A4E – The Initial Interview.

Initially I was going to try and cover this in one post, however it would be quite long, so I’ve decided to split it into three seperate posts:

• A4E – The Initial Interview. [This Post]
• Claiming back Travel Costs – Both from External Providers, and the Jobcentre itself.
• A4E – Online Assessments & Communities.

Once all the posts are created, I’ll edit the above list, to point to each post

As detailed a few posts down, Monday saw me up nice and early, ready to attend my local A4E Branch, for my initial interview. I had a phonecall the Friday before my appointmennt, asking if it would be possible to reschedule the appoitment to a slightly different time, so after an extra 45 minutes in bed, I arrived, open-minded, though with a cautious sense of scepticism, based on a combination of previous exerpences with JobCentre mandated Training Programmes, and having read some of the horror stories about A4E on the internet – Would this be another horror story in the making…?

To be totally honest, I’m still not entirely sure what to make of the whole process – First things first, the actual interview process. The first problem I had came with the  induction paperwork, as it asks to put forward a Next of Kin – Unfortunately I can’t actually put anyone forward for this, but, unlike past New Deal Providers who have asked, in my opinion, some quite rude questions about this “How come – Why haven’t you got a family member you can put forward”, the person I spoke to was understanding about it, and told me not to worry about it.

After filling out all the paperwork, I actually got to meet my “Career Coach” who I’ll have contact with for the next 12 months “Even if you get a job – You can’t get rid of me!“, which is a tad worrying, but I guess that’s due to a funding issue (Cynical old me ). Once the interview got started, my FND Advisor (I’m sorry, I don’t believe in the concept of a Career Coach, so I’m not going to refer to the member of A4E that I’ll be working with, as such, and instead sticking with FND Advisor) told me a little bit about what the whole FND Programme is all about. And it’s at this point, where I’m slightly unsure as to the process. I’ll bullit point some of the main points, then expand upon them in greater detail.

• The FND (Flexible New Deal) Programme lasts for 52 weeks. Even if I get a job next month, I’ll still “have contact” with A4E, until October 2010.
• Unlike New Deal, which involved going to an external provider (such as PPDG who I experienced last time), every day of the week, for xx months, A4E want me to attend “For a few hours / half a day”, Every two weeks.
• “There aren’t any fixed jobsearch targets – I.E. Apply for X Amount of Jobs Each Day”

The Programme lasts for 52 Weeks – Even if you get a job.

This is something that’s only going to come up, if I’m fortunate enough to get back into work, however it is a little bit worrying. While I’m all for supporting people when they get back into work (and I’ve got no doubt I’ll need a few pointers, especially with regards to ensuring that when I come off JSA and HB, I do so in a way that means I won’t run short of money until pay day), I think this should be under the agreement of both parties – Once I’m back into work, and settled, then as far as I’m concerned, I should be able to at that point “cut off all contact”, both with the Jobcentre, and A4E, and get on with things.

Attend once every two Weeks “For a few hours, or perhaps half a day”

This one is quite interesting, and one that might cause a few raised eyebrows, when people find out about it. Under the “Original” New Deal (from a Jobcentre POV – not the R00sevelt Original ), at least from my experience, it was broken up into a series of different “Stages”, however, ultimately, it just involved sitting in an overcrowded room, with appalling facilities, applying sometimes for any random job, in order to ensure that I met the mythical “Jobsearch target”.

However, when it comes to A4E – at least based on what I was told, it appears they’re taking a different approach. Because you still have to sign-on whilst on FND, they’re leaving the Jobsearch “responsibility” to the Jobcentre – which in a way makes sense. In order to be eligible for JobSeekers Allowance, you have to meet the qualifying criteria, one of which is that you’re actively seeking work – So I guess,  what A4E are saying is “If you’re still signing on, then you’re obviously meeting the JobCentres requirements when it comes to looking for work, which is good enough for us”.

Also from my point-of-view, I’m not sure exactly what A4E can do for me (nor are they – more on that later), but I do know, that sitting around in a room all day, is a fast track to losing all motivation, so at least this way it’s only for a limted period.

However, for people “on the outside, looking in”, I can understand that this approach is going to raise a few eyebrows. A4E aren’t exactly offering this “service” for free – they’re gettig quite a lot of money from the DWP, and by extension, the tax payer, and so the fact people are “only” expected to attend once every two weeks, is going to raise questions about what exactly they’re going to achieve with such limited contact.

There aren’t any fixed jobsearch targets.

I kinda made reference to this when addressing the last point, and while it’s a good thing, I’m still not sure exactly what’s expected of me, while I’m on FND. I’ve been given two “targets” to achieve before my next appointment (November 3rd) – bring a CV into the meeting, and complete a 107 Question online assessment (more on that later), but other than that, I’m not sure what’s required of me, other than the obvious – attend all the appointments, be respectful, etc, etc, which are all requirements of being a decent person day to day, so they’re not exactly difficult. To be fair, however, I’ve only been to one appointment, so there’s always the possibility that I’ll find out more as the “Journey” progresses.

So after being told a few details about FND, and how it differs from the “traditional” New Deal, we came to what I always refer to as the “Interesting” point of any interview, especially when it comes to this kind of situation

“Why do you think you’re unemployed – What can we do to help you?“

At this point I told my Advisor about my background, my criminal record, my working restrictions, and my aim for the future. Now in the past, when I’ve done this I’ve noticed a look of horror, then depression, appear on peoples faces, before being told “Well OK – We’ll sort you out”. Then, for the next 3 – 6 months, I sit in a corner “Jobsearching”, and not getting any support from advisors.

Well this time round I got both looks, but then everything went off-script:

“*Sigh* – You’re gonna be a bit fucking difficult aren’t you? – Well OK, not to worry. What I think we’ll do, is wait until you finish with Probation & The Police, then we’ll look into what we can do for you”

“But I don’t finish with them until March – What happens until then?”

“We’ll find something for you to do – don’t worry about it”.

That was basically it – I was supposed to complete a 107 question Assessment, however because I can’t use their computer facilities, I’ve had to do that at home (and what fun that was – so fun in fact, that it’s warranted a post of its own).

So whilst I’m not exactly concerned, I AM slightly confused. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to be offered to me, in terms of support, what I’m going to be expected to do, every two weeks, or what the consequences would be, should I not. However, I will say that I appreciated the way I was treated by the staff, everyone seemed friendly enough, and open-minded, and with regards the difficulty my background presents, well I appreciate the honesty.

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