coach

Jobcentre Plus

My duties as a volunteer at the Jobcentre Plus Newport was to assist claimants in filling out their Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) / Rapid Reclaims on line, as a high percentage of them had not used a computer before. I also assisted in helping claimants in their job search by applying for positions with them on line by attaching a copy of their CV. If however, the claimant did not have a CV and could not prepare one for themselves, I would recommend that they saw our CV/Floor Manager (via their personnel advisor) who would then make an appointment to see him where he would assist in preparing a CV for their universal jobmatch account. The universal jobmatch account was another section I helped claimants set up as this was their day to day electronic diary of what jobs/positions they had applied for and with another section where they would fill out what they did to seek employment. 
In the role of a volunteer, I was helping people that were in a very vulnerable position and would spend a lot of time with those who wanted my assistance by helping them to get back into the work place. I got a lot of satisfaction when helping these people, as they were most grateful for any assistance you would afford them. At the end of my eight-week term, I had gained a lot of respect from many of the claimants and some were sad to see me leave. I had a glowing report from my floor manager when I left and explained that I had left my mark on the department, which was very gratifying as I had only be there for only eight weeks.
Working with the Staff at Newport Jobcentre was of great experience for me as they built up my confidence which I had lost whilst working in my previous employment, I was made to feel a part of the team and just as someone that had come in as an volunteer that may be here for 1 week , 2 or the 8 week period. I owe a lot to the management and staff of the Jobcentre Newport they were great at a time when I was at a low ebb. It has been a long, long time since I wanted to get up in the morning and go to work with a smile on my face knowing my day there would be a fruitful one

In September 2013 I took part in a four week placement within the job centre plus. This was an unpaid position. I took up this opportunity as I felt it would be useful to test my skills and acumen in a different environment in order to help me develop as an individual. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the job centre plus as I realised no two days were ever the same. I particularly enjoyed working in an environment where we dealt with people with a wide variety of backgrounds. Working for job centre left me with a great sense of job satisfaction as I could see first-hand the positive impact the job centre had on the lives on individuals using the service. 

My main role was to provide additional support to the qualified advisors as well as helping signing team and floor managing duties. I worked side by side with them every day before the job centre opened in order to prepare everything to ensure the day would run smoothly when the customers would arrive.

 Once customers arrived it would be my responsibility to guide them to the correct advisors. After this I would be required to collect all their documents once signed and then I would organise and separate all documents and take them over to the correct processing teams. Whilst working here I also would look on at how the other advisors would objection handle and deal with customers who were either being aggressive or were not happy with their situation.

 This was of great benefit to me as I learnt that it is important to be assertive and I also understood how you can show customers the positives in a negative situation, it also showed me that it was important to build relationships with customers which in turn will result in gaining customers trust and all this contributes to positive outcomes for all parties involved. On the whole I feel that the benefits and experience I gained from this placement were extremely beneficial to myself and my development as an individual and I took on board feedback that I will carry with me in the future to other job roles.

Sometimes you get to make a real difference to people, but that is if you go against what the JCP is asking of you, which is to push lots of people into work and not really consider their extenuating circumstances. Ethically I didn't like having to affect peoples wellbeing and income by sanctioning them when they couldn't attend appointments due to being single parents or sick etc. A lot of people here just sanction the most vulnerable people for fun. It is good money for what it is but the training does not cover what the role entails and the job is learned as you are thrown into appointments. The management here is also something to be looked at: my first 6 months I was bullied along with many other colleagues by someone who was promoted to be the SEO's pet project. They had over 30 grievances against them and JCP thought the solution to this would be to relocate them from a smaller JCP to one of the largest in the company... Not a great move as we lost many employees in that time due to harassment from a grown man. I don't personally think I align with the ethic here as many people here work with a bias towards claimants. The best moments I had were when I got to meaningfully engage and empathise with people during their struggles but this is not the role. I would say if you can work as a drone pushing policy you don't agree with in the real world, and if you can handle incompetent management you'll succeed here. Some people have been here 25 years plus but others generally leave within their first 6-12 months so turnover is very high. Government budget cuts mean there is no overtime anymore, no progression due to recruitment freezes and the merging of benefits to UC means there is almost no space to book people into limited diaries; and on top of this we have to meet crazy targets. There is almost no communication across both floors and every work coach works with their own understanding, flawed or otherwise. It really was not for me but a good learning experience as to what the most vulnerable people in the city have to go through to get financial support. 

I did a work placement at the job centre on a voluntary basis - it was offered to me by my work coach for some experience in an admin and office based role and this was something I was interested in. 
I loved my time there - a typical day would include me updating the current vaccancies on a daily basis and making a list for the customers who were to come in for interviews that day. I would give a copy to each work coach and leave one on the leaflet and information table. I would then assist all the work coaches when they needed me to do IT tasks like printing and such like. On some days I would also have to make phone calls to customers to remind them of group sessions they had to attend that week. I would also print out documents to leave on the tables for customers to look at when they were waiting for work coaches to be ready to take their appointments. Assisting customers with IT was also part of my job - I would assist with everything from signing up for new benefits, to job serches, CVs, applications etc. 
My management was always very friendly and I was always given time to work on a program called My World of Work and improve my own skill set and I was given time to make my own CV and work on my own applications for jobs. 
Everyone in the office worked well together - everyone spoke to each other and myself with respect and it made it an enjoyable and fairly quiet place to work. 
The hardest part of the job for me was just seeing the people who would come in that were clearly struggling and having a hard time in life - however they always left with some form of a solution and feeling much better than when they came in. 
The most enjoyable part of the job for me was honestly all of it. I enjoyed everything from the quiet individual admin tasks to assisting and being able to help others whether that be work coaches needing admin tasks completed form them or customers who needed IT help and help with completing important applications and forms. 

