JobBridge story; not sure what to do

dandriv

Hi. I'd really appreciate some thoughts on this.

I was offered an internship via JobBridge with a local radio station, doing outside broadcast work and studio operations. The position was tailor made for me after 5 years of study (3 years Music Tech and 2 years Film/Video Production) and I had a Full clean drivers license too. I was literally walking straight out of college and into an internship in my field. I was guaranteed the opportunity to work and learn and the possibility of a job at the end.

At the interview, the operations manager (who was to be my mentor on the internship) basically just sat there and didn't seem to be interested in my CV or anything that I had to say. The station manager was very impressed with my CV, experience and education and spent half an hour asking questions and discussing the internship. I got a bad vibe from the operations manager. Strange that she didn't ask me anything at all...

After a week and a half I got a call to say that I got the internship. I was delighted.

Anyway, the operations manager sent me the UP51c form via email completely blank and I had to print it and deliver it back to them for declaration and had to wait nearly a week to get it, then got a phone call to come and collect it. (Strange, because they had printers and my postal address from my CV).

When I started (on a Wednesday) I asked about the Standard Agreement Form that everyone signs before starting, or on the first day. She said that it wasn't very important....I eventually downloaded it myself for reference.

Long story short, on the fourth day I took sick (genuinely, really sick) and couldn't make it into work. I hadn't been given a contact number for my mentor so couldn't call her to let her know. The next day I approached her to apologize and make amends and she just told me that if it happened again I was out the door. I told her it wouldn't.

The next few days I was essentially ignored by her. I asked repeatedly for work to do and she just said that she would be with me in a minute. This went on for three days despite all efforts on my part to communicate with her. I told her before finishing at 6pm that I had to attend SW office next morning for appointment and she said 'that was fine'.

Next day, everyone (including my mentor) finished work and left at 5.45pm. I had been sitting there all day with nothing to do, so I went home too. I got a call five minutes later to say that my job description outlined that my hours were 9-6 and that I had to make up the extra time plus the hour that I "missed" that morning for the social welfare appointment.

Next morning, I was left sitting doing nothing again. I had headphones on trying to find audio to work on when I overheard my mentor on the phone telling the person on the other end (in a rather informal tone) that a position with an identical description to mine was available and if they were interested in starting (I wasn't actually listening to audio, just trying to look busy)

She also told them that it was OK if they didn't have a full drivers license, even though it was stated as a necessity on the description when I applied....I went to the manager and handed in my standard 5 days notice and left at lunch time.

It seems obvious to me that she did not want me there and wanted the job for a personal acquaintance.

I've already brought this to the attention of JobBridge and they are willing to investigate on my behalf. The host company didn't follow the proper guidelines set out by JobBridge at all and it seems that my mentor wanted me out and her buddy in. It'll be my word against theirs though as I don't have proof of the phone calls. This is no lie by the way....

I feel really let down and cheated by all of this. I went into the position on good terms and thought that it would be clean cut and above board, as well as being a learning experience and possibility of employment at the end. I had heard stories about JobBridge/ScamBridge, whatever, but this really was a scam.

CatFromHue

Go to the operations manager and explain the situation, don't waste your time with the Mentor anymore. Doing this will more than likely mean you're done with your Mentor but it looks like you are already.

I did a work placement myself and I would never have been left alone like that by my mentor for a day, let alone the time frame you mentioned.

Follow up with Jobbridge too and keep at them to investigate the situation.

Also if you're sick again just ring the main helpdesk and try and get it sorted through there.