Post-Interview
So today, if you remember, was my interview with an advisor down at the Jobcentre about this 'Pathways to Work' thing.
Things didn't get off to too auspicious a start when, after walking all the way into town to get to the JobCentre, the first thing I see is a sign in their car park/outside area telling me that they have a rat problem and could people please not stand around out there. The JobCentre itself is abattered and rather manky-looking blue-and-white/grey prefab that looks like it was meant to only be a temporary thing but the money ran out.
Inside though, everything is high-tech and new, with touch-screen consoles for jobseekers to access and all the latest computers for the staff to use, which raised my spirits somewhat as I tend to judge how efficient something is by the state of its tech (the SS office, for example, spent over a year supposedly upgrading its computer systems and look how bad that is).
Waited a short while, then the advisor I was seeing came to get me. There weren't any private offices or anything like that, but we went to the back of the building, which was quiet and rather under-populated. This was the disability advisor's section.
First thing I found out was that I'm not actually due for my Incap check till December of this year, which surprised me as I was sure it would be April. Still, no matter, I could still get all the help I wanted, it just wouldn't be under the 'Pathways to Work' name.
We discussed the types of work I'd like to do (anything but manual, I said, but with emphasis on IT, office, admin and secretarial as I think I'd be good at them - certainly at IT), and the options available to me. There was doing voluntary work, which gets you experience but no cash, 'permitted work', which is under 16 hours a week but you can take home up to £86 on top of your IB, and part-time and full-time. We also discussed CVs, career guidance and the possibility of getting qualifications.
All in all, it wasn't too bad an interview at all. I certainly didn't feel pressured into signing up for anything or dropping my IB to go back to work, and it was made very clear to me that everything would be done at me own pace. I went away with the promise that someone called Samantha would be calling me to help me with writing a CV if I needed one (I freely admit that I can't remember how to do half a CV any more) and with the number of a college scheme that could help me get NVQs or equivalent in IT and web design and/or anything else I thought would be good for possibly getting a career. I'm going to look more into them this evening and possibly call them in the morning.
Now I'm home, tired but not feeling too shell-shocked, and working on Kerry's birthday present - a scarf whose pattern I found in the new knitting partwork I'm collecting. Her birthday's at the end of Febuary; I'm hoping it'll be finished by then...
Things didn't get off to too auspicious a start when, after walking all the way into town to get to the JobCentre, the first thing I see is a sign in their car park/outside area telling me that they have a rat problem and could people please not stand around out there. The JobCentre itself is abattered and rather manky-looking blue-and-white/grey prefab that looks like it was meant to only be a temporary thing but the money ran out.
Inside though, everything is high-tech and new, with touch-screen consoles for jobseekers to access and all the latest computers for the staff to use, which raised my spirits somewhat as I tend to judge how efficient something is by the state of its tech (the SS office, for example, spent over a year supposedly upgrading its computer systems and look how bad that is).
Waited a short while, then the advisor I was seeing came to get me. There weren't any private offices or anything like that, but we went to the back of the building, which was quiet and rather under-populated. This was the disability advisor's section.
First thing I found out was that I'm not actually due for my Incap check till December of this year, which surprised me as I was sure it would be April. Still, no matter, I could still get all the help I wanted, it just wouldn't be under the 'Pathways to Work' name.
We discussed the types of work I'd like to do (anything but manual, I said, but with emphasis on IT, office, admin and secretarial as I think I'd be good at them - certainly at IT), and the options available to me. There was doing voluntary work, which gets you experience but no cash, 'permitted work', which is under 16 hours a week but you can take home up to £86 on top of your IB, and part-time and full-time. We also discussed CVs, career guidance and the possibility of getting qualifications.
All in all, it wasn't too bad an interview at all. I certainly didn't feel pressured into signing up for anything or dropping my IB to go back to work, and it was made very clear to me that everything would be done at me own pace. I went away with the promise that someone called Samantha would be calling me to help me with writing a CV if I needed one (I freely admit that I can't remember how to do half a CV any more) and with the number of a college scheme that could help me get NVQs or equivalent in IT and web design and/or anything else I thought would be good for possibly getting a career. I'm going to look more into them this evening and possibly call them in the morning.
Now I'm home, tired but not feeling too shell-shocked, and working on Kerry's birthday present - a scarf whose pattern I found in the new knitting partwork I'm collecting. Her birthday's at the end of Febuary; I'm hoping it'll be finished by then...