My Jobcentre Advisor gave me this leaflet today. **WARNING ESSAY**
NicolaClare
Posts: 489 Forum Member
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Universal Jobmatch on www.gov.uk.
It is a mandatory requirement for anyone claiming jobseekers allowance to set up a Universal Jobmatch account on www.gov.uk, create a profile and to upload or create and make public at least one CV.
In your profile, we ask that you give 'The Department of Work & Pensions' access to view your Universal Jobmatch account. If you choose not to allow us access, you will be required to provide, on each attendance, a copy of your 'Activity History' from your Universal Jobmatch account.
If you do not set up an account, within a reasonable period of time, you will be given a Jobseekers direction to do so. Not setting up an account after a direction has been issued, will lead to action being taken which could affect your benefit entitlement.
Sorry for the essay folks, but do you think it's fair or do you think otherwise?
It is a mandatory requirement for anyone claiming jobseekers allowance to set up a Universal Jobmatch account on www.gov.uk, create a profile and to upload or create and make public at least one CV.
In your profile, we ask that you give 'The Department of Work & Pensions' access to view your Universal Jobmatch account. If you choose not to allow us access, you will be required to provide, on each attendance, a copy of your 'Activity History' from your Universal Jobmatch account.
If you do not set up an account, within a reasonable period of time, you will be given a Jobseekers direction to do so. Not setting up an account after a direction has been issued, will lead to action being taken which could affect your benefit entitlement.
Sorry for the essay folks, but do you think it's fair or do you think otherwise?
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Comments
Nothing is for free.
Fair doesn't really come into it - pointless feeling affronted by it really.
Don't claim the benefit then. That seems the only alternative solution. You don't get to make the rules and your perception of them won't matter a jot.
As they say, resistance is futile.
I would think that, legally, they are treading on thin ice here
it's not the best designed site no matter what awards it has (the award was for the WHOLE government site, universal jobsite wouldn't get a bloody lollipop from me!)
but i'm still finding jobs to go for, and also sign up for other sites too, don't just use their one!
If you think that five lines of text comprising of seven sentences is an essay then I'd have loved to have been your English teacher. Easiest marking ever!
That doesn't change the fact its not an essay. The entire leaflet itself is not going to be an essay either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essay
But even if you sign up, they cannot mandate or require you to provide them with access to your account, as it would be a breach of the Data Protection Act. The DWP HAVE confirmed this is the case after some complaints. Mandating claimants so that they have to allow access and monitoring of the account would require a change in the law, but as IDS has stated he wants it mandatory for all and wants all claimants under Universal Credit to use the system for electronically signing on, expect to see that change in the law sometime in the future.
I haven't been asked to sign up, nor mandated to either. I do have an account though as I thought it might be useful, but at present I just do not think the current setup is fit for purpose, and there are far better websites out there. It would have been better if UJM was just a site that aggregates and searches other jobsearch websites, in the same was Indeed.co.uk does. Indeed is a far, far better site, much easier to use and shows relevant jobs 99% of the time.
Try using it, you might change your mind seriously. It's appalling.
When you even just view a job via the website, you must give a reason (chosen from a drop down list) if you decide not to apply. But if the adviser thinks your reason for not applying is not valid they can put you forward for a sanction, even if you have subsequently gone on to apply for another 100 jobs using the site.
Your adviser can also mandate you to apply for jobs listed on the site via your account, and if it is not suitable, you can be sanctioned for not applying.
It is still, even six months after launch, full of spammers and some questionable job postings which give little detail but ask for a lot of personal information to be sent. It's still, even after all these points have been raised since the beginning, something of a boon for identity thieves. There is very little checking of companies, individuals and companies who post job adverts. Hell, you can still sign up yourself as an employer and post an advert today, and get flooded with CVs and all sorts of personal information with little chance of anyone in the DWP contacting you to check out your credentials.
Just because I am currently unemployed does not mean I do not deserve protection from such things, regardless of what some people seem to think.
I will be happy to use the site once all of those issues are addressed.
I only realised after a recent signing on session that I could put my activity on there and not have to write everything down which is a godsend to me because I hate paperwork of any kind.
I have to say I am getting sick and tired of the way Jobseekers are slowly becoming made out to be leeches and lazy. Yes there are people out there who want to be on JSA for life, thats upto them but there is no need to assume we ALL want that. I am long term unemployed and the assumption is that I am long term unemployed is because I enjoy living on £71 a week.
And Work Programmes....don't even get me started on them. They have all failed but the DWP stil blame jobseekers for that failure.
I think the fear is that there's been a lot of stories of it being used to give out sanctions to save money or to fill quotas. Staff finding something to pick on, no matter how small.
it has not helped me one single bit.
im fed up of my idiotic job advisor going on about it 'how are you getting on with jobmatch?' how the F does she think im getting on?!
what exactly am i meant to be getting on with..?
for starters there are more jobs on gumtree and indeed.co.uk that there are on directgov.
My cousin got fed up of them pestering him so he ticked the box to let them see. So far, he's had no problems and he's getting the impression that they don't even look at it when he goes to sign on. People should just make sure that they fill in the notes area and put all the jobs they've applied for from all sources. The more there are and the less likely someone will find an excuse to sanction.
Can you just not use the backspace button and go back to the previous page if not isn't interested in the job? Will they not notice that?
Well......
Don't do, but do not use it. Don't even bother to give them access to your account.
From what I've read on it, it is loaded with bogus jobs asking for a lot of personal information (a bliddy bingo caller job...... Number of children? Married/Single? Sexual orientation? Savings?)
Stick with the like of Indeed, Gumtree and company own web-sites.