Name and Shame Job Bridge

velleity · 28-09-2012 07:11PM

sky2424 wrote: »

On that has anyone actually had their expenses paid by their host company?

I have, but with this thread I'm beginning to suspect I'm on the only decent JobBridge internship in the country, so I may be the only one ever to get expenses covered.

Heroditas · 01-10-2012 10:55AM

I pushed for my company to take on someone through the scheme. We advertised the role on the website and held interviews. The majority of the people were absolutely appalling. Only two were in any way decent.
Went with a hunch and took one of them on and haven't looked back since.
We've now taken him on full time.

Because we took him on, he was able to do some general work while some of us were able to look at expanding other aspects of the business. It's worked out so well that, as a result, the workload has increased substantially and the business case was there to keep him on. He's bloody good at his work but we nearly didn't even take him in for an interview because his CV was very basic. Again... I went with a hunch.
We also covered all his expenses while he was an intern. for things such as mileage, lunch if he was out of the office etc.We ensured he wasn't out of pocket spending the internship with us.
I also spent quite a bit of time training him and showing him how to do stuff, along with teaching him some fundamentals regarding the role and industry.

If we hadn't taken him on when the internship was up, he would have been capable of getting a job in the industry I reckon but that was due to the training and learning he experienced with us.

ABajaninCork · 01-10-2012 11:06AM

That's SO good to hear! Clearly, your firm are one of the good guys who treat people decently and understand the principles of the Jobbridge scheme.

Unfortunately, as the gist of this thread shows, there are too many companies who think 'Why waste a good recession?' and proceed to mercilessly exploit their interns.

micromary · 01-10-2012 11:10AM

Heroditas wrote: »

If we hadn't taken him on when the internship was up, he would have been capable of getting a job in the industry I reckon but that was due to the training and learning he experienced with us.

I trust that meant "he would not have been capable of getting a job in the industry". Seriously that is good news and thanks for sharing. It is good to hear that there is at least 1 good employer out there who is prepared to give someone a chance instead of shafting them deliberately after 6/9 months. Thx 4 sharing.

Heroditas · 01-10-2012 11:18AM

micromary wrote: »

I trust that meant "he would not have been capable of getting a job in the industry". Seriously that is good news and thanks for sharing. It is good to hear that there is at least 1 good employer out there who is prepared to give someone a chance instead of shafting them deliberately after 6/9 months. Thx 4 sharing.

Sorry, it looks a bit confusing alright.
If we hadn't offered him a permanent role at the end of his internship, I feel he would still have been furnished enough with the necessary skills to perhaps find a job in the industry as a result of what he learned during the internship.

EDIT: also, we certainly didn't make him feel like some form of glorified "tea boy", he was treated the exact same way as everyone else, attended the necessary meetings, staff days etc... essentially one of the team.

CuriousG · 01-10-2012 05:27PM

Heroditas wrote: »

Sorry, it looks a bit confusing alright.
If we hadn't offered him a permanent role at the end of his internship, I feel he would still have been furnished enough with the necessary skills to perhaps find a job in the industry as a result of what he learned during the internship.

EDIT: also, we certainly didn't make him feel like some form of glorified "tea boy", he was treated the exact same way as everyone else, attended the necessary meetings, staff days etc... essentially one of the team.

Thank god there is some hope for this country, and some decent people left! Well done.

Gary The Gamer · 01-10-2012 05:46PM

CuriousG wrote: »

Thank god there is some hope for this country, and some decent people left! Well done.

Yeah they treated him like a superstar for the duration he was working with them for free. Strange times that we are living in now.

ABajaninCork · 01-10-2012 06:02PM

Maybe. But the guy apparently got a full-time role out of it, didn't he?

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:08PM

I cant stress enough how jobbridge and fas take away what could have been a paid job advertised,what chance have people got in a recession with fas and jobbridge mopping up whats left of the jobs industry?

who for instance will turn around and start paying you with these job blockers in the way?

its a disgrace to ireland,these boards should be shut down,they are an expense to government and give nothing back monetarily to government by way of a tax payable job..

