews lined up in March for a major hospital, I spent some time on their website uploading my supporting documernts (Distinctions in RSA Level 3 Medical Audio typing and Medical Word Processing and AMSPAR Certificate) as well as Enhanced CRB clearance, it is surprising how many sites are now asking for supporting documentation - not quite sure of the Data Protection aspect of this.

 

The UJM should theoretically feed in from the main jobsites, so if you are on JSA and apply on the other boards, it should be able to cross refer it to the UJM site, thereby eliminating the NEED for people to go to a centre and spend 1 1/2 hours every fortnight job hunting. I fully believe that 'model' limits peoples choice of employment and is just there to 'help' the myth that it 'only takes five minutes to fill in a jobsearch form'.

Good luck with the interviews.... if working in the NHS is of more general interest, I suggest that you create an account on the NHS Job Website http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/ - you will need to complete an Electronic Application Form, but this can then be used for the majority of jobs within the NHS, and you will not need to upload any certificates etc

[sillygirl1]

Thanks, not interested in the NHS as general, but more specific London hospitals.

 

Did anyone see the press report where there was an ad placed on the UJM website which was all in Polish? Link is below

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274393/Stunned-jobseeker-finds-vacancy-workman-advertised-entirely-POLISH.html#axzz2K9os1Awx

[san_d]

Hold on a second. On the German and Dutch jobcentre websites there are hundreds of jobs advertised in English. I've applied to a few of them, unfortunately with no luck. So should they remove those vacancies from their national websites?

[bialoman]

Nice to hear about your experiences sillygirl.

 

Universal Jobmatch is not mandatory yet is it? I have a meeting with an adviser in the next few days and I really am not willing to sign up for this yet until it is.

I've been applying for 4-5 jobs everyday and 90% of the jobs posted on UJ/directgov you can apply for elsewhere.

[stikky62]

Someone pointed out to me today that if you went into your Activity history on UJM it tells you if your CV has been viewed by the potential employer for any applications you've made.

 

In all the applications I've made through UJM, my CV has NEVER been looked at.!!

[san_d]

Someone pointed out to me today that if you went into your Activity history on UJM it tells you if your CV has been viewed by the potential employer for any applications you've made.

 

In all the applications I've made through UJM, my CV has NEVER been looked at.!!

 

I don't think so. Once you fire the CV through the site, it's automatically flagged as "received". I believe the employer can send you a message through the site but in three months it has never happened to me.

[LongHairedLily]

I signed on today and it was a different woman to the normal advisor. She wanted to know if I had an email address which I told her. I advised that yes I am on UJM, she decided to look for me on their database. She couldn't find me as there were too many people with my surname on it-think there was 200 pages or pepole. She said she'd look for me later.What is that all about??? I also ticked the box so the advisors cannot look at my UJM account, not that I go in to the account much, I can apply by getting the information off the job page.

[stikky62]

I don't think so. Once you fire the CV through the site, it's automatically flagged as "received". I believe the employer can send you a message through the site but in three months it has never happened to me.

 

Oh right, I see.

Lots of 'Received's'....sod all else

[bialoman]

I signed on today and it was a different woman to the normal advisor. She wanted to know if I had an email address which I told her. I advised that yes I am on UJM, she decided to look for me on their database. She couldn't find me as there were too many people with my surname on it-think there was 200 pages or pepole. She said she'd look for me later.What is that all about??? I also ticked the box so the advisors cannot look at my UJM account, not that I go in to the account much, I can apply by getting the information off the job page.

 

I have no idea why she said that, its this type thing that is putting me off signing up for this UJ, yet at the same time I don't want a sanction. I am actively seeking work.

Also, for my area seems like 90% of the jobs on the site - you apply elsewhere or can have that option to apply via cv library, reed etc and the ones that don't have that option tend to be smaller, local businesses that I just call up if interested and they will say bring your cv/cover note in or post.

