Universal Jobmatch

[dyfed]

I agree with omitting date of birth from CV's, especially for those of us that have hit our fifties! It's hard enough getting to interview stage without being illegally discriminated against on age grounds.

 

Removing courses and university time leaves large gaps in a CV that have to be covered up, so it's down to lying on a CV which will result in dismissal if caught out, and I believe it's technically fraud anyway, I used to alter CV's about so much that eventually I had about a dozen all slightly different from each other, it got to the stage where I became so confused over which was which that I gave up in the end and went back to my original, warts and all.

 

So when you turn up at the interview, if you are lucky enough nowerdays, dont you think they will kinda guess your age or even ask you?

I dont care what DWP say, I wont lie about qualifications nor age, everything goes in whether they like it or not lol

[antone]

So when you turn up at the interview, if you are lucky enough nowerdays, dont you think they will kinda guess your age or even ask you?

I dont care what DWP say, I wont lie about qualifications nor age, everything goes in whether they like it or not lol

 

My CV has never included my age. I mean, of course they'll take a guess at it when you show up to an interview, but the whole point of leaving your age off is to ensure your CV isn't round-filed before they've actually heard what you have to say.

 

I wouldn't leave off qualifications, though.

[dyfed]

Dyfed - it definitely makes life a bit easier when you can remove yourself from the clutches of DWP and W2W ..... Obviously self-employment isn't for everyone but it wouldn't hurt to perhaps just make a list of all the things you can do and that interest you ........ instead on concentrating on the things you can't do and start small. I re-invent myself regularly, so don't think you have to sustain the same type of job long-term. Be flexible. I hate the saying "Think outside the box" - but try to be open-minded.

 

• Look on e-bay .... you'll be surprised what sells. Pick out some of the more unusual ranges - for example, gents/ladies' shoes in VERY LARGE sizes, PETITE sizes - go to factory shops and pick up "seconds" to resell - people love bargains - look at joblots to sell and advertise on free ad sites.
  
• If you like history and have knowledge of your local area -- arrange guided walking tours for visitors, holiday-makers - end the tour with lunch or dinner at a local pub/restaurant - negotiate a great deal with the landlord/owner - ask for commission per head for putting additional business their way. Or, you could provide them with picnic style lunches to eat al fresco.
  
• If you like light gardening or pottering around, perhaps offer general handyman services.
  
• Buy plant "plugs"- pot them up, nurture them and sell on to friends and neighbours. Great time of year to do this.
  

The possibilities are limitless really.

 

Think about what you'd like to do on a small scale before investing in lots of stock or the cost of the website and see how it goes. On JSA, only the first £5.00 of any income I make is disregarded but I think your allowance could be £20/week. Might be worthwhile just asking.

 

Hope this gives you food for thought. Get started on that list!!

 

Good luck!

 

 

Impecunious!

 

Yes food for thought indeed. Thanks so much. Talking to my partner today and she thinks Welsh things like love spoons and collectables might sell on ebay.

 

Thanks again for the advice, I can feel your enthusiasm pouring out of your reply

[dyfed]

I've been told (not by JCP) not to mention my disability on my CV. Isn't that something you'd disclose on application forms anyway?

 

Well with my life threatining heart condition and mental health problems I would have to inform my future employer. I have ventricular tachycardia and a fitted ICD (a defib) which means my heart goes into vt, I pass out and if my defib does not shock my heart back into correct rythem I will die.

So I guess my employer should know about that lol.

[dyfed]

My CV has never included my age. I mean, of course they'll take a guess at it when you show up to an interview, but the whole point of leaving your age off is to ensure your CV isn't round-filed before they've actually heard what you have to say.

 

I wouldn't leave off qualifications, though.

 

Yes I know what you mean about getting to the interview but if I was looking through the cvs and someone ommited their age then I wouldnt look at the rest of it. No point asking someone into an interview who either forgot to put an important thing like age down or has something to hide.

