My job provider wants me to look for more jobs and I' m not coping

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi,

Not entirely sure where to put this but hopefully someone can relate.

I'm with a DES (Disability employment service) and have quite a few health issues and mental health issues. So when I got assessed by Centrelink they set me at 8 hours per week, which seemed okay because I do want to work.

But I've had a really rough time applying for jobs. I live in the city and our public transport is horrible, so without a drivers license something that's 15 minutes drive can take 2 hours to get there, and then a lot of the jobs that I like need a car anyway. Initially I wanted to do something in mental health like peer support or support work, but at this stage I'm open to anything. I've applied for receptionist jobs as well, but everything seems to be a very competitive industry.

Overall, it's pretty defeating and it gets me down, but now they've bumped up my job hunt from 8 to 15, and it feels rather daunting. I've even relapsed into depression which is really hard.

Is there anyone else in the same position? How do you cope with the job hunt when it all feels so overwhelming at times?

rt

[Cee123]

I have an auntie who's been through a cancer diagnosis - breast cancer. And she's 56. She's had chemotherapy and everything. She can't work. She's on chemo tablets that make her fatigued, her bones ache all the time, she suffers from arthritis, she's got a bad back. And now she's suffers from anxiety, depression and insomnia as well. And she can't get disability. They say she's not "disabled enough". They keep putting her on jobseeker. The doctor keeps writing exemptions for it. But she still can't get the disability pension. It just shows you that the system is an absolute joke. It's broken and it's in dire need of fixing. This isn't a system that helps people, this is a system that makes things worse. I also have an uncle who's trying to get the pension now because he's 65 and they give it to him but he gets much less than he should because his wife works one day 3 hours a week and also because his wife they say can work. They harass him and make him come in there all the time. And he has to go in there every fortnight to take her pay slips as well and notify them how much she earns etc. He's saying he's depressed now as well. 

[white knight]

Hi Cee,

This is a very good thread for those seeking work with health , transport or other restrictions.

My attitude, hones from many years in the workforce (42, retired now for 8 years) in many fields including Government positions and have rejected mini corruption in one period and fought it. Here is my view.

Workplaces and Government agencies have their rules. Mostly these rules are implemented to safeguard against fraud. I was a PI for 18 years seeking out fraud, I know how wide spread it is. Those that seek fraud spoil it for the honest ones, those honest see the rules as unwarranted but rules are like a blanket, they cover everyone. Behind some eyes there is darkness, the authorities cannot distinguish the difference.

So I call this "playing the game". It means - give them what they want even though it seems stupid or annoying and doesnt make sense. These employment agencies want to get their contract renewed next time it comes around so they can stay in a job, that means getting good results, that means getting as many people employed as they can, that means pressurizing the likes of you to push yourself. It could also mean raising your hours to be required to work and so on. Once you've worked in such an environment of private industry in contract with the Govt, you'll see it clearer.

Eg I was for 6 years a security guard at a major defence facility. I manned a boom gate. I had a small toilet sized box to stand in, a sentry box previously used for a soldier. There was no fences at all. So this boom gate stopped car along a road. If someone want to they could walk 200 metres away from me and enter the area. Effectively my role was pointless against intruders. But it satisfied the Govt contract and kept me earning income. Other complained of its stupidity, I didnt because "I played their game".

With seeking employment and say, you are offered a job in a location you cannot possibly transport to then the best response is to ask questions to the agency eg "I'd love that job, can you suggest to me how I am able to get there and back"?

Such an answer might surpise. "Oh, you havent got a car have you" People can overlook your situation, they deal with hundreds of clients.

"You can try public transport" to which you reply "can you help me find some"? This will find them facing reality of say 2 hours travel a day one way...obviously not sustainable.

Play the game, the game designed not to care for people but to prevent fraud.

TonyWK

[white knight]

Hi RT and Cee,

Re: Cee said "I just know for a fact I'm not going to get a job anywhere."

I do understand you. Better to say "I'm going to find it near impossible to find a job but I'll never give up".

The fact is, life is hard. We have the passing of friends and family, health battles, bills to pay, insufficient income, conflicts etc. Thankfully we dont have a world war corrently. Imagine being 17yo in 1915 and sent to war in muddy trenches? Horror!

Once we focus on how terrible life can be, we can then feel some gratitude for what our own challenges are today.

