How long to wait before you can sign on.

TimeToShine

A lot of people I know are wrapping up their degrees this year and inevitably this topic came up. There were a lot of differing opinions, some saying you can't sign on until 6 months after you get a degree, others saying it's 3 months from the day you sat your last exam and left education. Let's say you finished the last exam of your degree a few weeks ago and are to graduate in September. When can you sign on and how long do you have to wait until you can claim? Does living at home/how old you are affect how much you can claim? What factors influence how much you'll get?

Rorster_123

TimeToShine wrote: »

A lot of people I know are wrapping up their degrees this year and inevitably this topic came up. There were a lot of differing opinions, some saying you can't sign on until 6 months after you get a degree, others saying it's 3 months from the day you sat your last exam and left education. Let's say you finished the last exam of your degree a few weeks ago and are to graduate in September. When can you sign on and how long do you have to wait until you can claim? Does living at home/how old you are affect how much you can claim? What factors influence how much you'll get?

Alot of questions there and too much to answer in 1 post.
In general you can sign on once you finish your last exam and supply a letter from the college stating thae same. For rates, means test etc check welfare.ie You are a student so should be able to do a little research yourself

Balagan

Students
If you have just left school* you cannot get Jobseeker's Allowance. To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must have been out of school for three months and you must be at least 18 years of age.
Third-level students cannot claim Jobseeker's Allowance or Benefit while they are studying full-time. This disqualification also applies to the summer holiday periods between academic years (unless you are a mature student). However once you have finished college permanently you can claim a jobseeker's payment if you cannot find work.** This is also the case if you leave college without finishing your course.

*school refers to secondary school
**provide a letter from your college/uni stating you have completed your course of study
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/jobseekers_allowance.html

Info in this same link about rates, means test, links to means testing on parents' income when under 25 and living at home etc.

Scoobydooo

Hi,

I'm in the same position as above. Finished up college and have a letter from them stating that, how exactly do I go about claiming the dole for the first time from here? I tried to look up the website but I'm not entirely sure.

Thanks

mrsbyrne

Scoobydooo wrote: »

Hi,

I'm in the same position as above. Finished up college and have a letter from them stating that, how exactly do I go about claiming the dole for the first time from here? I tried to look up the website but I'm not entirely sure.

Thanks

Takecyourselfcto your local SW office the first day you are available for full time work . Bring proof of ID proof of address a letter from College stating that you are done and dusted bank statements and if you are living with parent/parents proof of their income (presuming you are under 25). They will give you a form to complete photocopy all your documents and may ask you to return on a specific date with the completed form.
While your claim is being processed you may go to see the CWO for a payment to tide you over, He she will need all the same evidence so more photocopies. You will find your CWO on the HSE website. Good luck

eastbono

Community welfare services by county http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/otheroffice/community-welfare-office-contact.aspx