 

I am expecting the third degree tomorrow about why, how and it's becoming mandatory when I go to my meeting

[RebeccaPidgeon]

I signed on today and it was a different woman to the normal advisor. She wanted to know if I had an email address which I told her. I advised that yes I am on UJM, she decided to look for me on their database. She couldn't find me as there were too many people with my surname on it-think there was 200 pages or pepole. She said she'd look for me later.What is that all about??? I also ticked the box so the advisors cannot look at my UJM account, not that I go in to the account much, I can apply by getting the information off the job page.

The tick box is irrelevant -in order to create a UJ Account, candidates must accept the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy :

 

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Account/InfoTermsConditions.aspx

6. Data protection

6.1 Information you provide to Us may be passed to relevant service providers, including government departments, agencies or authorities,

 

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Privacy/Default.aspx

Legal and contact information

Your information is submitted to the Department for Work and Pensions, but is hosted and stored in a database on servers owned and maintained by Monster Worldwide Limited. The Department for Work and Pensions, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, decides the purposes and methods of processing the information collected and is the data controller of all data stored in the database; Monster Worldwide Limited is a data processor on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to your personal information provided in relation to the Sites.

 

This effectively means that, in the same way that a candidate, when assigned to the Work Programme, may find that their Personal Data is transferred to the Work Programme Providers without the need to secure permission and authorisation from the candidate to do so, the DWP may justify that access to a candidates UJ Account may be made available to other parties.

[flumps1976]

Sorry folks official confirmation received today that UJM will be complusory from 18/02/13.

[antone]

Sorry folks official confirmation received today that UJM will be complusory from 18/02/13.

 

That was faster than I expected. I suppose if the carrot turns out to be rotten, at least they know the stick is embedded with six-inch nails.

 

So, any word on how that will work? I mean, is it compulsory to have an account? Compulsory to give JCP advisers access? Compulsory to apply for x number of jobs a week as per a claimant's JSAg?

[postggj]

Sorry folks official confirmation received today that UJM will be complusory from 18/02/13.

 

may i ask where that compulsory direction has come from and under what statutory authority,

(Welfare Reform Act) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 2012

their would have to be secondary legislation (amendment) to the original primary legislation

Edited February 7, 2013 by squaddie

[flumps1976]

Hey folks I only had a brief glimpse of the email yesterday before I left but anyone claiming JSA will be required to open and use an UJM account, permission to view will still be at customers own discretion however if permission is not given then my understanding is that printed evidence of job search will have to be provided at each manadatory interview and fortnightly signing intervention.

Please don't shoot the messenger.

[SWLABR9]

Why not email evidence? Printing will involve endless expense in cartridges.

[RebeccaPidgeon]

That was faster than I expected. I suppose if the carrot turns out to be rotten, at least they know the stick is embedded with six-inch nails.

 

So, any word on how that will work? I mean, is it compulsory to have an account? Compulsory to give JCP advisers access? Compulsory to apply for x number of jobs a week as per a claimant's JSAg?

Lets wait until Official Confirmation is received..... until a few months ago, individual Job Centres were taking it upon themselves to provide misinformation to candidates that UK was going to be mandatory, either in printed form of by some clerks at each signing.

 

However, if the proposition is that candidates, if they do not create a UJ Account, must provide a written account of Job Search at each meeting, then this will not be a great burden.... and simply reinforces the message which has been given to Benefit Claimants for decades.

Edited February 8, 2013 by RebeccaPidgeon
Additional Information

[flumps1976]

I will have to wait until I'm back at work and under the revised Electonic Media Policy I will have to be extremely careful what and how things are posted sorry.

[ubeefortea]

Sorry folks official confirmation received today that UJM will be complusory from 18/02/13.

 

So a friend of mine has no computer, he cant use a computer (a toaster is about his limit, he cant even use his tv correctly and I have tried to show him how to use a computer but he is too afraid. He also failed a very basic computer course)

Nor is there any library or public computer within twenty miles of his house.

He also cant drive and only has two buses pass near him a week.

 

So please tell me how he will be able to use UJM?

And will he be sanctioned because it isnt his fault?

