So last week I had been looking through some job advertisements and I saw that many of them needed OCR. I can type, I've been writing academic essays for years now, I am quick on the keyboard and I have good grammar and punctuation. Let's be honest too, if you're writing a letter say and need a template - its not difficult to google the template, copy it and produce a perfectly professional letter.
However, they said the needed these qualifications, so I thought ok, I'll get them.
I thought, the Jobs & Benefits Office can offer different courses to people with their work schemes, I'll try them. They only had two numbers, a Benefits Helpline and an Employment Helpline. Neither of which were suitable because they didn't deal with enquiries. I tried the Benefits Helpline, the devil in me said I was getting through somehow, no matter what. But, when I finally got through to the automated system, it took all my details, rang for a while and then just said 'all our operators are busy, please try later' and disconnected me!!! I was furious.
Then, I tried the Northern Ireland Careers Office for help. I couldn't get someone on the phone initially. In fact the receptionist was incredibly rude and stopped me mid-sentence when I was trying to explain exactly what I needed. They eventually took a message and said that someone would ring me back and discuss my options, so I said OK.
Not satisfied because I didn't have an answer, I persevered and went digging through my files.
I finally found a piece of paper (which I just happened to have kept) that related to a work focused interview and found the number of the local office. This number was in fact only to rearrange date/time of the interview in case the time offered didn't suit. However I thought, I'm calling this and I'm going to get through.
When I rang my Personal Adviser, she informed me that they DO NOT offer anything like this. She said I would have to try a different skills provider. Now, in all fairness my personal adviser checked my options with the local skills provider - but they didn't do those courses either. She said I'd have to try the college and just pay for it.
Here I am, trying to make myself better skilled to get a job and out of the benefits system and the JOBS AND BENEFITS OFFICE WONT/CANT HELP!!! Absolutely useless. What are they actually there for? I thought they were there to HELP you find a job, not just make you explain why you haven't yet found one? Clearly I was wrong.
Anyway, I carried on. Tenacious as I am. I tried searching for course providers. Belfast Met College was providing a course, but this was going to be £60 at the reduced rate!
Now, I'm looking for a job. I'm on benefits. I just don't have £60 to throw about willy nilly.
I went back to google, and kept searching until I found a little community training provider called The Sandy Row IT Project - here, http://www.bscr.co.uk/projects/49-sandy-row-it-project.html . I got talking to a super duper helpful guy called Jim. He said... I can sort that out for you no problem. He had a date and a time within seconds. It restored my faith, he really restored my faith. I have to make you understand. It took a small community based training centre to provide me what I needed, the government wouldn't, job centre wouldn't, careers service wouldn't help me, the college asked for too much money.
It is only through sheer obstinate perseverance that I could find what I needed. But not everyone has the power, resources or drive to do this. It should be made much much simpler for a person to find and access what they need. The government really let me down. It is probably letting people, in situations like myself, down all the time. If they need us to get a job, and we are trying to get a job - then they should be much better equipped to help us.
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