Is Jobsbridge a success or failure?

Mrs OBumble

omerin wrote: »

However legit ones should make the person more professional and give them skills in Word, Excel, communication, life skills, etc that saves them taking a course.

"more professional", in some professional role, I totally support.

But Word, Excel, life-skills, communication ... this sort of stuff should be taught in secondary school, ffs.

omerin wrote: »

Nobody has a god given right to a job, you have to fight for it.

I guess that depends on your theology. But Ireland is still, nominally anyway, a Catholic country, and Catholic social teaching says some interesting things about workers rights, and indeed the rights of all citizens to be have the opportunity to make a contribution and to be justly paid for their work.


However I suggest we keep this thread on topic of whether JB is a success or failure, rather than branching out into too much philosophy.

anndub

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

The other half works for a Medical device company, they took on jobsbridge people as specialised packers and labelers and for putting together kits.
It sounds standard but anyone who works in these type of companies know mistakes are a big problem and there cound be 20+ pieces in one of these kits and if one is missing its a huge problem. Your name is signed to everything you do , so any issue can be traced right back.

Anyway over the last year they have had 6 jobsbridge people in and have kept on 3 of them .
Thats fair enough in my opinion as the work is paid above mimimum wage and looks good if applying to other medical device companies for work .

If they needed three staff, why didn't they hire three staff? They got the equivalent of 36 months or nearly 6000 hours of free labour.

I've worked in this field and assembling products into boxes is not skilled labour. A leaving cert qualification is all that is required. There is no need for an "internship" to learn how to pack a box correctly.

road_high

omerin wrote: »

These Job Bridge threads sicken me. Smacks of Celtic Tiger and entitlement. Companys are giving the unemployed a chance to gain valuable experience in a working environment. There are chancers whose adds should never have been uploaded on to the site, better vetting should take place. However legit ones should make the person more professional and give them skills in Word, Excel, communication, life skills, etc that saves them taking a course. If you are doing nothing than take the hit, financially speaking and give Job Bridge a go even if it means taking the bus to work. Look at it as an investment in YOUR future.

Why 'cos people aspire/expect a fair wage for a fair days work? Some sense of entitlement we all have, sickening isn't it :eek:

unreggd

omerin wrote: »

Companys are giving the unemployed a chance to gain valuable experience in a working environment.

No. They're not.

Thats the whole issue. The way Job Bridge works for employers, is that they get a free staff member, and future tax incentives, in return for training the intern

But what is most likely happening is that the companies are advertising the job as 'No experience needed' , yet most want at least a Degree, so they're hiring people they wont really need to train that much at all

And thats the majority. In the last few weeks I've applied for internships in my local area, but I heard nothing back at all. Called, message was taken, but still no reply.

omerin wrote: »

People are getting €50 extra. Is it better to spend your days on your backside or contributing to your own development and avoiding a gaping hole in your CV?

The expenses of interning will cancel out, or most likely surpass that €50, so theres no financial benefit, working more, for less money

As mentioned, the company should have to pay the staff member €100 or so. Thats feckall money for them to be paying a full time staff member, and it would help fend off the scammers taking advantage of the scheme [such an apt word for it...]

knotknowbody

I for one think the scheme is a good idea and have had a good experience of it, it is perhaps badly regulated.

My situation, I obtained an I.T degree many years ago, upon obtaining that qualification family life took over and as my family location was rural away from places where I.T jobs were available I worked in non I.T roles for many years. Even after the family situation no longer restricted me I continued in these roles as it was an income and I found it difficult to get even an interview without experience. Fast forward a few years and I found myself out of work and with no real prospects as the field I had been working in was dead for years to come and my I.T qualification was almost a decade old with no experience to add to it. I started to apply for I.T related intern-ships on the Job-bridge site and managed to get an interview, I am now almost through the intern-ship and am likely to be taken on properly, even if I don't get a job with the company I have gained valuable experience from it.

As a result of my experience I think it is a good idea but needs greater regulation of the type of jobs advertised and greater levels of involvement by the jobs agencies in candidate selection to ensure that the intern-ship will actually benefit the candidate, I know I have gotten lots out of mine but, I also know a person who was way over qualified and experienced for the one they done but took it in the hope of getting a job at the end, which they didn't. This is kinda pointless as the candidate gains almost nothing in terms of employability, this scenario could be prevented if job-bridge screened the candidate and the internship to ensure a match.