CuriousG · 01-10-2012 06:16PM

Gary The Gamer wrote: »

Yeah they treated him like a superstar for the duration he was working with them for free. Strange times that we are living in now.

It is a lot better than being treated bad, like some here have, though.

And he is one of the rare people to actually get a job out of it.

Maybe the first job bridge situation that I have seen being useful, but at least there is employers out there actually willing to give a job to someone that made the effort AND pay expenses- it is more than most do.

I still don't fundamentally agree with job bridge, but at least if you have to do it, you should expect the employer treats you well. I am simply commending the employer (one in a million) that done the job they were meant to.

Gary The Gamer · 01-10-2012 06:22PM

Guess what employers did before jobbridge? They took on people on graduates on low wages and trained them up. When they proved their worth they were promoted to higher pay scales. Why bother do that now when you can have the first 9 months for free, dangle the carrot of experience and a job over them. If there was no jobbridge there would be a lot more paying jobs around.

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:25PM

If there was no jobbridge there would be a lot more paying jobs around.

By the very nature of fas and jobbridge they mop up jobs from the community,what irks me about these ''job'' ''agencies'' is that they proport to be helping the most vunerable in our community - those who are poor,and those who are unemployed for at least over a year,when the reality is they take away what could have been a paid position from you.

people should be upset about the existence of these ''job'' schemes,there more like job scams..

Munstermissy · 01-10-2012 06:25PM

I approached a company that I knew to see if they would be interested in taking me on on the jobs bridge programme. I have 20 years experience in one aspect of the industry that they are in and wanted experience in a different area. The manager was very keen and then asked would I be able to bring new business into the company. Yes I replied but not if I wasn't going to get paid for it. Needless to say his interest dwindled then.

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:27PM

and they should be paying you for it munstermissy,if youre going to bring business their way esp..

Gary The Gamer · 01-10-2012 06:28PM

The people I feel most sorry for is the young person who refuses to be pressured into working for free in some exploitative scheme. Not only are they seeing their starter jobs disappearing into dole schemes but they are having to compete with a class of person who will work for free to gain experience. The only way around this is to be an exceptional student in college, more so than ever before.

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:31PM

I think the best way to keep dignity intact and to ensure less people are being exploited is to not do these schemes,take up voluntary work in a charity shop for instance,or in community youth work,after your college classes or on weekends/saturdays..

the more people that sign up to these job blockers fas and jobbridge the less paid jobs there will be out there for people as fas and jobbridge suck them up at your cost..

Munstermissy · 01-10-2012 06:32PM

boiledsweets wrote: »

and they should be paying you for it munstermissy,if youre going to bring business their way esp..

Exactly my thoughts as well, I thought he had a real cheek to even ask the question seeing as it would cost the company zero to have me in there for 6-9 months. My reply to him was if he wanted me to sell, he had to pay commission, etc. Still waiting on his call, lol...

ABajaninCork · 01-10-2012 06:36PM

Munstermissy wrote: »

I approached a company that I knew to see if they would be interested in taking me on on the jobs bridge programme. I have 20 years experience in one aspect of the industry that they are in and wanted experience in a different area. The manager was very keen and then asked would I be able to bring new business into the company. Yes I replied but not if I wasn't going to get paid for it. Needless to say his interest dwindled then.

Bloody cheek! Too right you sent him off with a flea in his ear.

THAT'S the kind of Jobbridge sh1te I hate hearing about. Too tight to pay an experienced person the going rate...

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:39PM

Munstermissy its unfortuante ive seen so many people sign up for these job blocking schemes,if they only took the time to realise their own common sense that they were signing themselves out of a paid job,they wouldnt do it in the first place.

They tend to target the most vunerable of our community,the poor and the long term unemployed or recently unemployed,and proport to be ''helping them'' get a job,which is utter bs..

They spend a lot of money on their rebranding,they are going to merge fas with this jobbridge crowd at some point in the future,the whole thing stinks to high heaven and is a mess.

Ive been on one of these schemes years ago,and if i knew then what i know now,(yes i know hindsight),i wouldnt do it in the first place.

