Topic: Fibbing about employment

[Special K]

The Jobcentre! Go to the Jobcentre!

Yeah. Do you know what the unemployment rate is at the moment?

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is but I know seeking help to find work is more productive than sitting in front of a TV watching Sonic collecting magic rings.

[The Mollusk]

You're doing it again!

[TheBrownBottle]

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is but I know seeking help to find work is more productive than sitting in front of a TV watching Sonic collecting magic rings.

It is possible to do both, in fairness.

I’m pretty sure that if bgmnts applies for the credit and is caught, the worst that will happen is that the credit application will be rejected.  I’ve yet to hear of a credit provider taking action over a failed loan application of £250.  Someone in that position shouldn’t feel guilty either - or be made to feel guilty. 

That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good idea to take on more debt if you’re struggling, of course.  When I didn’t have a pot to piss in, I discovered the wonderful world of emulators, which gave me my gaming fix for nowt (assuming access to a PC or laptop here).  Or buy an older gen console with a load of cheap games. 

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is but I know seeking help to find work is more productive than sitting in front of a TV watching Sonic collecting magic rings.

Is it fuck, work is shit.

[Chollis]

if the console doesn't work out can I suggest Football Manager bgmts. got me through my long stretches of unemployment, and you don't need much to run it

[touchingcloth]

Office jobs in a capitalist economy are just a hunt for magic rings when you think about it.

[Special K]

Now THAT is condescending.

[Gurke and Hare]

Who the fuck's attributing that to Confucius, who died in 479BC when there was probably no such concept as "a job you love"?

[imitationleather]

Who the fuck's attributing that to Confucius, who died in 479BC when there was probably no such concept as "a job you love"?

Innit. It was Gandhi who said that.

[Twonty Gostelow]

[TheBrownBottle]

Who the fuck's attributing that to Confucius, who died in 479BC when there was probably no such concept as "a job you love"?

Look, if you can’t love being a Spring and Autumn-era serf given no choice but working in the rice paddies for 18 hours a day, then what sort of job can you love?

[icehaven]

It might be that their scales are different - I think the most common are maximums of 750 and 950 or something like that. 

Yeah - the free ones you can do yourself are legit - whenever you apply for a large loan or a mortgage and you have to provide the credit check info yourself, it's always the free ones that brokers and specialist lenders recommend.  Banks will typically run their own, but they'll also just use one like Equifax or Experian, both of which you can run yourself.

Feels a bit oversharing to put the exact numbers but I did Experian and that was only a few points off the maximum of 999, which was classed as 'excellent', then I did Clearscore and it was just over half their maximum of 750 (I think) which they called 'fair'. Does this mean if I want credit I should just hope my potential lenders use Experian? How can they be so different?

[Shit Good Nose]

Feels a bit oversharing to put the exact numbers but I did Experian and that was only a few points off the maximum of 999, which was classed as 'excellent', then I did Clearscore and it was just over half their maximum of 750 (I think) which they called 'fair'. Does this mean if I want credit I should just hope my potential lenders use Experian? How can they be so different?

I think some factor in more assumed risk than others, although in my and Mrs Nose's experiences I've never known there to be as much of a disparity as in your example.  It could be that Clearscore take a longer term snapshot (say 10 years, whilst others would only go back 5), OR Experian have missed something.  No way of knowing unless you get the full report to see the detail.

[ollyboro]

Bgmnts try and borrow from family if you can,pay them back a tenner a week.

Agreed. Apart from the bit about paying them back. What's the worse that can happen? You end up on Judge Rinder*

*The show, not the bloke. Although either could be a way to earn more pennies for an even better games console.

[Zetetic]

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is

In Wales, it's about double what it was at the start of the year.

120,000 "claimants" or so, vs 60,000 back in January.

A couple of months ago there were about 250,000 people furloughed on top of that, which represents a whole of bunch of soon-to-be-claimants.

Yeah, there's a balance here, but if video games help stave off the learned helplessness that job hunting will surely engender, they don't seem completely frivolous even from a very narrow perspective of utility.

(And I don't even disagree with the views about money management, and I'm not convinced that any £250 console purchase is an ... efficient one for gaining future access to good video games. But that's another conversation.)

[TheBrownBottle]

In terms of credit ratings with different agencies it all depends on how they weight everything.  They can’t go back further than six years under the DPA for closed accounts - and they don’t usually worry about missed payments from more  than three years ago.  And it’s not just missed payments - different agencies weight debt serviceability (how much of your credit lines you use), number of accounts, income, number of applications for credit, types of credit applied for, how long you’ve been in your job, changes of address, electoral register etc.  So it’s possible to have a ‘clean’ credit history and still not score highly with a particular agency.

