Situation with a job centre work coach

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roku767

Creativeboy23 wrote: »

During an appointment with my work coach, I felt deeply uncomfortable and unfairly judged by the work coach’s remarks. She assessed my length of unemployment and brought up my age and said employers would not be happy to hear that I am "sitting and doing nothing". She said that I need to undertake training. The comments felt like a broad and negative generalisation about young people and those who are unemployed. I have been actively volunteering until January of this year and have been diligently searching and applying for jobs. Her remark implied a lack of effort on my part simply due to my age. This felt condescending and disregarded my proactive steps towards securing employment.

The work coach asked if I wanted to do a role that is completely misaligned with my skills, interests, and career aspirations. I felt pressured to agree to this suggestion, as it seemed implied that I should accept any job due to my current unemployment period.

The work coach commented that my long-term career goals and my ideas for short-term roles were "niche." This felt like a direct criticism of my aspirations and efforts to identify suitable employment options. Her statement was surprising and discouraging, reinforcing a feeling of being personally judged and isolated in my job search. I felt that the work coach's comments were ungrateful for the effort I have already invested in my job search. Furthermore, her implication that securing even short-term roles would be straightforward failed to acknowledge the current competitive job market. Her overall tone was discouraging and undermined my confidence in my job search efforts. In conclusion, the interaction with the work coach today left me feeling discouraged, judged, and misunderstood.

The situation with my work coach has had a lasting impact ever since. Anytime, I am searching for work, it brings up memories of the situation and the feelings I felt at the time. I know the work coach’s comments likely were well intentioned but they really upset me.

That work coach was way out of line. It’s not okay to talk down to someone trying their best, especially when you’ve been putting in the effort. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for having career goals that don’t fit into their box. Their job is to support you, not belittle you. You're allowed to want more than just “any job”, that’s not being picky, it’s knowing your worth.

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Sian321

@Creativeboy23 , how are you feeling this afternoon? Thank you so much for making this post and for opening up about what happened during your conversation with your work coach. I really hear just how discouraged, judged, and misunderstood the interaction left you feeling, and how judgemental their comments seemed.

It sounded as though they approached you with a lot of assumptions and generalisation, and I can imagine that feeling hurtful and condercending, esspecially when you've been volunteering and working so diligently to apply for jobs in this current job-climate.

How have you been feeling since this occasion?

I wonder if there is anything we could do to support you around this, for example, to share resources of other organisation that offer career and job-seeking support? We're here if that would be useful!

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