I avoid these schemes like the plague now,but anytime i go looking for work in a certain profession all i see is CE rates attached to the work,or ''internship'',they dont train you up for nine months to wipe a table,its exploitation.And there is nothing to legally stop them from using the 9 month revolving door system,after the cooling off period they can pick it back up again,more free labour staff.

They suck up jobs,offer no real training,their courses are ten years out of date,i even checked to see if they had new up to date courses,the whole fas jobbridge thing stinks.

Employers,if they are serious about bringing employment to the community and real business they should employ more locals in the area they come to instead of letting fas and jobbridge suck the jobs right out of the community..

AnnyHallsal · 01-10-2012 06:39PM

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Bloody cheek! Too right you sent him off with a flea in his ear.

THAT'S the kind of Jobbridge sh1te I hate hearing about. Too tight to pay an experienced person the going rate...

Especially since she'd be bringing in business to cover the cost.

Munstermissy · 01-10-2012 06:53PM

This is the first time in over 23 years of my working life that I have been out of work this long, unemployed since last December. I had always been fortunate to land work down through the years. In fairness I personally would accept an internship from a company but only to gain experience in a different aspect of my industry and would add to my cv. That company was not the only one that I approached, others were not interested as I had too much experience, ya can't win, even explaining to them that I accept that there might not be a job at the end of the internship.

Another company I applied to on the Fas site were looking for somebody for their compliance department. Got a reply back advising no current vacancies in the company. Bounced back a mail to them that I was applying for internship, no response to date. I am sure they were looking for somebody with experience to cover maternity leave (I know the girl going out on leave). Now that company pissed me off big time....

boiledsweets · 01-10-2012 06:55PM

Thats tough.You see there are so many applying that these job blockers are in a prime position to cherry pick who they want and who they dont want.And whats worse about it is,apparantely they are a ''jobs service'',well..they certainly dont act like it,they even go as far as to abuse the system,making a revolving door of free labour staff out of it..

DB10 · 01-10-2012 10:57PM

I see Cavan VEC are using the scheme to hire a new caretaker and cleaner free of charge. They must have sacked the old ones to save money.

And these people are an organisation meant to help people with education, grants and employment?

Says it all really, I firmly believe this country has hit the gutter at this point. The current government needs to dissolve and fast, a technocratic government needs to be put in place, people who know what they're doing.

Its fair to say Labour/FG are worse than FF for actual governance.

rude awakening · 01-10-2012 11:01PM

And thats why Every single time you see a scam like that, go to http://www.scambridge.org/ and report it.
Cos its only by continually reporting these that change will happen

allibastor · 02-10-2012 01:58PM

I recently got a letter from the Job bridge crowd saying that we can extend our 6 month intern to 9 months if we want. we only need to discuss it with them and then ask for it.
How is that going to help anyone, we can now just get 50% extra free labour time if we want now, even though we only want a 6 month person and want to take then on then, how does the poor intern survive more or hope to get a better position if the people supposed to be getting them jobs are now saying, hey take them longer for free if you want.

brianinspain · 02-10-2012 02:54PM

I am currently 4 months into a 6 month Jobbridge internship and was more than happy with it. The job is going great, my colleagues are fantastic and it is a real job with great prospects. One of the lucky ones I guess. Best of all I already had a verbal agreement that the company will take me on full time once my internship runs out 30th Nov. I was finally going to get a real paycheck and it would be just in time for Christmas.

That was until today and my boss received the following letter from Jobbridge.

Dear xxx,
We note from our records that you current intern xxxx xxxx, is on a 6 month placement (INTE Reference number xxxxx ). As of October 1st 2012, it has been agreed that 6 month internships may be extended to 9 months subject to all other scheme criteria being met.
We are therefore offering you the opportunity to apply to convert your internship to a 9 month placement. Please discuss this with your intern and if you and your intern decide to extend the placement, please email jobbridge@welfare.ie by 15/10/2012 with confirmation that you both agree and would like to extend the internship to a 9 month placement.
Please include the intern’s name, PPS number and INTE reference number on all correspondence in relation to this.

Kind Regards
JobBridge Team

You can guess what happened after my boss saw it. Yes my internship has now been extended another 3 months!!