[Better Midlands]

You end up on Judge Rinder*

*The show, not the bloke. Although either could be a way to earn more pennies for an even better games console.

Rinder don't pay for tail.

[bgmnts]

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is but I know seeking help to find work is more productive than sitting in front of a TV watching Sonic collecting magic rings.

For full clarity, I've been out of paid work for a 14 months, I jobsearch and apply for work most days, on the days when I'm not too depressed to do anything. I only wanted a games console again because its the only activity I remotely enjoy.

I admit I'm bad with money, coming from poor stock with issues that were never dealt with or supported you tend to find yourself financially fucked anyway.

The jobcentre has been closed during covid for me. I havent had an advisor meeting in 5 months.

But you're probably right to be fair.

if the console doesn't work out can I suggest Football Manager bgmts. got me through my long stretches of unemployment, and you don't need much to run it

Yeah that's what I've opted for in the end. I have a celeron 1.1 ghz processor I think with 4gb of ram so I am going to try and run some retro games on that.

[Dex Sawash]

Yeah that's what I've opted for in the end. I have a celeron 1.1 ghz processor I think with 4gb of ram so I am going to try and run some retro games on that.

Glad you got there without me outing myself as part of the CaB tory wing.

[drummersaredeaf]

These days you get arrested and put in jail just for saying you have a job.

[imitationleather]

If you're getting a Switch bear in mind that the games are ridiculously fucking expensive.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

I'll lend you the cash and you can repay me in wank offs.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Maybe you could do some market research to earn the money, I've done it in the past and it's been quite a fun way to make a bit of cash on the side (I once got paid around £70 for watching and giving my opinion on the tv series Jessica Jones!) and thanks to the pandemic most of them can be done online right now - https://gopodengo.com/ and https://takepartinresearch.co.uk/ are the ones that have been best for me, but others do exist like https://www.focus4people.com/respondents.asp and https://vocalviews.com/.

Also, I've sometimes done a bit of ebaying, if there's a fair few charity shops near you it might be worth popping in and looking up dvds and pc games, it's mostly tv series and old adventure games that are worth the most, but if you've a smart phone looking stuff up while in there can make you a bit of cash on the side.

Plus, putting on dark clothing, creeping around outside of people's houses in the middle of the night, making sure they're asleep and then breaking and entering and later selling their goods at the local cash converters has never, ever done anyone any harm either.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

LOL

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

If you're getting a Switch bear in mind that the games are ridiculously fucking expensive.

Not if you download the ROMs for free :)

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

Also i wouldn't buy a ps4 right now seeing as the ps5 is just around the corner...

[Sebastian Cobb]

Not if you download the ROMs for free :)

Congratulations on your job in the switch pharmacy.

[Rev+]

I've no idea what the unemployment rate is but I know seeking help to find work is more productive than sitting in front of a TV watching Sonic collecting magic rings.

Jobcentre's haven't offered help for finding work for a couple of decades now, though.  They exist purely to handle benefit claims.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Jobcentre's haven't offered help for finding work for a couple of decades now, though.  They exist purely to handle benefit claims.

When I was signing on a few years ago every so often they'd print out a job and make me apply for it, even though most of the time I was either ridiculously over experienced or lacking in any in that particular field, and the ones they suggested didn't even lead to an interview. Plus they'd send me on stupid courses which were equally shite too (a two week one about how to apply for jobs was painfully patronising, and the staff their clearly didn't enjoy their jobs), signing off the dole was genuinely one of the happiest moments of my life.

[FerriswheelBueller]

When I was signing on a few years ago every so often they'd print out a job and make me apply for it, even though most of the time I was either ridiculously over experienced or lacking in any in that particular field, and the ones they suggested didn't even lead to an interview. Plus they'd send me on stupid courses which were equally shite too (a two week one about how to apply for jobs was painfully patronising, and the staff their clearly didn't enjoy their jobs), signing off the dole was genuinely one of the happiest moments of my life.

I got cut off from the dole for no reason (I think they just reclassified me and stopped sending the 49 quid a week) and I was so useless with money and so deeply in debt/overdraft I actually didn’t notice for 2 weeks. From what I remember, signing on was a fucking horrible shitty experience and I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who is broke because it was such a miserable few years for me.

One of the reasons I’m happy to work like a lunatic now is because I’m so determined not to be so deeply in debt ever again. The stress still occasionally wakes me up, and I’ve been debt free for 10+ years at this point.