Name and Shame Job Bridge

skimpydoo · 02-10-2012 04:48PM

boiledsweets wrote: »

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

Sadly link above is not working all I get is Error establishing a database connection

boiledsweets · 02-10-2012 04:52PM

Yeah i got that a couple of times,but sometimes it acutally works,it is well worth a read of some of the stories..Here ill copy and paste one;

Home » Scam a Day » Scam: It’s a dirty job….someone should be paid to do it!
Scam: It’s a dirty job….someone should be paid to do it!

Posted by Paul Murphy on Oct 1, 2012 in Scam a Day | 0 comments

M&T Plant Hire are looking for a drain cleaner. Just look at what you could learn : “The intern ….will learn how to work with people and learn how to be responsible and accountable for their work.”

How to work with people? Learn to be responsible and accountable? That’s a job not an internship you scam-merchants.

Luke: “Within a couple of months of my arrival my employer sacked two of the experienced staff members leaving the team leaderless as a result”

Posted by Paul Murphy on Oct 2, 2012 in ScamBridge Stories | 0 comments

I worked for a telesales company in Rathmines. At interview it was the usual drill, if I got business for the company I would be given a paid position at the end of the nine months.”well, happy days” I thought, little did I suspect that the nature of the comments about giving me a job should I get business for the company were completely mendacious and disingenuous and the mendacity of the comments was exposed seven months later.

I got business for the company , business that the company would not have got without my assistance and, yet surprise, surprise I was let go after just seven months under “the campaign needs to be closed we are not getting sufficient business.” Yet I and another member of staff were the only people who were let go to my knowledge, and who lost their jobs or opportunity to get employment in my case. It was a curious strategy on the one hand, my employer complained bitterly to me towards the end about the lack of leads. As if it was my fault that customers were voting with their pockets, in the worst recession in living memory and refusing to buy windows and doors which they did not need in the first place! Yet at the one and the same time, within a couple of months of my arrival my employer sacked two of the experienced staff members! This left the team leaderless as a result, so it should not have been a surprise to my boss that sales were falling when the team was effectively leaderless and reliant totally on me and other rookies to gain sales, something of which we had no prior experience, yet opprobrium was placed on me for this despite the fact that I did get sales for my employer and leads. And despite the fact that the acquisition of leads was totally beyond my control, reliant totally on the reality that the customer must buy, in sales it is simple there must be buyers, and there were not!

Yet this simple reality was ignored and I was let go for something which was totally beyond my control, so I say to all young people it is a scam! It is exploitation and it is wrong. What does the government do? Do they own up to the fact that their “scheme” has been a spectacular failure and has merely concealed the fact that we have a worsening unemployment situation in Ireland? That less and less people are actually working for real money and paying real taxes, Jobbridge does nothing, one is not paid, one learns nothing and one is basically exploited by companies only too happy to save cash at a time of crisis! But No, this government plaw mawses us all with crap such as oh well 37% of those who participated in the scheme progressed on to full time employment, 37% that is pitiful, it is FAILURE, 63% of those who participated in the scheme DID NOT progress into employment , that is the more relevant fact here!

Also this government may be the most educated in our history, no one could argue that Leo Varadakar for example is unintelligent, he is not , he is a qualified doctor and needed and got top points in the leaving cert to achieve this, kudos to him, but like the others he is politically a light weight, mediocre and has no acumen in the area that he is working in at the moment, political leadership, it is conspicuous by its absence in this inept government. So Young people I say to you do not accept any offer of employment unless you are PAID, to do otherwise is to consent to exploitation by rapacious and unscrupulous employers SAY NO TO EXPLOITATION FOLKS SAY NO TO JOB BRIDGE AND INTERNSHIPS

sky2424 · 02-10-2012 05:09PM

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

WOW I'm speechless- What idiots even contemplated for a second that this was a good idea? And offering your services for free without notifying you let alone asking you?! I'm absolutely gobsmacked.

skimpydoo · 02-10-2012 05:19PM

boiledsweets wrote: »

Yeah i got that a couple of times,but sometimes it acutally works,it is well worth a read of some of the stories..Here ill copy and paste one;

I managed to get in by viewing cached versions of the website.

boiledsweets · 02-10-2012 05:23PM

Oh i must do that myself as i have been trying to get back on to scambridge.org,its well worth the read,there are loads of stories,i was thinking of adding mine in the comments section..

sky2424 · 02-10-2012 05:44PM

boiledsweets wrote: »

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.