I had no warning about this from Jobbridge and cannot understand what they think the interns will benefit from this? I could refuse but then what?

Gutted is not the word. Yes I have been out of work for 2 years and what is another 3 months I guess. But aggghhhhh

rude awakening · 02-10-2012 02:57PM

P!$$3D off is not the word i'd say.
Again this is why this country wont move forward in terms of employment
hard luck mate

micromary · 02-10-2012 02:59PM

I never thought I would say this but u are right. FG/Lab are worse then FF and that is an amzing statment to say. It says a lot about this country when €1bn is being given to AIB unsecured bondholders when Burton wants to cut child welfare.

Not only Jobbridge is being run abjectly, but FAS is a joke. I went into the local office in Baldoyle and they told me to go to Swords as they did not have my up to date address records and refused to change them or have the common sense to ring welfare and change. The weapon was too busy having a good chinwig with a colleague about the weather when I was finished. I went to Swords and advised I wanted to do a night course in Baldoyle. They put me on and said I would get a call within 2 weeks to confirm. When I got no phone call I rung FAS Baldoyle who advised that course was booked up a long time ago and I should not have been put on it.

Latest joke was I was told by FAS to do a similar course in Ballyfermot and I needed to go and attend a information evn yesterday. Again loads of FAS people on the phone to friends and chatting around. Embarressing to say the least. Needless to say I went and it was just filling out a page for about 5mins. I advised that this is ridiculous and it was stupid getting somebody over in rush hour traffic for this. Seriously thinking of applying away from this country. :mad:

allibastor · 02-10-2012 03:05PM

brianinspain wrote: »

I am currently 4 months into a 6 month Jobbridge internship and was more than happy with it. The job is going great, my colleagues are fantastic and it is a real job with great prospects. One of the lucky ones I guess. Best of all I already had a verbal agreement that the company will take me on full time once my internship runs out 30th Nov. I was finally going to get a real paycheck and it would be just in time for Christmas.

That was until today and my boss received the following letter from Jobbridge.

Dear xxx,
We note from our records that you current intern xxxx xxxx, is on a 6 month placement (INTE Reference number xxxxx ). As of October 1st 2012, it has been agreed that 6 month internships may be extended to 9 months subject to all other scheme criteria being met.
We are therefore offering you the opportunity to apply to convert your internship to a 9 month placement. Please discuss this with your intern and if you and your intern decide to extend the placement, please email jobbridge@welfare.ie by 15/10/2012 with confirmation that you both agree and would like to extend the internship to a 9 month placement.
Please include the intern’s name, PPS number and INTE reference number on all correspondence in relation to this.

Kind Regards
JobBridge Team

You can guess what happened after my boss saw it. Yes my internship has now been extended another 3 months!!

I had no warning about this from Jobbridge and cannot understand what they think the interns will benefit from this? I could refuse but then what?

Gutted is not the word. Yes I have been out of work for 2 years and what is another 3 months I guess. But aggghhhhh

In your place, could you not have mentioed to the boss that you had an agreement in place that you would take up work on the initial finish date of your placement. Just have a chat with them that you like working there, but are finding it hard on the job-bridge at the moment and that the though of paid employent is soemthing you require.

are you in a position to leave and do somethign else, if they are happy to extend you maybe they were only dangling the carrot.

boiledsweets · 02-10-2012 04:06PM

ahh dangling the carrot of a job,as always ive been familiar with this when i was working in FAS,we were always told,you never know keep up the good work and you could get a job at the end of it,two years later they are still using the revolving door system of free FAS workers..sickening

The whole system is corrupt full of pen and paper pushers self serving and acting with impunity and of course it is full of nepotism,ive seen it first hand.

I was in a situation with a very bullying and intimidating supervisor,who caused a lot of fas staff upset no end,and in the end we all reported her in unison.However,the fas co ordinator(who we complained to)has kept her on.Once in a state job,its hard to get fired,you could even stand on your head and not get fired.

These fas schemes and job bridge schemes rob what could be a paid job from your community,my advice is to not sign up to them in the first place..

Take a look at scambridge.org to see the reality of how these schemes operate.

Name and Shame Job Bridge

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