Not to long ago I told you all that I got randomly selected for the Derbyshire Mandatory Youth Activity Programme and that I wasn't very happy with this because I was blackmailed into thinking I would be free of any more of these courses that the JobCentre would direct me too. The Princes Trust Course Turned out to be a great experience but this other one I just knew would have been bad. The main aim of the course being to get involved helping out the community. I myself, am already a volunteer for The British Heart Foundation and in a way was quite offended that I should be doing more. Generally, I guess this course is aimed at people that do nothing whist on JSA who are people I frown upon. I'm not saying everyone that does it is lazy but, it seems that what the 'course' suggests.
I never did really explain fully about the course content. Basically, for eight weeks you will be sent to a charity organisation and work with them for that amount of time whilst receiving help job searching for a couple of hours a week. I think my message is getting more and more clearer of why I though this was all a waste of time but, hey. Now, to explain the good news.
Not long ago, I had an interview at the ESSO Petrol Station on Nottingham Road, Ilkeston. I have had an interview for work there before so the manager knew my name and to my amazement remembered me. The interview went really well and he told me that if I have been succesful I would hear back from him within a couple of days. On Thursday, mid whist I was running around like a headless chicken on behalf of the stupid DMYAP I had a call just before ten in the morning from the manager of the Petrol Station asking for my National Insurance Number. Lets just say things we looking up at this point. Later on in the day he called me back to tell me that he wants me to pop in so that he can tell me the good news. I was ecstatic. I might not have shown it but, this really lightened my mood from all of the stress the JobCentre had put me under.
The next day, I wandered down to 'Work Pays' which is the most ironic name for the company that provides the DMYAP course and I basically told them the good news. I was also told that I was very good at keeping in contact with them, I just kind of thought to myself that it was mostly because the office was just down the road from where I live but at least I got a compliment out of them in saying I am more organised than them. Before my second to last PassPlus lesson, I drove up to the Ilkeston Jobcentre to tell them I could no longer do the programme. At first I thought the adviser I had the meeting with was going to say that I couldn't not do it. Not as a general assumption either, he displayed that in his knowledge I would still have to do the DMYAP. This made me nervous for a second but, then he wandered off to talk to two other members of staff that went on to say that if it is going to benefit me more that it is allowed. I'm just glad I'm nearly rid of them.
One thing that has annoyed me is that for my training, the JobCentre will still be paying me JSA as if I was on WORK EXPERIENCE. The thing is, I'm not on work experience, I'm on training and they will take it under their statistic that another young person has gained employment through me doing 'work experience' though the 'JobCentre' when really it's all a lie. I found this job myself and I do feel like they are taking away a part of my independence by partially claiming that they found this for me. At the end of the day, I'm just another false statistic they will use to encourage someone else to do work experience and it is still all good news.
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