 

However if it works for you then great and good luck with it

[LaughingGirl]

Yeah, my last but one employer told me that he nearly didn't ask me for interview because I didn't put my DOB on my CV - he said that he wasn't sure about employing someone to do his admin if they left out what he saw as 'the basics', and he definitely did see it as carelessness on my part. He was genuinely taken aback when I told him that I'd been advised to remove it due to concerns about ageism and identity theft.

[antone]

Yes I know what you mean about getting to the interview but if I was looking through the cvs and someone ommited their age then I wouldnt look at the rest of it. No point asking someone into an interview who either forgot to put an important thing like age down or has something to hide.

 

However if it works for you then great and good luck with it

 

I think of it as helping the employer to avoid the temptation to break the law

 

Seriously, though, I've never once had anyone complain, and the question isn't usually asked on formal application forms for the reason I mentioned.

[upseydaisy:)]

Anyone noticed how many vague jobs there are on the job site. You see a company name and job might say distribution and then you are forwarded to another site.

The site does not id who they are and you input your details like I did, to get a call from a kleeneze rep, trying to get you to agree to paying for setting up with them.

I left it at that as email said if interested contact us, all you got was a video link which gave the kleeneze piitch without saying who they were till after about 5 minutes, and now I get emails from this man with odd pop emails, last one about friends or someat.

 

Why is kleeneze not saying who they are upfront? I can see data protection issues and only on the bbc news today they mentioned how con companies are approaching students and job seekers.

 

As the site is not monitored well, who is to know they could be a con?

 

What got me is they were confirming at least equivelent or minimum wage would be given. Kleeneze is percentage which is not guaranteed due to how do you know who will or will not order?

 

 

How are they doing this?

 

I input kleeneze into twitter to see if I was the only one experiencing this and floods of posts were there complaining about exactly that

Annoyed:sad:

Edited February 26, 2013 by upseydaisy:)

[osdset]

Kleeneze looks to be the same format as Amway, basically pyramid selling. The only real profit makers are the ones at the top of the pyramid, everyone below them is wasting their lives forever trying to recruit more and more mugs into joining the 'club' for a fee of course and selling overpriced rubbish.

 

I thought these pyramid wheezes had been outlawed? It seems that all a company has to do is tweak the formula a bit to stay within the law, these imported 'American dream' con's should not be touched with a barge pole.

[san_d]

 

Sooner or later when you log in your UJM account you'll see a pop up telling you that you have automatically given consent to the DWP to peep in your data. 99.9% of users won't even notice it and click "Continue". Here you go.

[lilyx0xmunster]

I've applied for various jobs through UJM although i'm not in a position of claiming JSA as my husband works.. but every job i have applied for i have ticked all the relevant boxes yet the website tells me i have applied for none I have a HND in web design and database building and analysis so quickly flicked into script mode and found a few security glitches which need looking at so I would question monster.co.uk who actually built this site for JCP as to what they intend to do about their unfair treatment of claimants where theirs & JCP UJM site states you haven't applied for ANY jobs......because as I read it you don't apply for jobs you get sanctioned?..

 

hmm think its all about screwing the bottom of the food chain to fill the fraudsters oops i mean MP's pockets just my view on things

[jasta11]

Totally agree with you, Lily. I expressed concern over the same thing in a previous post.

 

For example, I've seen vacancies advertised on UJ which direct you to Reed Employment to apply; I'm already registered with Reed (and trust their site far more) so I would simply go to Reed's site, log in, find that vacancy and apply via them - usually one-click so very convenient.

 

The problem is that if this was a notified vacancy - ie one the JC had told me to apply for - I'm now in the position of having applied for the job BUT have no record of the application on UJ. Luckily, Reed always send an acknowledgement email whenever you apply so I would have proof, but I have no doubt the 'jobsworth' JC clerk wouldn't think of that and would just check to see if I'd applied via UJ, find I hadn't and raise a sanction doubt.

 

The old Jobseekers website had it's faults but I'm sure everyone would prefer to still use it - and feel a lot safer too. Sometimes the best thing to do with a system is to leave it alone.