I was lucky my employer was reputable, treated me very well and covered expenses I encountered, they were also in a quite specialised field so the learning curve for me or even an experienced person was going to be steep. I think if the internship scheme was not available to them they would have been unable to afford the expense of an extra employee, which would have been a dead-weight effectively for the first few months, however now I am very likely to be in full time employment as the workload I have picked up in the last few months has allowed another staff member get more involved in marketing and bring in lots of business which he would not have had time to do otherwise.

All in all everybody benefited in this situation, I have new skills which make me more employable and was financially better off to the tune of €50 a week, not a lot but a lot when your tight for money, my employer obviously benefited by having free labour, the state lost to the tune of €50 a week so far but in a few weeks will have an extra person in employment and one extra taxpayer which was the point of the scheme, so while some people are being exploited and some employers are being unscrupulous there are also some success stories out of the scheme.

kilburn

Some of you people are just away with the fairies and obviously do not understand the principle of an internship.

But if you would rather sit on your backside than get experience best of luck to you in the future cos you will still be sitting on it in 2 years time with that attitude.

It is easier to get a job when you have a job everybody knows that, plus doing an internship and gaining practical experience shows a great deal about your character and attitude.

Delancey

kilburn wrote: »

Some of you people are just away with the fairies and obviously do not understand the principle of an internship.

But if you would rather sit on your backside than get experience best of luck to you in the future cos you will still be sitting on it in 2 years time with that attitude.

It is easier to get a job when you have a job everybody knows that, plus doing an internship and gaining practical experience shows a great deal about your character and attitude.

I think the gripe that most people have with job bridge is with the obvious abuses of the scheme - supposed to give people experience ? Great idea but why then ask for people with 2 years experience ?
Job Bridge internships are preventing real paying jobs from being created , job advertised with a proper salary one week uis advertised a week later as an internship.
The theory behind the scheme is great but the application/execution has been a disaster.

experiMental

Delancey wrote: »

I think the gripe that most people have with job bridge is with the obvious abuses of the scheme - supposed to give people experience ? Great idea but why then ask for people with 2 years experience ?
Job Bridge internships are preventing real paying jobs from being created , job advertised with a proper salary one week uis advertised a week later as an internship.
The theory behind the scheme is great but the application/execution has been a disaster.

I know how you feel - finding a full-time permanent job is like finding a needle in a haystack. Real paying jobs are prevented from being created because many companies just can't get the customers who will pay up a greater premium for their service, simple as that. Not every company leader can afford an MBA degree and not every MBA degree is good enough to improve business leadership skills.

It's ridiculously hard to create jobs with decent wages in Ireland, because the wages here are some of the highest in the world and people elsewhere are willing to work for less. Job bridge may only partially solve the problem.

The government must do more than set up Job Bridge schemes. It has to restructure some areas of the business, such as middlemen, supply chains, etc - things that increase prices of goods and make them less affordable for people.

unreggd

kilburn wrote: »

Some of you people are just away with the fairies and obviously do not understand the principle of an internship.

But if you would rather sit on your backside than get experience best of luck to you in the future cos you will still be sitting on it in 2 years time with that attitude.

It is easier to get a job when you have a job everybody knows that, plus doing an internship and gaining practical experience shows a great deal about your character and attitude.

You're the one away with the fairies

Most people here WANT to intern. But as mentioned it needs to be regulated more, so people actually get out of it what is intended from an internship

Bagenal

My view on a few points from previous posts:-
It's ridiculously hard to create jobs with decent wages in Ireland, because the wages here are some of the highest in the world and people elsewhere are willing to work for less.
I would work for a lower wage if the cost of living was lower. I work to earn money to cover my expenses and make a few quid profit (savings). I work to live not live to work.

