Care requirements and ill health had hindered Karen and Pete from finding  the right job easily. Discovering Jobcentre Plus on Looking Local, has changed their prospects forever....

Karen's Story

Karen needed a part time job that fitted in with looking after her mother, whom she visits every day. Buses are infrequent where she lives and an expense she can ill afford, so she rarely visited the job centre and subsequently often missed any suitably flexible opportunities that came up.

It was a huge relief therefore when she discovered Jobcentre Plus on Looking Local and realised how easy it was to navigate the site. Encouraged, she started searching immediately and secured a job which fitted in with her commitments within a couple of days. She is now working as a commercial cleaner three hours a day, has the extra income she wants and can still help her mother when she needs to.

"Jobcentre Plus is cheap and simple to use and helped me find a job very quickly. I've never used computers so wasn't really aware of internet based job sites and wouldn't feel comfortable using them anyway. I never had the need to use the internet before and now I definitely don't thanks to Looking Local, said Karen."

August 2008 

Pete's Story

Pete, 38, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire has regained faith that he will find a job now that he has started using Jobcentre Plus on Looking Local.  

Having spent the last couple of years with nowhere to turn, thanks to health problems which made searching for a suitable job impossible, he has now won five job interviews and been shortlisted for one. He is sure it is only a matter of time before he gets accepted for a job that will transform his life. 

Pete can't get to the job centre because of trouble walking and lack of cash for the bus fare. With back and neck injuries following two accidents, he needs to lie down regularly, as both sitting and standing are painful. This also significantly reduces the number of jobs of which he is capable.

Although he initially qualified for incapacity benefit, he is now deemed fit to work yet is appealing the decision. The pending appeal means he cannot claim jobseekers allowance so he needs to find a job which he can manage physically - and his requirements mean an even more time consuming process than most endure when looking for work. 

Pete, whose experience lies in office administration, had been struggling to find that job. However, he has now discovered Jobcentre Plus on DiTV while experimenting at home with Virgin Interactive and realised he would find it very easy to search for jobs using it. For the first time, Pete was able to apply for as many positions as were suitable, as soon as they were advertised. 

Pete has found the electronic application process on Jobcentre Plus very straightforward and has applied for more than a dozen jobs already. "I was so lucky to come across Jobcentre Plus when surfing Virgin interactive. I can't get to the job centre myself, and I certainly can't afford broadband subscriptions to get onto internet job sites, so this is perfect for me." 

August 2008