[snowy101]

I think of it as helping the employer to avoid the temptation to break the law

 

Seriously, though, I've never once had anyone complain, and the question isn't usually asked on formal application forms for the reason I mentioned.

 

I have attended 2 interviews recently & both were going very very well until i was asked to produce my drivers licence, one of the interviewers face changed completely , i knew from that moment on i was not getting the job, the second interview was a little more subtle but still obvious, i have omitted my date of birth on my CV for some time now. It began to dawn on me that i was not even getting interviews for jobs i was very suited too, once i took the DOB off i got interviews but they can get round it. Sorry, i`m 52, not ready for the scrap heap by a long shot, still very fit & very employable but for some reason employers either offer you rubbish wages or don`t even consider you once your near the 50 mark. I personally believe its a gap in the employment market, skilled people with experience & a good attitude, no calling in sick on Monday from being on the lash all weekend, we all did it when we were teenagers.

[sillygirl1]

snowy101, I agree, I am 55, very IT literate (I've become very good on computer graphic packages since being unemployed).

 

If they ask for a driving licence and you don't drive then give them your passport, I have a decent pic in mine. I've got a couple of interviews coming up (12th and 28th March) and my local provider has offered me a place on an Interview Skills course, which I have gratefully accepted - anything to get a job and avoid the uselessness of applying for jobs (29 last fortnight).

 

My latest CV only has two jobs on, which cover a lot of skills and 17 years solid work experience, I have another which goes back to the beginning of my career (in 1977!).

 

Why they don't want us is simple, they get paid to get younger people into work.

 

The 'Grey Nomad' generation will soon outnumber those in work and when election time comes (I am becoming more and more convinced there will be an emergency general election called before the end of this year) our votes will count far more than the younger ones - especially if we abandon the more recognised parties!

[snowy101]

[Not so]SillyGirl, good luck with your interviews, i have one next Thursday for a job i really want. I received a phone call this morning from a well known tool hire company , i had applied for a service / maintenance job with them last week. I spoke to a pleasant lady who was doing a short phone interview but i ended the call when she told me the pay, £16,000 . I nearly fell off the sofa, i live in London, its 2013 & i would be on the street in 6 months if i worked for that kind of money. I am a skilled man, C&G qualified, good employment record & willing to work. I will have to sign on next week & i know they will be trying to get me to accept this kind of money, its a non starter , i will not work to be worse off. I agree with you regarding the way people will vote . Grey power sister:-D

[Nystagmite]

But they also don't want women of child bearing age because we'll get the job, fall pregnant and then be off for 9 months... (even though for many this is unlikely to happen)

 

And if you're older, you generally have more work experience.

[joeski]

imo if anyone kills themself because the problems the welfare reform is going to cause then personally i think IDS should be charged with murder and made to face the consequences of his actions!

 

also IDS is a man who with a bad habit of lying, i bet everyday when he wakes up he thinks to himself what can i lie about today he has lied about his name, lied on his c/v and basically his life is just one big lie! if you or me lied on our c/v's claiming we're qualified to be rocket scientists and we got the job we're be sacked straight away when the truth was revealed so why is IDS still in position?! i'm on the WP and have been told that lying on your c/v is a big fat no no, IDS is not setting a very good example and has no right to dictate to the unemployed because he has lied about everything!

 

 

so Iain or George or whatever your name is everyone knows that you are just one big fake

Edited February 27, 2013 by joeski

[joeski]

oh dear IDS, looks like people are turning against you and your lies!!

 

 

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/10247272.Man_launches_petition_following_sanctions_to_job_seekers/?ref=mr

[SWLABR9]

Why cant they just leave people alone. Its not like there are millions of full time well paid jobs just waiting for us out there.

They're trying to do away with the benefits system so they can open up the market, a multibillion pound market, to private insurers like, er, Unum who have been consulting with the government on 'welfare reform' since the 90s. Google for Unum scandal to learn more about Unum and what awaits us here in the UK if they take over.

[osdset]

snowy101, I agree, I am 55, very IT literate (I've become very good on computer graphic packages since being unemployed).