Off topic but your timing couldnt have been better! Albeit they prob still wont get rid of the dead wood..

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1002/voluntary-redundancy-scheme-for-public-sector-business.html

wheretheskies · 02-10-2012 05:45PM

The company I work for has decided to take on our Job bridgeintern full-time in three weeks when his internship finishes. It was a bit shaky at the start but the intern worked hard, showed enthusiasm and rightly deserves the job. This person had no relevant experience only relevant qualifications when they started but it has paid off for them.

I remember when this intern started, our bosses said if tie intern showed promise they would be hired so I really believe the company knows their intentions at the start. Cannot stress enough how important is to ask about your job chances after the internship at the interview - the candidate who got the internship with us was the only one who asked this out of 7 interviewed.

boiledsweets · 02-10-2012 06:00PM

Very few get taken on,and most of them dangle the carrot of a job there,but your just doing the donkey work for a 9 month revolving door system of free labour staff..

Thats job exploitation.

road_high · 03-10-2012 09:42AM

Made profits of €135 million plus in 2011....but guess what, they are well in on this scam as well. If our biggest and most prestigious companies are in on this sham what hope have we to create jobs in the "knowledge" economy.

http://jobseeker.fas.ie/Default.aspx?q=B+fomdowzS8kaDnSlUDk1zaMUPiFEeNrNWjviinu490thmC2C0u+DEjlnaOgDCLZGdXtXyI5oUwSmTnOxIjzz15z3ISsG/fKtzZOm4vUTgdk7TJfBEOo3ev0C6KdPJss89eh2C3V+D7eZedyWUlo+PiYUIdCefxnn0e7e28fT9+hR0QRQT5tqys9AUBPyqGiJnSCcx+fTeA6mrv3cHtEoQ25m83ZBV2XmvrjD3/AVP06V0uzr8ix8gntaZ3+kHMLs/fEw+twK/V0Um7nfpbqd/NpG8d3hH/J50HuBWucq8j+XX+YrSdlltMak/La3XXp3ErfJTGK3ME60m6rP8Hex+dA9rRUf37E8vdGgBjvGbZb+f4A3419icuVlhK9kvp5ZlW+HHhcK5zRfgiV4abvPlqydLhZ7CcaJ9i02u5JoQJQJvJxEbyxlGCoqgsRIeIYYdLq6ozXhgzikZsM4a7D+/bcssduM5CF

Would imagine in normal times pre this joke, a job like this would have commanded circa the 25k mark for a graduate. It's shocking the govt is promoting this, I'm absolutely livid.

brianinspain · 03-10-2012 10:09AM

allibastor wrote: »

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.

Yes we already had the discussion and he was really apologetic about the situation. But it came from HR that he had to extend. He said I could file a complaint to them if I wished to but for obvious reasons I dont want to go down that route.

Thankfully there is most likely a job waiting at the end as I took over from someone who left shortly after I started and they find it nearly impossible to get replacement staff. Its a niche development job which they usually have to recruit from Europe to fill. My cynical side would say well even if they dont mean the offer they may have to keep me. Replacing me after 9 months and retraining someone else would not be worth the time or twice the salary!

My main problem though is not with the employer but with Jobbridge. As sky2424 said who decided it was in my best interests to offer my services for free? I wonder if this will affect many more interns on 6 month contracts?

Mrs OBumble · 03-10-2012 12:51PM

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

I'm another left speechless by this.