I begin my day my looking at the appointments that i have for the day ahead and looking at each customers file to see what i will be doing with them before they arrive. such referring the customer to get a c.v complied, looking for courses such as basic English and Maths and any other opportunities that might be available to meet the needs of the customers. Once this has been done i get the customer labour market units which is needed as they may have to sign for thier benefits or sign for a letter, this is prove that they have come in just in case i have to do decision making action. Decision making action could be done for a variety of different reason such as customers is not looking forn work but still claiming benefits. After i have organised myself for the day ahead i start seeing my customer back to back which involves me aksing them what have they been doing to look for work, how can i help them become more labour market ready such as referral to training providers and so forth. The hardest part of the job is in making the customers relaise that if they are not actively seeking work their benefits wikll stop which causes all sorts of problems with other benefits that they might claim. The most enjoyable part if managing my caseloads and learning about new schemes that are available to the customers. I learn each day from what is available and also my the customers attitude to work and training. Many customers to have a much more positive attitude once they have completed a course as they feel more job ready.

Currently, a typical day in my role includes diary management where I preview new claims for benefit, mainly Jobseekers Allowance claims, where I go over PDF files to make sure the correct and key details have been gathered by the call centre.

I have learned to priotise workloads, time manage my diary, multi task and be able to help make effiecency savings within my job role.

Management have been decent, although, with austerity measures, conditions have been in decline, with numbers of staff slowly decresing over time.  

Co workers are excellent, the main reason for me in my job is to get on with my work colleages.  We have a great work and life balance within the office and do organise many a great social events.

The hardest part of the job? Quite difficult, but would say when providing front desk cover, having to deal with vulnerable customers where they are visibly in a state where they are homeless, possibly not eaten for days, or may be on some form of drink or drugs and are having difficulty letting go.  Or it may be an eldrly individual, who is suffering from cold weather, or may just be looking to talk to someone because they are lonely.

It is a harsh environment at times, but equally when you are able to help someone genuinely in need, the feeling is also satisfying in the fact that you have been able to do your job correctly, follow the appropriate channels and help achieve a certain target.

I personally carried out many roles while working for DWP, I was working with customers mainly on phones, whether it be to take new claims for a benefit or doing a job search or a loan application. I learned how to deal with customers from all walk of life, my communication skills have exceeded while working as a contact centre adviser.
  I have undertaking management roles also which required me to train and develop not only my skills but also of the agents i was managing, I would take meeting and complete minutes after the meeting to send out to agents. I would advise agents how to hit their required targets. 
A hard part of the job is not being able to help a customer as much as you want to i.e debts too high to get loan, but the hardest part was going between job roles, from managing, training and taking disciplinary action on agents to the next week being the same role as them and making sure my role within the department is understood by agents
 The people I work with are amazing, they make the job worth while, they are always up for a laugh as well as getting the jobs done. I love working with people in general. I am very customer focused and people orientated, I have learned to work within a team and on own initiative.

My main duties were helping the customers with IT support and explaining how to use the hardware and software that was used at Job Centre Plus. I had to explain how to use Technology to adults who had difficulty using computers or little experience of computers in their working life.

I enjoyed doing this because I learned how to break up a complicated subject and learnt how to explain it in a way that was universally understood. I learnt how to interact with customers in a friendly and professional way which improved my confidence in approach and talking to others.

My manager  was an inspiring figure, she would find out how to balance her work load while showing hospitality to guests by preparing hot beverages at the same time.

I enjoyed talking and conversing with the Co-Workers of JCP because they taught me what I needed to know if I was to help customers. And at the same time they gave valued life advice as to where I want my career to go.

The hardest part of the job was teaching those who had difficulties learning how to use a computer. Especially when there were multiple people to teach and only one me. But the trouble was worth it because when the day ended I felt satisfied knowing that I had helped others.

Overview of previous and current employment
Easton Jobcentreplus, Stapleton rd, Easton, Bristol BS5 6NR

I had been wanting to get back into office work for some time with the emphasis on gaining unemployment benefit or housing benefit knowledge, I have been in this position in excess of 6 years now, also I have now gained the knowledge originally required. My roles have included the signing of customers on a weekly/ fortnightly basis, asking various questions as to ascertain if they had done any work paid or unpaid, what they had done to try and secure work, I have my own caseload of intensive jobseekers, my role was to try and help them to find suitable work, I also took crisis loans and assisted floor staff at busy times. I am required to give and work 1 month notice.

Overall I have considerable experience of staff development, customer satisfaction, money handling, cash reconciliation, profit margins, dealing with representative and obtaining the best deals whilst running companies for myself and others, I have a lot to offer my next employer, which hopefully, will be yourselves.
At this stage, I would prefer non contact with my current employer until a position is offered, and then, only on my acceptance of that position

This position was/is only short term and is work experience based mostly. My shift is only four hours per day and during this time I am expected to maintain a clean and tidy work area, greet members of the public and assist them with ising the local system IT equipment.
  
  The management are very helpful and if there is something I am unsure of they will be on hand to help. My fellow work experience co-workers were also helpful, pleasant, enthusiastic and welcoming.

  The most difficult part of the job for me would have been learning to deal with members of the public as this was something I had not done for a long time, though i settled back into a customer service role with relative ease and fortunately all the customers under my supervision were well-mannered, patient and appreciative.

  I enjoyed the whole experience and although each of my varied responsibilities came with their respective pros and cons, I would have to say that the most enjoyable part of the job for me was working with electronics and IT systems. I have always ejoyed working with my mind and electronics and IT have always interested me greatly.

Working at Jobcentre Plus: company overview and reviews

Jobcentre Plus

Jobcentre Plus ratings

Popular jobs at Jobcentre Plus

Salary satisfaction

Jobseeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected