While you are not entitled to JSA, you should be entitled to other forms of help such as housing benefit, and income support.
Best way to find out is to give your local council office a call. I'd stear clear of the JobCenter though, bunch of unhelpful miserable public sector works that are clearly paid far too much for doing sod all.
On that latter note, for me going to uni was easily the best thing I ever did, and the same for most of my friends on similar courses, so yeah there are definitely variations.Originally Posted by mikeo01
Well I can't say for experience as I am not a mature student, but every one of my friends I know who goes to university has nothing good to say about them. I sure feel like I'm like in prison due to the fact I can't actually express my skills as they restrict it too much; too basic requirements.
[snip]
This is from my experience and some of my friends, so I can't say for all
1. What position are you after in the job market ?
2. Don't go to uni unless you want to become a Doctor, Lawyer, and a handful of other specilaist career people.
Get voluntary experience > do low paying jobs
> gain experience > move to a higher paying job > keep on following the cycle.
EDIT:
So, you already have experience working in Support. Why the hell would you want to go to uni ?
I did BSc Software Engineering > MSc DBA and I work in Support
My mate didn't go to uni , he did a MCSE 2003 course and he does the same job as me and gets the same pay as me.
And, I still need to do my MCSE. So, who is better off ? My mate !
DO NOT GO TO UNI , DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. I am telling you from personal experience. If any job says you need to be a graduate, must have 1st class, must be from a red brick uni .. for a Support job, fk them. Pretty good chance they are offering low pay as well.
I can't believe the OU charges so much. Their overheads should be massively lower,should be under 3000 if you ask me.
I had a great time at uni both socially and academically although I wasn't a mature student.
Mature ones tend to be masters or PhD students so the are people to get to know. There were two people on my course who were mature, one got on with us youngsters and did extremely well the other kept himself to himself and didn't do so well I think. So if you can get on with people of any age you will likely do well and enjoy it.
personally I think uni is great you get to learn a wide range of subjects many of which you wouldn't actively read about but will learn some interesting things and you get to interact and learn from people often eminent in their field which you wouldnt get so much at the ou
My feelings exactly, you will only end up with a large loan to pay back. The jobs that want you to have a degree are graduate posistions, look for entry level jobs instead.
I would recommend doing certifications while doing low paid work and working your way into higher paid work. These days, just having work experience, especially in a similar role is far more valuable than education, so volunteer where possible and do any work to support yourself till you are ready to progress.
Thanks for all of the replies so far people, I appreciate it.
Some replies to the questions asked above:
I am not pressured into getting a degree, but I feel I missed a big opportunity when I was younger as I didn't even complete college. I know that most companies who ask for a degree would consider people with experience as well, but at the moment I feel as though I have no "proof" of my experience and this is what is giving me difficulties in landing interviews. Once there, I can prove my skills and show them what I can do. However, I would not be getting a degree solely for this purpose.
I would prefer to get vocational qualifications such as MCSE, LPIC-1, VCA-DCV, CCNA etc but they are very expensive and not possible without an income, but I will look at those as a priority when I start earning again.
As for my CV, agencies have not said there is anything wrong with it, and since they are "selling" me to other companies, one would expect that if there was a problem they would bring it up.
As for the roles I am looking for, right now I am applying to everything possible, any work is better than no work. However, I feel as though some companies look at me applying for support roles and think "he will only stay until he finds a better job". Whilst technically true, I can't sit here unemployed forever, I have rent and bills to pay and no income. So that leaves me only getting interviews for the jobs that I do want and fighting people with more experience and/or qualifications. It's a bloody nightmare...
On a similar note I'm a mature student with the OU and I love it, best decision I've made in years. I feel I'm getting more out of it than I did when I went to uni as a normal student - I think for some people you need to grow up a bit before you can really get the most out of university.
I study part time (it's quoted as 19 hours a week or something) while working full time, so money is not a problem. You have to be able to put aside a fair amount of your free time though, but there is certainly sufficient time to go out and have a life outside of work and study.
It used to be much cheaper (around £1500), but when the government cut subsidies and fees at other unis went up to £9k the OU also had to put fees up. £5k is still cheaper than most other universities. They still have buildings and they still have to pay staff which are two of the big overheads. I think an undergraduate year of study costs about £20k, so it's still a lot less than the full whack.
As for whether you should do it or not, if you're purely doing it to get the piece of paper, you're going to hate it. I'm doing mine because it interested me, I'm not too bothered if it gets me a new job or not or whether I have a piece of paper saying how smart I am.
I was in that situation a while back too, there is most likely nothing wrong with your CV, but nothing great either.
Many employers actually stay away from people who have been unemployed for any lengh of time with the logic being that if no one else wants you, then there must be something wrong. If you get a voluntary position, add it to your CV and don't mention it was a voluntary position in the CV unless directly asked by an employer at an interview, just let them think you are currently employed there. They would also prefer you to actually be doing something, wether it is studying like you plan to do, or volunteering, rather than doing nothing.
I recommended volunteering and employment with working your way up because your financial situation doesn't look good; but since you missed out on college, if you feel you have something to gain from the experience, go for it
good luck
Thanks for all of the replies, and especially to a few people who have asked if they can help me with my CV, I really appreciate it.
Anyway, things are looking up at last. Perhaps it is just luck, or maybe the agencies have finally got through all the other CV's they had, but I now have 3 possible good opportunities ahead, 2 contract roles and one permanent role. Fingers crossed!
I will definitely look at studying part time once things have settled down, I don't believe full time study is feasible right now, and maybe it's a bit too much considering I haven't studied for years. Still, doing things part time can still get me a degree later on, or perhaps I will just concentrate on the vocational courses I mentioned earlier. Definitely a lot to think about still.
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