Jobcentre plus.......

[KeithD]

Plenty of jobs in the bailiff sector

[Arthur Little]

I agree that many who attend the Jobcentre+ are "not a pretty sight". Having retired early from full-time work, I had the misfortune of being compelled to go along to one of these places once a fortnight to 'sign on' in order to keep up my National Insurance Credits. Moreover, the fact that I was the recipient of a reasonable occupational pension from my former long-term employers, meant I wasn't eligible for Jobseekers Allowance.

Oh how I hated the whole experience ...! Even though I always took care to dress in a manner befitting someone in his late 50s [as I was then] it did not detract from my feelings of self-consciousness at having to stand in a queue (consisting mainly of either youngsters or semi-inebriates) waiting to be seen by a member of staff who barely looked up from his/her desk as each client approached. Then, one day, I found myself face-to-face with a young clerkess who actually listened to my "moans and groans" and suggested I write to the Pensions Service in Newcastle for a revised assessment of my "contributions" to date. Lo and behold, within three weeks, I discovered I'd already earned enough "stamps" [40 years' worth] to qualify for the basic State Pension at age sixty-five. And to think all it needed was a sympathetic ear and the caring attitude of one young woman (bless her!) to release me from such bondage and say "ta ta" to the Jobcentre Plus!!