[SWLABR9]

These shortcomings will very soon be making themselves apparent. IDS and his DWP henchmen are presumably hoping that the sustained anti-disabled campaign in the media (started by Purnell years ago when he ran what would become the DWP as we know it) followed up with the recent anti-claimant-in-general campaign we've all been witness too, will sufficiently harden hearts against benefit claimants so the general public simply won't care what happens to them. I suspect even the dumbest Sun/Express reader will however be able to make the connection between rising crime, deaths, suicides and rioting and claimants through no fault of their own being the victim of there being no provision for people to be able to sign on in the first place. I think we'll be seeing IDS pilloried all over the national press long before universal credit ever puts in an appearance. Bring it on, I say.

[bialoman]

I was in today and asked about UJ and my adviser's words were "It's coming into play very soon and could be sanctioned if you don't sign in the future.''

[RebeccaPidgeon]

I was in today and asked about UJ and my adviser's words were "It's coming into play very soon and could be sanctioned if you don't sign in the future.''

The staff within JCP are in a horrendous position (I am not employed by JCP), and it is understandable if their Managers are aiming for an 80% take up of UJ, then subordinates may well misdirect candidates to sign up to UJ.

 

The PCS Union, in acknowledging problems with UJ, have attempted to resolve issues with Management, but no progress has yet ensued. The most recent PCS Union posting on Jan 17 2013 is informative

 

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/dwp-news.cfm/id/78E359C6-7B09-4FC6-98EBD4696432C199

 

Jobseeker Directions and Mandatory Use of UJ

PCS was aware that, despite assurances otherwise from the UJ project of DWP, management in some jobcentre districts were instructing advisers to tell claimants that UJ is mandatory and access must given to the DWP.

 

As a result of legal challenges and negative press attention, DWP have revised the guidance on UJ to make it clear that this cannot be done. The UJ Jobmatch toolkit chapter 3, paragraph 50, states: “You cannot issue a Jobseeker’s Direction to either require a claimant to create a profile and CV in Universal Jobmatch or to mandate a claimant to give us access to their account – this is their decision not ours.” Paragraph 52 also states that “We cannot specify to a JSA claimant how they provide us with records of their jobsearch activity and Universal Jobmatch will not change this.”

 

PCS is awaiting clarification from DWP management on the status of the many Jobseeker Directions that were incorrectly issued to claimants before the guidance was clarified. PCS members should contact their local representative to challenge any instruction to inform claimants that the use of UJ or access to it is mandatory.

 

Further UJ issues

PCS remains concerned with many security and checking aspects of UJ, including:

How claimants data is protected in terms of reported data-fishing by bogus employers

The recent high profile bogus and unsavoury adverts placed and the checks are in place to ensure that these are not placed on the system again.

Compliance with minimum wage and the terms and conditions of the use of the site

Process of ‘accepting cookies’ and EU data protection principles

As yet, DWP have refused to meet with PCS again on UJ and have stated they will respond in writing to our concerns. We believe this to be unacceptable, as problems with UJ impact daily on PCS members, with some claimants becoming frustrated and even abusive due to difficulties they experience using the system. PCS will continue to push management further on this and request that any further issues are reported to your PCS rep or to DWP Group Office at leeds@pcs.org.uk.

 

Of course, if George Iain Duncan Smith wishes to invite all candidates who do not sign up to UJ into their local JCP Office on a daily basis to manage a Job Search, as he threatened to before New Year, or into the old style Job Clubs (a more likely proposition), then ..... Bring It On. Unfortunately, this strategy would require JCP to recruit more staff than would currently be available, not only for UJ, but also to cater for the introduction of Universal Credit.

Edited February 8, 2013 by RebeccaPidgeon
Additional Information Submitted

[bialoman]

Thanks Rebecca for that link, I will not be signing up until I've heard from PCS or DWP officially saying we have to do it. I agree , the 4 different advisers that I have seen - 2 have said it is not mandatory and 2 have.

 

I feel for the ones who've been duped months/weeks before into this with the threat of sanctions when its not true at all (at present).