Some people have given positive reports of the Job Bridge internship scheme and I am delighted to hear that but as previously said there are a lot of abuses of the scheme such as one advert from a company in my local area looking for someone to do an internship which was nothing more than a general labourer requiring no more than some basic cop on. Others I have seen required fully experienced people when the idea of the scheme is to give people experience.
The problem, imo, is FAS, some of the employment advisers haven't a clue in the wide earthly world. Just because FAS was renamed and integrated with the social welfare doesn't make it a better organisation, same people employed to carry on as before. From my experience the training element of FAS was very good but the local office/employment advisers were pure and utter twits and I have experience of them from the days before FAS was formed from Manpower and ANCO.

Plumpynuter

My local Supermarket is looking for about 6 interns. (I am talking on the stacking shelves and arranging plants outside the door)

Typical FAS crap. They have not got a clue.

The only benefit I can see to this scheme is that if you can identify an employer that you would like to work for and approach them with an intern proposal to get a foot in the door and show them what you can do.

Experience in itself is not going to find you a job at the mo. I have a masters and 18 years experience and still cant get a worthwhile job in Ireland. I cant move abroad for personal reasons. Employers are taking advantage with the wages they are offering.

x43r0

Plumpynuter wrote: »

Employers are taking advantage with the wages they are offering.

This is exactly the reason I moved abroad. Could have taken a job in Ireland but the wages on offer were insulting

It's a shame because they'll keep doing it because there'll always be people who will take whats on offer

daisyscience

My experience - When I went back to college after years of working on minimum wage as an unskilled labourer, there were some jobs available in my area of study. Now the only jobs available in this area are internships which means that when I finish studying I can look forward to 6 months on the dole so that I can take up an internship after 7 years studying and over 15 years work experience already. Yay! I actually sent in my cv/enquired for free internships and I couldn't give it away for free.

My other choice is to stay on in the retail sector getting crappy wages and just let my heavily subsidised education go to waste, but a least I will have a job and I can start to pay back some of the debts accumulated during my studies and consider building a life for myself, maybe having a family before my body gets too old to have kids.


It definitely seems to be a cheap option for employers from what I've seen so far and I know of places abusing the scheme.

Oh and Ive seen jobs in my area in Australia starting at €70,000 p.a. no experience needed outside the qualification.

Kaner2004

daisyscience wrote: »

My experience - When I went back to college after years of working on minimum wage as an unskilled labourer, there were some jobs available in my area of study. Now the only jobs available in this area are internships which means that when I finish studying I can look forward to 6 months on the dole so that I can take up an internship after 7 years studying and over 15 years work experience already. Yay! I actually sent in my cv/enquired for free internships and I couldn't give it away for free.

My other choice is to stay on in the retail sector getting crappy wages and just let my heavily subsidised education go to waste, but a least I will have a job and I can start to pay back some of the debts accumulated during my studies and consider building a life for myself, maybe having a family before my body gets too old to have kids.

It definitely seems to be a cheap option for employers from what I've seen so far and I know of places abusing the scheme.

Oh and Ive seen jobs in my area in Australia starting at €70,000 p.a. no experience needed outside the qualification.

Theres a hint for you
Terrible the way now people have to decide between staying in the country of their birth and work for nothing. Or emigrate and get a proper job.
I have a lot of respect for those who actually do something about it and emigrate for a better life. I have no respect for people who stay and then complain or say "some people have to stay for family reasons" etc. Try telling that to all the people who had to emigrate over the last few hundred years. Nothing could make them stay.

daisyscience

Kaner2004 wrote: »

I have a lot of respect for those who actually do something about it and emigrate for a better life. I have no respect for people who stay and then complain or say "some people have to stay for family reasons" etc. Try telling that to all the people who had to emigrate over the last few hundred years. Nothing could make them stay.

We all have choices, nobody has to stay but I choose not to leave. I have worked abroad and came back as the way I see it is I value my home, being close to my family and friends over money I could earn and experiences amongst strangers. We are lucky that we have choices. Like I said, I understand why it is tempting and it's just a waste that a lot of people (myself included) will be over qualified and working in unrelated, underpaid areas when we have such a fantastic education system.

My point was that this scheme (and it's not the only half arsed scheme out there) doesn't do enough and it is letting this country and the people living here who hope for a better future down. I understand why people leave but I prefer to stay here - each to their own. Don't forget that not everybody is free or financially able to do so either, whatever your experiences might be.

