If ever you've dealt with Australia's 'employment' services, you know just how frustrating, if not totally pointless it is.
They know you need a job. You know you need a job - but if you have no job, you are public enemy no. 1.
And that leads us to my first point. The type of people you will find at these places.
Since they know you are not in a position of power and indeed vulnerable, they will be quick to wield whatever power they think they have and eventually come at you with threats, like cutting your payment.
They rely entirely on negative reinforcement.
You will most likely find that they are women. Nothing wrong with that. But as is the case with young women, especially where this may be their first office job, they will develop a sense of 'holier than thou' especially if you are an unemployed male.
If you are an elderly unemployed female, they will quickly sniff out the power dynamic there, too.
And it does not matter if you are more qualified than they are. You could have been an architect, now newly unemployed, or from some other respected profession, and they will immediately try to shoehorn you in to serving coffee.
They definitely do not want you earning more than they are.
More often than not though, their time working at these places will be somewhat limited, since people with a shred of heart will quickly find themselves pushed out.
There is an awful lot of 'churn'.
And believe it or not, these become competitive-yet-petty places to work, and there is a level of backstabbing amongst themselves. Those that stay on usually become an office 'Queen Bee' - it is the Queen Bee you must be wary off.
You may feel miserable now, but believe me, they are quite dead inside.
I previously mentioned the threats of cutting payments if you do not comply. While this can happen, depending on how big your breach is, don't take it to heart and don't take it personally.
The only ones that can 'cut' the payment are Centrelink themselves. If your payment is 'cut' the first port of call to appeal should be Centrelink directly - the employment services place is a private-for-profit outfit, they are rather hopeless, and will continue on their power trip.
But let's talk about avoiding breaches in the first place and navigating your way through them.
1. Always arrive 15 minutes early - this has two effects - it shows you are punctual, and if they themselves are running late, you sitting in their office looks bad for them. They take it as an annoyance if you are punctual (arriving before appointment time) and almost take it as a personal attack, since they're hoping you will be late so they can give you a red mark on your name. Despite appearances, they don't want to do any actual work themselves.
2. Dress appropriately - do not walk into these places dressed as a slovenly mess. Don't roll in with trackies - at least wear jeans and maybe a dress shirt. Look alive. Cut your hair. Smell nice. Don't let them think you aren't employable. If you at least look employable, they will feel all the more stupid for not being able to get you into employment.
I would even say that how you dress and present yourself more than anything dictates how much meagre respect you might gain from them.
3. If you can choose an appointment time, aim for early Mondays - they're usually hungover, or at least have Mondayitis. Whatever worry they had about you will seem minimal and they will want to get you out of the door as soon as possible. The 'tick and flick' as they themselves call it.
4. Always remain courteous - this is probably the most important point. DO NOT swear or make threats. This is part of their power play. If anything, 'kill' them with kindness. Use very sweet, low, softly spoken tones. Not only will making threats get you a red mark, it will be easier for them to justify to Centrelink that you're a bad seed and impossible to work with. They may escalate to fabricating things you didn't even say or do - don't give them an inch.
In fact, if you know you are going into an appointment where there may be points of conflict, use an audio recording app on your phone and record the appointment just in case a false claim is made against you of bad behaviour.
5. If you are unemployed for a length of time, try to stay with the same job service organisation as long as possible. Soon enough you'll be booted off their system and then have to go back to Centrelink to reapply for a provider. If Centrelink give you a choice of job service provider, go right back to where you came from. Don't try new people - this accomplishes staying familiar with one service and you learn the personalities and dynamics of the office. It also makes them look bad, since you're back after all of that time.
6. They will set you a job search target number. This number may seem high. You need to use the online myGov portal to apply for jobs. If you use places like Seek to apply, you can amass a large number of jobs this way. You can make a folder on your desktop on your PC just labelled 'jobs' and drag and drop the web addresses to this folder. I call this 'caching' jobs, since you can find a large amount to apply for. However, don't apply for them all at once - definitely stagger the number of applications you make across the month.
And it goes without saying - definitely reach the target number, and perhaps even apply for one or two more.
7. As the 'points system' has come in, these job places do even less work, since all they do is choof people off to pointless courses to study. If need be, just do the simplest courses possible. Chances are you are already overqualified for whatever jobs it are you are applying for. Have a masters degree? Do an RSA and leave it at that. Leave it up to them to fret about, since it really is on them to get your points up.
8. If you have a genuine medical condition, obtain a medical certificate from your doctor and consider a work capacity assessment from Centrelink to be placed into the DES stream. This will take away the entire points system and you will only be required to apply for jobs. As it stands, the points system is grossly unfair and hopefully short-lived, but this may buy you some time.
9. If you are ever forced to do some sort of 'job preparation' course, don't be outwardly social with other jobseekers at these. Given how hopeless the social security system really is, many of these people will have addictions or mental health issues. Engaging with these people may be detrimental to your own mental health, as I've found they can have some quite probing personal questions. Do not talk to them outside of the 'classroom' - go elsewhere during breaks and don't loiter with them. Just like job service employees, these people aren't your friends, either.
10. Volunteering may go towards 'points' - this might be something to consider. But don't become free labour for a business, which is undoubtedly what they're looking for. This could lead to a predatory situation, one of the many problems with the 'points' system and Work for the Dole.
They will also from time to time do little psychological plays on you.
More often than not, there will be a 'Queen Bee' in the office who will personally take your appointment one day, and maybe give you a dressing down. You probably won't even realise what this is - this is them fleshing you out and seeing if they can just brute-force you into something using veiled threats. They may even say there's a ticking clock on your benefit - again, don't take this to heart.
This is an unusual technique, but just smile and talk politely. The office Queen Bee usually won't show herself from her cubicle, so if she comes out to see you, take note and be prepared.
Remember, even if you find a job, you still need to turn up to their appointments. Finding a job won't even be the end of it if your salary still needs supplementation from Centrelink; they will still try to make themselves important. They will no doubt start making appointments during your work hours to create conflict and demand payslips.
So be prepared for things to get weirder.
Don't let them offer to pay for shoes or a uniform - this will just be the cheapest crap they can find, and probably claim double from job services than what it's actually worth.
Don't pose for any promotional material. Often times, someone will be unemployed and they may be invited to a business for a day - the business may take your photo to show how 'inclusive' they're being, when they're actually not going to employ you - don't fall for it; respectfully decline to be photographed.
If you do miss an appointment, phone them the same day with a reason. Missing appointments is going to bring on an entire s*** show of increased scrutiny and will greatly enhance their power play.
Those are some basic points. These people talk about themselves behind their own backs, so be rest assured they will talk about you behind your back if you give them reason to.
You are walking into a deadly pit of vipers that are no doubt being paid more to have you on their books more than you are being paid in benefits.
You are not walking into a friendly office full of people with your best interests at heart.
Be alert.
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