And I would suggest that you need to get busy job-hunting.

If this is how they treat you now, when you're essentially a volunteer, then I don't expect it to be any better when you're a paid employee. This company does not respect you.

I wouldn't believe the boss's line about HR insisting, either. It's highly unlikely that HR run his budget for him - and he knows that you cannot realistically know if he's lying or not. So no matter how nice he seems, that puts him in the "do not trust" bucket, IMHO.

Good luck finding a paid job.

road_high · 03-10-2012 01:05PM

JustMary wrote: »

I'm another left speechless by this.

And I would suggest that you need to get busy job-hunting.

If this is how they treat you now, when you're essentially a volunteer, then I don't expect it to be any better when you're a paid employee. This company does not respect you.

I wouldn't believe the boss's line about HR insisting, either. It's highly unlikely that HR run his budget for him - and he knows that you cannot realistically know if he's lying or not. So no matter how nice he seems, that puts him in the "do not trust" bucket, IMHO.

Good luck finding a paid job.

I agree. I dunno who is worse the numpties in FAS that sent this letter or the employer who decided he'd get another 3 months blood for nothing. Would they be so quick to "work" on one themselves I wonder??

Very sorry to hear this happend you OP. As others have echoed here, get that CV up to date and try for real jobs elswehere if you can. Who's to say in 3 months time they won't mess you are around again and decide to "hire" another "worker" for nothing. Just going by their past performance.
Easy for me to say but I'm not sure I would have agreed to the extension in light of what was promised.
The whole thing is absolutely rotten. I'd love to stand for election an anti-Jobbridge agenda. The whole thing just repulses me beyond belief.

boiledsweets · 03-10-2012 01:09PM

What sickens me about this whole job bridge / fas fiasco is that they are looking for highly qualified people on some of their high skilled jobs bracket.They should be paying them.They say training is the merit of fas / job bridge jobs,which i think is BS personally,training for 9 months on a waitress job for wiping tables?Hardly.

Its by the very nature of it a job blocker,and its job exploitation at its worst,we are in a recession and they are targeting the uneducated,the poor,and the long term and short term unemployed,and those who are recently made redundant.Shame on our government for keeping this job scam open,robbing jobs from the public.

A little interesting fact,does anybody know that FAS even have a pension board,they are paying them pensions straight from the state pocket,and its counted as social welfare,maybe thats why the bill is so high.

They need to get rid of all the FAS dead wood for a start if they are to cut the social welfare bill again.Its a disgrace to our nation.

ABajaninCork · 03-10-2012 01:18PM

I'm absolutely gutted for you BrianinSpain. I think there was no real intention to offer you a job, and that you were being strung along. God only knows how many others this has happened to.

Why don't you send this off to the Scambridge guy? (anonymously of course!

). He might be able to raise a question.

Given the reaction I got from my local TD's, it'll be a waste of time telling them about it. They couldn't give a monkey's...

sky2424 · 03-10-2012 04:48PM

brianinspain wrote: »

Thankfully there is most likely a job waiting at the end as I took over from someone who left shortly after I started and they find it nearly impossible to get replacement staff. Its a niche development job which they usually have to recruit from Europe to fill. My cynical side would say well even if they dont mean the offer they may have to keep me. Replacing me after 9 months and retraining someone else would not be worth the time or twice the salary!

Agreed- I wouldn't file a complaint. If I were you I would:

Ask to meet the manager again for a quick chat and reiterate that you're disappointed that your internship is extended but are willing to continue for another 3 months on the basis that you recieve something a bit more concrete and that he and HR draw up your contract Now and issue you a signed copy. Ask him to ensure that this confirms your start date, salary, if you will be subject to a 6 month probationary period even though youve had a 9 month work period by the time you start( and the other usuals- annual leave entitlement, sick pay and holiday allowance.)
Aknowledge that the company are not going to pay you a salary for now but ask for expenses to be paid for the now additonal 3 months unpaid- lunch, travel, rent. It'll still amount to a lot less than salary but if the company are true to their word, then they'll be decent enough to at least cover your expenses
Keep job searching in the mean time

I think their response to drawing up your contract will be very telling of their intentions. And seeing as you willing to work for free for another 3 months, then they should have no issues with it and issue it pretty quickly. On the expectation that they do issue a contract now, at least youl be privy to your expected salary now and can negotiate it before your start date. My guess/expectation is that they'll underprice you.

