My experience of the work programme is that it really works!
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Over the last 5 years I have been in and out of work, I have struggled to find a permanent job with full time hours instead taking temporary jobs for 3 - 6 month contracts or part time work.
I found the 'New Deal' programme under Labour was terrible and did very little to help during my periods of unemployment. The only thing they ever did for me was demand that I worked in a charity shop for 12 weeks to gain work experience, even though I had over 3 years of work experience at that time.
I’m not a Conservative Party voter and was concerned when they won the 2010 election as I knew major welfare reforms would come but I’ve found myself agreeing with a lot of the reforms announced so far.
I was also dreading going on the work programme but actually found that my provider took a very sensible and modern approach to helping people.
I am very pleased to say that after only a few months on the programme I have just been hired for a job that is permanent, with full time hours, pays over the national minimum wage and has an excellent bonus structure.
I have no doubt that without the help of my advisors on the work programme I would never have been able to secure even an interview for this position.
I know there are still a lot of negative views on the work programme and welfare reform but in the last 2 months my advisors have gotten 40 other people aged between 18 and 25 into work.
From what I have seen the programme is working, and working well. I can’t wait to sign off and start work now!
I found the 'New Deal' programme under Labour was terrible and did very little to help during my periods of unemployment. The only thing they ever did for me was demand that I worked in a charity shop for 12 weeks to gain work experience, even though I had over 3 years of work experience at that time.
I’m not a Conservative Party voter and was concerned when they won the 2010 election as I knew major welfare reforms would come but I’ve found myself agreeing with a lot of the reforms announced so far.
I was also dreading going on the work programme but actually found that my provider took a very sensible and modern approach to helping people.
I am very pleased to say that after only a few months on the programme I have just been hired for a job that is permanent, with full time hours, pays over the national minimum wage and has an excellent bonus structure.
I have no doubt that without the help of my advisors on the work programme I would never have been able to secure even an interview for this position.
I know there are still a lot of negative views on the work programme and welfare reform but in the last 2 months my advisors have gotten 40 other people aged between 18 and 25 into work.
From what I have seen the programme is working, and working well. I can’t wait to sign off and start work now!
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In the inimitable words of Basil Fawlty: A satisfied customer. We should have him stuffed.
Thank you and ironically i was watching my Fawlty Towers DVDs last night
Two of my friends who were both perviously long term unemployed have also found full time permenant work through the Work Programme but I know from having been in the providers office that a lot of people hate it.
I think if you show your advisor you genuinely want to work they will go the extra mile for you if you go in with a bad attitude then you will have a bad experience
He did say it seemed better now than it was under the Labour rule.
Great news although the many miseries on here will be quick to dismiss your story as a "one-off." :rolleyes:
Good luck with the job and well done to you and the Work Programme.;)
how are people miseries when the successes are the exception as many don't find any joy plus the system is geared to sanctioning people more then finding long-term permanent work?
It was “proving difficult” to return people to long-term work, Mark Hoban, the work minister, told The Daily Telegraph. He called on private firms – including the scandal-hit A4e – which have been given the task of retraining the long-term unemployed and placing them in jobs, to “get their act together”.
But he insisted that the work programme was still the best option and urged the public to give it time to produce results. More than 800,000 long-term unemployed have been referred to the programme since it was established by the Coalition in 2011. It has a budget of up to £5 billion. Private firms and voluntary organisations are paid up front for each referral and are also paid by results if people find a job for more than six months.
But ministers are expected to announce on Tuesday that fewer than five per cent of those on the programme have subsequently been employed for that long, meaning the key target has been missed. Mr Hoban, who joined the Department for Work and Pensions in September, has been told to ensure the scheme succeeds before the next election. He declined to disclose the forthcoming official figures, but said: “I’m very focused on ensuring that work programme providers do perform.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9699273/Just-one-in-20-aided-by-back-to-work-scheme.html
Corporate welfare where the success rate speaks for itself.
Thanks for posting this. A chance to read a measured and positive account for a change. Good luck with the job, and congratulations.
Thank you Ian!
And I am sure some will be as quick to dismiss the failings as one offs. The truth will no doubt be that for many people it will work, and for others it won't. In the case of my wife who cannot leave the house the program has so far consisted of sending her appointments for meetings.....despite the wealth of medical evidence we have provided explaining how that just won't work.
The idea is fine, the devil will be in the detail.