 

If they ask for a driving licence and you don't drive then give them your passport, I have a decent pic in mine. I've got a couple of interviews coming up (12th and 28th March) and my local provider has offered me a place on an Interview Skills course, which I have gratefully accepted - anything to get a job and avoid the uselessness of applying for jobs (29 last fortnight).

 

My latest CV only has two jobs on, which cover a lot of skills and 17 years solid work experience, I have another which goes back to the beginning of my career (in 1977!).

 

Why they don't want us is simple, they get paid to get younger people into work.

 

The 'Grey Nomad' generation will soon outnumber those in work and when election time comes (I am becoming more and more convinced there will be an emergency general election called before the end of this year) our votes will count far more than the younger ones - especially if we abandon the more recognised parties!

 

No one want's to see the ConDems out on their collective ears more than I do, but who will fill the vacuum? Labour? The party that Blair turned into a watered down version of the Tory party, IMO they are almost as bad as the current mob, they should have been fighting welfare reform tooth and nail but have proved to be a toothless mangy stray dog snapping at Cameron's heels.

 

So that leaves...........UKIP if Farage gets his way I might be able to enjoy a fag in my local again, and apart from making an exit from the EU what have they to offer? I suspect we may find they are just as ruthless as the Tories.

 

No party actually stands out as having what I would regard as socialist principles, we don't have a real alternative choice.

[ismael urzaiz]

signed this morning.it's mandatory from Monday.i mentioned ticking the box so they can't see what i've done,my advisor who's very nice by the way.more or less said a sanction doubt would be raised.

 

 

two weeks on from the above post..signed this morning ready for a fight as i haven't joined UJM but had printed out my applications from the site as proof i'd visited it,my advisor (not my usual one) said that's ok and she hadn't heard nothing about it being mandatory...she tried to log on the UJM site on her computer but it was down

[Charlotte_Henderson]

i`m 52, not ready for the scrap heap by a long shot, still very fit & very employable but for some reason employers either offer you rubbish wages or don`t even consider you once your near the 50 mark. I personally believe its a gap in the employment market, skilled people with experience & a good attitude, no calling in sick on Monday from being on the lash all weekend, we all did it when we were teenagers.

 

Alot of people have the same problem as you including my husband

employers seem to right you off when you get to a certain age and its all wrong.

[RebeccaPidgeon]

Alot of people have the same problem as you including my husband

employers seem to right you off when you get to a certain age and its all wrong.

Recruitment has never been scientific process..... after all, Mr Alan Sugar exhibits a somewhat naive outlook when recruiting staff, particularly women of "child bearing age"

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/24/alan-sugar-louise-mensch-twitter

She was referring to comments made by Lord Sugar in a 2009 interview. When asked if he would employ an expectant mother, he said: "Why would anyone give anybody a job knowing ... unless it was a temporary job ... because if she was pregnant, then within three or four months she wouldn't be able to do the job, so if it was a temp job and you had a need, of course, why not?"

 

When questioned on giving a pregnant woman a full-time position he added: "She wouldn't be able to do it, would she? Well, yes, you'd hire her and then she'd go on maternity leave.

 

Quite a pathetic attitude, frankly... but, what do you expect from someone, such as Mr Sugar, who left school having failed dismally at O levels (to be generous, he did achieve a few but only with mediocre grades), before becoming a Barrow Boy.

[san_d]

All the posters here assume that the modern recruiter's job is to put people into work. It that was so I could understand why recruiters might want to employ younger people first.

 

The reality is that recruiters now are marketing agents who are just interested in fishing new contacts that they will sell to spammers, [problematic] or identity forgers. Have you done a "whois" on these new web agencies? Most of them are headquartered in India. Does it ring any bells?

[SWLABR9]

According to Liam Byrne Labour consider cutting unemployment benefits to no more than two years would be a sensible welfare reform. He said this just the other day in the bedroom tax debate. Nothing about creating jobs, you notice, just about punishing the unemployed. This lot are absolutely useless, they're the freeloaders, not the unemployed.