On the Dole and don't care..

Doley

Iv'e been on and off the dole now since early 2009, claiming for about 18 of those months. Frankly, I haven't been looking for a job since i signed back on because after everything iv'e tried i cannot go through another phone call saying "we'll keep your C.V on file". I'm in my early 20's, have a completed leaving cert and am currently in a one year college course but I was never good at school and never had any interest in it and the course I'm in now really is not going that great and I don't think i'm going to get much from it.

It isn't really as I put that I 'don't care' but in the two years that i have been on the dole not one person, letter or phone call has been put forward to ask me am I looking for work, what i'm doing etc. and this is what I think is a disgrace. People complain about people being on the dole, sitting on their arses not looking for a Job, drinking all the tax payers money away, but what are people supposed to do when basically they don't have a clue what to do about getting a job anymore and can't bare the embarrassment of being told no over and over again? There are so many things to be finished in Ireland like unfinished buildings etc. that they could get people on the dole to do but no one is doing anything about us and we're left to just live off the tax payer and write our name down on a sheet once a month.

I have a lot of hobbies which fill up most of my time and I don't smoke and rarely drink alcohol so I'm not completely wasting my life and the tax payers money but I do want to get a good job at some point and start paying tax back but since I have not that much work experience and no college degree when were in an economy where people with Bachelors Degrees are having to apply for a Job in McDonalds I just don't know what is going to happen in the future and at the same time, noone is asking me have I been looking!

If some of you were in the position I am in what would you do? and how do you feel about my views on the subject? Please be blunt but more importantly be factual and don't be a dick!

Firey redhead

What are you interested in doin? What are you passionate about?

I'm in my mid thirtys and it's only NOW that I really know what I want to do with myself. I've been workin since I left school but they were only jobs, nothing that I loved to do.. I've applied for a college place this Sept and hopefully I'll get it and start my career. Instead of going to the "other" section on the jobs sites I'll be able to go to a certain title.

try find what it is that interests you, gets you goin etc

Doley

Iv'e played music my hole life and that is the only thing I'm really good at but when I say that to people they say "Do a course in it!" but I really feel a hole lot worse being in college than just doing my own thing. It just annoys me how there is noone checking up on people on welfare to see what any of us are doing or helping them get off it.

I feel quite insecure on it at times, that they might shut me off at any moment and I would have nothing but it seems the only thing they care about is you arriving at the dole office on your sign on day, once a month to let them know your still alive. I just don't know what were supposed to be doing! "Looking for a job, duh" but what do I do when none of that works and you just feel like another meaningless 0.00001% of the unemployed population.

The only reason I really want to get off welfare is pretty much the moral aspect, i don't mind living cheaply or being "poor", there are obviously millions of people out there a lot worse off than me but what help to the system is it really going to be if I'm scanning items in Dunnes Stores rather than recieving welfare payments? I'd only be getting a little bit more money, which I don't need desperatley. The only thing I hear from people is, i'm looking for work, i'm looking for something to do.. In what way is there any motivation for people to want to get a job?

Animal_

Could you do something in music? depending on what you play. Could you start a group and work any old job part time. for now to bring in some cash

But yeah I suppose finding any old job is a problem in the times we live in..

Maybe focus on the music if you really like it and see what you can come up with and try get any job to help you get by.

Ammsy500

Why not join a choir where you can play music or some kind of music group? Stay positive anyway as you said your in your early 20s I know many people who are only finding their career path who are just approaching 30.

But I completly agree with you with how bad our welfare system is. Im on the dole since September first time Ive ever been on it and hopefully the last time when I finaly get a job (easier said than done in this climate). There is really nothing there to help anybody like Fas is just a joke. I went to a back to work 'talk' they held and I was thinking great hoping it would be an informative talk but it ended up being a two people at the top of a room reading from a power point presentation and I mean reading from the page :rolleyes: They could have just sent us a leaflet it was that pointless! I than had a meeting with a lady at fas a few days later which was basically a way to make Fas and the goverment look good making out that their dealing with the problem when in fact no one is taking hold of this problem and dealing with it. And your right all these ghost estates that are left delapidated while there is so many labourers unemployed its just stupid.

Firey redhead

Try not to focus on it too much, that the way the system is and that's why it gets screwed over so much. That's why everyone from other countries flock here because they can claim the money and not get watched..

Put your energy into something else, find a group to play your music with and concentrate on that for a while.

Doley

Yes I mean I could concentrate more on trying to make something out of music and maybe find a Job that would support that, maybe make an album or something. I'm sorry iv come across so depressed btw, I just wanted to see if the problem that people who are in my position are being addressed, and it's quite clear that it's not. I feel like I might just go into the dole office and say "Tell me to do something else, because i'm not looking for a job!"
Although I feel like they might cancel my payments, i mean do we have any rights when we're on it anyway? I think I'm just a bit down with this college course because I have a lot of assignments that are overdue and I feel like i'm never going to get them done and I then feel like i'm just going to be on the dole my life or just have a really crappy job cause I'm not academic.

bmarley

I assume if you are doing a college course you are not actually on the dole but are on BTEA which amounts to much the same thing. Maybe your'e under pressure at the moment as the end of college year is fast approaching which means submitting work and exam pressures. I would say stick with it if you have gone this far as qualifications may come in useful in your future, even if you do not think they are relevant for the here and now. Unfortunately, our dole system makes it too easy for people stay in a rutt and encourages lack of ambition. Many find that it dosen't pay to get a job as they lose out on entitlements such as housing entitlement and medical cards etc. With petrol costs rising, people are not prepared to travel as far in terms of employment. The fas system in general is a sham and urgently needs to be changed. Their site is full of job vacancies in the form of work placements, which are an insult to people's intelligence.

line6

like yourself, op, i am a musician on the dole but will soon be signing off

in april i will be in spain playing music in an irish bar - now it's not the sort of music i particularly want to do, and i will be using backing tracks and that is against my principles and taste

nonetheless i am looking forward to it because i feel pretty much the same way as yourself about the dole thing

pm me if you want any information on how to go about doing this

Animal_

Doley I smell a Troll, can you smell anything there?

Mr. Presentable

OP, if you are not prepared to learn you are fooked. As I see it you have not even bothered to learn to write English in a half decent way, so either you are a troll or indeed are fooked.

Doley

Well im not a troll, and my english writing might be bad because of dyslexia ; I just wanted to show that nothing is being done to facilitate people in helping them get off the dole and find a job. The only thing the government are doing are making things more expensive and cutting our benfits short

Animal_

Doley, why would anyone be asking you to get off your ass and get a job when you are in a one year college course.

So you are on the BTEA then I take it, its not the dole..

Or else you are on the dole and doing a college course that the social welfare office is unaware of.