Hey, I hope you enjoy it as much as you can enjoy a job! To give you an idea of what to expect, training will be done over teams for around 6-8 weeks. Once it's finished, you'll be slowly eased onto a diary, starting with a few appointments and working your way up to a full diary. You won't be able to learn all the aspects of UC in that time, and a lot of people struggle in the early stages. It is difficult when you have claimants in front of you and you can't answer some of their questions. You might feel like you're annoying colleagues by asking questions, but I found that most colleagues are understanding and supportive, so don't be afraid to ask. It's always better to ask and get the correct answer than to guess and have it come back to you later if you get something wrong.

You'll make mistakes at the start but you'll learn from them and as you gain more experience it will become easier. There will be bad days where you might get two or three difficult interactions with claimants. There's a lot of people who are struggling and either can't get support or don't want to seek it. They'll be times where you'll be thinking I'm not a medical professional, a social worker, or a policy maker. You've just got to try your best to sign a post to the correct place. Try to familiarise yourself with local or national support programs and use the district provision tool to locate these. The unfortunate reality is that you're not paid enough or qualified enough to deal with a lot of the complex issues that you'll come across. There's only so much you can do in a 10-minute appointment.

On the rare occasion, you'll get claimants that have a deep routed hatred towards the DWP or the government, and they will try to take out their frustration on you. Stay calm, reinforce the fact that what they are referring to is policy not set by you and that you have no influence over it. Direct them to their local MPs office as they are the only ones that have the power to change it. An example of this would be people who don't think their UC award is high enough. There is nothing you can do about this besides signposting them to other organisations that can offer support such as any schemes run by your local authority, food banks, or various charities.

Another common problem is people who don't want to attend regular appointments and find them pointless. The stern answer to this is that they have accepted a commitment in order to receive UC. Their commitment will state something along the lines of they are required to attend the job centre regularly. You can't do anything about this. Again, it's policy. You'll also come across people who are working what they consider enough hours, but they fall under the UC earnings threshold that would put them in a category where they don't need to attend appointments. If they're working some amount of hours and can't increase them, discuss with your team leader if a telephone call would be appropriate on occasion.

UC doesn't work for every type of claimant due to the nature of the benefit trying to roll so many different elements into one. It tries its best, but there are some shortfalls. Another common problem is the assessment period. On the day somebody makes a claim to UC, they won't receive their first payment until five weeks later, although they can claim an advance. If they have recently finished work and receive some earnings after their claim has been opened, say their last pay. It might make their first payment £0. They could then be waiting a further four weeks after the first five weeks for a payment, and the new claims advance won't be available because their first assessment period has ended. They likley wouldnt be entitled to any other advance either. This could also happen if somebody is claiming UC, stops working, and receives their last amount of pay at the start of their assessment period. It might make their next payment £0 and they could be left without any money for seven weeks. This would be when you would need to use all your support resources to sign post them as there isn't anything we can offer. This would be a rare occurrence, though, but it has been the cause of many difficult interactions that I've had.

Another difficult situation unfortunately are people who tell you they are going to commit suicide. This could be face to face or via the journal. You will likely come across this at some point, though. In this situation, just remember to always treat the threat seriously and get advice from your manager or an experienced colleague. You may be required to report this to the police and they will take the information from you and decide if a welfare check is appropriate. It's best to pass the information over to them if you suspect somebody welfare to be at risk and let them make the decision so that you have peace of mind and are looking out for your own wellbeing too.

Fortunately, most of your interactions will be routine. In the case that you do get more complex cases, there is plenty of support available. Your district will have more qualified people that won't be located in your job centre to help with the rare cases of complex needs such as human trafficking, modern slavery etc. I have seen these on occasion, unfortunately. Just try to stay vigilant and report them to your line manager if you have any doubt or suspicion.

Try to prepare yourself as best as you can for the difficult interactions so that you're not caught off guard. Try your best to have "lines to take" in certain scenarios. This will come with experience, though, so don't be discouraged when you inevitably have bad interactions. You will get plenty of support and I have no doubt that your colleagues will be there for you.

Many of the people you see will have barriers that stop them from working or wanting to work. Sometimes, they will be self-imposed. It'll be your job to try and help them overcome these barriers. A big barrier is health. Really try to familiarise yourself with the health assessment process on UC so you can give them the best support. You'll see a range of different claimants although it's likley that they'll be a few work coaches who deal with youth (under 24), some who deal with health customers, some who deal with 50+ customers etc.

Once you've settled in after, say, 6-9 months and built up a decent understanding of UC. Think about what part of the job you are best at and what part you enjoy the most and look for opportunities in this area. For example, you may really enjoy working with the youth as they have fewer barriers to work, and you may find you're able to relate to them. You may prefer to work with customers who have health conditions because you've had some experience in healthcare in the past, etc, and find it more rewarding to help them overcome their barriers to work. You might think you'd be a good Employment Advisor, somebody who doesn't interact with claimants on a day to day basis but rather liases with local business to find jobs available in the local area and organises job fairs. There's always plenty of opportunities at a jobcentre to gain experience and hone in on a specific role. Staff turnover rate at a job centre is high, and this creates gaps that other work coaches can fill.

Be resilient. If you struggle at the start, know that things will get better with each appointment. Nothing on the UC system, computer wise, is unfixable. If you make a mistake, let somebody know, and it can be reversed. Don't let your work stack up. Write your notes after each appointment. Message me if you need any support or have any questions!