This all brings up the point of why provide such a heavily subsidised education system if the jobs aren't there? but that's a different conversation.

Kaner2004

If the dole wasnt so high, then people would actually have to make life altering decisions about improving their prospects, instead of sitting at home in Ireland complaining about how hard life is.

When you help people too much, they lose the ability to help themselves.

bikerhen

I am new here so hi to all. I have really enjoyed reading all the opinions of FAS Internships both good and bad. I never thought I would be one of those people who had a bad internship experience. I have worked over 25 years in different jobs - was made redundant three years ago. I am now 51 and honestly feel that I will never work outside the home again. There seems to be a lot of 'who you know' and not 'what you know'.
I can honestly say I must have applied for over 50 jobs and all I got was an internview for a debt collection agency. I am afraid I would not be able to chase hard up people for money owed so did not attent that.
Spent 9 months doing a fulltime secretarial course with FAS, passed all exams etc but sadly no job came of it. So decided to look at the internship programme, there are quit a few but wanted to do one that would suit me. I managed to get an admin one in a hotel and agreed to work every second weekend which to me was fair enough, also some days during the week. I worked really hard, did what ever was asked. Then someone else did the roster and they had me working every Saturday. I thought this really unfair. Basically this host organisation was using me to suit their busy times - which I believe is not the way an internship is supposed to work. As you can guess I left. I have sent in a complaint to Jobbridge - still waiting to hear from them. I am really disappointed that this did not work out. I think I will look for one with a charitable organisation where I think I will be appreciated.
There seems to be more bad reviews of internships than good ones and I think it is just a ploy to mess with the true numbers of unemployed people.

Delancey

Fair play for not doing Debt Collection , hassling folks for money they don't have is a pretty crap way of making a living in my opinion.

Alas your story of the Hotel is all too common , the theory behind the scheme is OK but its mercilessly abused by a lot of employers and sweet Fxxk all is done about it.

Mrs OBumble

Bikerhen, fair play as said. With your expereince I dont' think you're the sort of person who JobBridge should be fore.

But it worries me that at 51 you doubt you'll work agian - you do realise that you probably have 25% of your working life ahead of you?

Have you considered doing some voluntary work? Some organisations hire staff from among their volunteers, so it may be a way to get a foot in the door.

Kaner2004

I was waiting for the bus this morning outside the Fas office.
The last time I looked at the ads they were all for paying jobs. Today I saw NO PAYING JOBS at all in the window of FAS.

greendom

Kaner2004 wrote: »

I was waiting for the bus this morning outside the Fas office.
The last time I looked at the ads they were all for paying jobs. Today I saw NO PAYING JOBS at all in the window of FAS.

it's been a huge success for employers then. All of that free labour

superbad50

Can anyone tell me if participating on one of these schemes affect a person in receipt of Mortgage Interest Relief Supplement

HomeBuyer

unreggd wrote: »

Oh yes, its a blatant scam. they constantly say 'Live register is down X amount' when really they're just gettin paid somewhere else

Are you telling me that getting paid somewhere other than the dole office is not employment?

Bits_n_Bobs

greendom wrote: »

it's been a huge success for employers then. All of that free labour

Employer's will attempt to game whatever the system is. Portioning blame on employers who are in business to make money for reducing a cost such as labour is naive. Blame for this should lie with those who designed and oversee the system - well paid civil servants and even better paid politicians.

While I see some merit in a properly designed and well managed internship system I do not see it as a panacea to long term unemployment. What we have here in Ireland is neither well designed nor well managed, but is instead an expensive PR sticking plaster and an excuse not to tackle real issues contributing to the misery of unemployment in Ireland while our politicians engage in indulgent clap trap side shows such as abortions and the seanad.

cloudatlas

217 people have taken up jobbridge positions in government departments. 23 organisations have been banned from participating in the scheme after monitoring visits. Still can't find any statistics on uptake versus positions offered at the end of jobbridge work periods.

GodlikeRed

I email the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton about the ridiculous amount of entry level jobs (sales assistant etc) advertised on JobBridge.

I got a reply saying the issue was 'recieving attention'.

Ye we'll see about that.