However congrats OP, I really hope your story becomes the norm and my experiences the exception.
Well done and good luck for the future.:)
This is what i was worried about at first, getting dragged in 2 or 3 times a week ro jobsearch on their computers for an hour when i can do that at home myself.
I spoke to my advisor and she said that i could jobsearch at home and she would email me once a week and ask me to reply with details of vacancies i had applied for. They also send 'job alerts' by email most days with vacancies they were aware of and if one was suitable id email my CV back to them and they'd set up an interview. I only had to attend into the office if i was setting up an interview.
I think a lot depends on the provider and the individual advisor, mine thankfully took a common sense approach and i would say that over 90% of my contact with them was via phone or email
She has no clue of The universal credit changes for the unemployed and part time workers saying it can't be true because their company hasn't been told yet and I had to explain what Atos had done to people and that is why I wouldn't work for them. She never even heard of Atos and asked if I was sure it was true.
I am on my fifth advisor because they keep leaving. It really isn't very good but I am glad someone got something out of it.
Congratulations on your new job.
Did they actually have any input for the job other than mailing you the list of vacancies and booking an appointment for you?
Thank you
They emailed me about a job that sounded really good and very suitable for me so i replied about that one and while i was in the office to discuss it the advisor said the employer said they thought i was over experienced for that position as it is very entry level but was welcome to attend the interview, although would have been unlikely i wouldve been taken on.
At that point she said she had been speaking to the recruitment manager for another company on an unrelated matter earlier in the day and she thought id have a chance of getting in there.
She persueded him to give me a chance and interview me which i know i would never have got myself as i had applied for the job i now have, with that company every year since 2009.
I was on top form and sailed throught the interview with the recruitment manager and the sales manager and was offered the job on the spot. Which proves that getting the actual interview is often times the hardest part of jobseeking.
My advisor contacted me after the interview to offer help with travel costs for the 1st month and help with money till i got my first wage.
That's very curious, did the company not have a record of your many applications previously? Why do you think you were unsuitable then but over experienced now? To be honest, I'm not seeing how you can measure the success of a scheme just because they forward a list of jobs which you apply for, surely you would see the vacancy yourself in any case?
*I don't wish to detract from your success but I'm also not sure you can denigrate the previous administrations scheme and praise this one where in fact they really didn't do anything over and above what a regular job seeker would do.
Congratulations on the job but one thing occurs to me. If you have been applying for this same job every year since 2009 could it be that you got the opportunity for this interview because you just happened to be 'in the right place at the right time' ?
What do you make of the Telegraph article where it says ministers will have to admit to a less than 5% success rate?
Sorry ive probably made a bit of an arse of trying to explain that, they emailed me about job A which i replied to and when attending the office the advisor told me i was over experienced for that but she had spoke to the recruitment manager at a different company and had remembered CV that i had submitted for job A and requested that the interviewed me.
They did have a record of my previous applications but there always seemed to be people better qualified and with more experience than me that got the interviews but i have always interviewed very well and knew if i could just sit down with them face to face id have a good chance of being successful.
I see what your saying and your right i would have come across the vacancies myself when jobsearching but i only got this interview due to the relationship that my provider had with this company and the advisor was able to state my case to the recruitment manager and make it a bit more personal because the 3 previous times i applied by submitting my CV i was rejected at that stage.
The reason i mentioned the difference between the last programme and the current work programme is that on the previous one it was a 5 minute meeting once a fortnight with an advisor who just asked what id applied for, noted it down and said see you in 2 weeks. On the rare occasion she did say something else it was to suggest i do voluntary work.
Whereas this time i got near daily updates by phone and email about jobs, courses that were relevant and helpful that you were invited to attend if you felt they would benefit you as well as continued support after finding work.
I may be wrong and not everyone would agree but in my experience the work programme is by far the better of the two
Thanks for explaining.
On a personal level this scheme is a success and as said, I wish you well.
Using that as a basis for saying the scheme works where as the other scheme didn't, when ministers are preparing to admit to a less than 5% success rate, is probably unwise.
I haven't seen it but would have read it properly if I had.
Now you've been proven wrong and have to accept the OP found employment with the help of the Work Programme why are you so upset about it?
You should read threads properly instead of looking for names and editing posts just to make comments. It was in post #7. A short extract, even bolded to help focus attention, and a link to the article.
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