In 1992 I was retrenched from Telstra after only 3 years. I sat on my porch thinking of what I was going to do to get work. So I had a trailer, lawn mower and whipper snipper. I knocked on 1000 doors in my small town. I returned home, my wife asked "so how many jobs did you get"? ..""none " I replied. "well, that's the end of that idea" she said...."No, I'll do it all again in a weeks time".

I then got 12 clients, enough work to supplement the dole, my first objective. 6 months later an old back injury flared up and I sold that business for a good profit. I then bought a ride on mower and built a locomotive on top of it plus two carriages and a red caboose. I could take 19 children and me as driver. I took it to shows and made a lot of money. Between shows I'd build cubby houses in bright colours raised on stilts on my front yard. I sold 10-12 a year.

Yes, I'm a handyman type, not everyone is, but I'm trying to demonstrate the positivity in never giving up. Patting yourself on the back helps, boost your own self esteem. Dont stop thinking about ways to get work. Doing voluntary work can help a lot, someone might see you and talk to you then offer you work based on that work.

Talking helps. In that 2 years unemployed a concreter was laying a slab next door. I spoke to him and offered him my water hose. Over lunch I told him my plight not getting work. Two weeks later he won a contract doing road pipe installations, I got 3 months work.

Attend motivation lectures.

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/30-minutes-can-change-your-life

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/the-best-praise-you'll-ever-get#qiHfqnHzvGGEbv8AAOnT_A

TonyWK

[Cee123]

Right, so don't question the legitimacy of the rules. Just follow.

Got it.

[white knight]

You can question the legitimacy of the rules Cee, then you open yourself up to more anxiety, fight on with zero chance of accomplishing anything and take up time and brain space when it could be filled with things worthwhile.

A choice really.

TonyWK

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Cee123,

My job provider is actually JobLife! I've been with a few, like Sureway and Campbell Page, but I've never heard of those ones. Good on you for ringing them though, I've been battling about whether to try and change again or if it's just 'they're all like that'. Although I guess everyone is different. I hope APM is good.

I'm sorry to hear about your auntie- there's this massive irony in being 'too disabled' to work and 'not disabled enough' to get the DSP. I've heard a few horror stories as well- there's like no empathy there at all.

I struggle a lot with my mental health (anxiety, depression, trauma) but they have this idea that with therapy it can all go away and be fine, not really caring about what happens in the meantime. Then I went through a stage where I struggled with seizures multiple times a week, and hey, surely there's meds for that so I'd be fine too. It's so flawed.

rt

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi TonyWK,

I really do love that you are so positive and optimistic. I get that you can relate with not having a job and how difficult that can be.

I suppose it's just hard for me (and Cee123) when you have CL on your back about finding work. Sometimes I just feel like if CL could cut us some slack and acknowledge how hard it is sometimes it would make all the difference.

I haven't given up- I still want work, but damn is it defeating sometimes, and when I'm already trying to deal with my own mental illness it feels a little like icing on the cake.

A couple of weeks ago my job agency asked how I was going looking for jobs and when I said some of them were far away, she said "well obviously you don't want it enough" and talked about how some people drive hours to work. For me making this post is just sharing how hard it is, even if I'm still meeting the rules and ticking the boxes.

rt

[white knight]

Hi RT

Oh yes, the agencies side of the game isn't to be understanding nor reasonable- they offer you work 2 hours drive away...theyve fulfilled their role...more ticking the boxes for centrelink.

In that case when they say "you obviously don't want the job enough, people drive hours to work" you can reply "so can you explain how you can drive without a car/license/with seizures "?

Put it back on them with questions.

It would be too sarcastic ask "how many hours do you drive to work".

Turning the tables with questions often works

TonyWK

[Cee123]

I absolutely agree with everything you said, and can relate completely with what you're going through. I do think they've attacked the system too much (this federal government) and pulled it apart too much, and trying to get everyone into work which is not realistic. When there are quite a few people, who quite obviously, for obvious reasons are not capable of working. I just can't understand why they can't see that. People are stuck in a system where they're unable to work, but they are unable to qualify for disability, being completely stuck in limbo, drifting and unable to do anything about it. Just drifting through a system that, at the end of the day, lacks empathy and isn't helping anybody.

[Cee123]

Is that what she said to you? Wow, unbelievable. Doesn't sound like a very good job provider. I hope they don't stick me with them. On their website it says they match them with understanding employers and cater to the needs of each individual with a disability. But it doesn't sound like that's what they do. And why should you be forced to take a job that doesn't cater to your needs. To be fair, I wouldn't want a job that's 2 hours away either. How is that good for anyone who has mental health challenges? They can keep it.