I woudnt tell them just now that you dont want to keep working with them ( I still dont agree with what the Job bridge people did but), you may as well use the situation to the best of your advantage.

All the best

Gary The Gamer · 03-10-2012 06:16PM

hold on a second. Getting paid expenses is a salary. You are basically working on the sly whilst claiming the dole.

boiledsweets · 03-10-2012 07:35PM

brianinspain,if i were you i would look for a job elsewhere,these guys arent going to give you the job,thats what it looks like,keep the chin up and keep looking.

these job bridge people are job blockers,if it wasnt for the likes of fas and jobbridge there would be more jobs free'd up out there..

its an absolute scandal.

rude awakening · 03-10-2012 07:55PM

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch with us recently about our campaign against JobBridge called ScamBridge.org

The response since the site was launched last week has been phenomenal. I have had a lot of contact from people who have experienced this scam or are opposed to it.

Because of the huge response, I want to try to have a meeting with as many people as possible who want to get involved to discuss how we can organise this campaign and what we can do to highlight the abuse of this scheme and what the goals of the campaign should be. I have booked a meeting room in Wynn's Hotel on the corner of Abbey Street and O'Connell Street (Dublin) for Sunday at 3pm. It would be great if you could attend.

I know this is short notice and it may not be possible if you live a long distance away, but I think at the minute we have some momentum on this issue and we should try to organise as quickly as possible. From this meeting we can discuss what sort of actions we should take, how we can organise in as many different parts of the country as possible and involve as many people as possible. If you cannot make it but would like to contribute to the meeting feel free get in touch with any suggestions you have. If you know there are some people in your area who might want to get involved please invite them or if you would like to organise the campaign or an action in your area please get in touch and we can arrange to travel to meet you.

We plan to use a mailing list to keep in touch with people and share press releases or information we receive about JobBridge ( we are currently waiting on a reply from Joan Burton to a number of questions we had submitted in the Dail) , or to organise local actions. If you do not wish to remain on this mailing list let me know and I will remove you from it.

Thanks,

Paul

boiledsweets · 03-10-2012 08:04PM

Its good that he acutally replies instead of those awful automated email responses,it shows they dont really care,that they are not really concerned.

ABajaninCork · 03-10-2012 08:14PM

I really hope something comes of this meeting. But I'm wondering what the meeting objective is.

It's good that people can come together to share experiences, but we really need something DONE about it. OK, one meeting won't formulate an action plan, and we need to keep this going.

I'm going to drop him a line and ask if there's any plans for meetings in the south (Cork!!

).

road_high · 03-10-2012 10:28PM

Gary The Gamer wrote: »

hold on a second. Getting paid expenses is a salary. You are basically working on the sly whilst claiming the dole.

Oh please.......I dunno what to say to such self righteous rubbish. Attidudes like this are what have the JobScam in place in the first place.

Mariol · 03-10-2012 10:56PM

But you're not supposed to be getting extra whilst on Jobbridge, no? I think Gary may be right here.

Gary The Gamer · 03-10-2012 11:00PM

mfitzy wrote: »

Oh please.......I dunno what to say to such self righteous rubbish. Attidudes like this are what have the JobScam in place in the first place.

? LIsten if you want to get money off your employer for work experience then stop taking social welfare money. Sign off the dole and agree a low salary with an employer. The state should not supplementing private wages.

road_high · 03-10-2012 11:18PM

Gary The Gamer wrote: »

? LIsten if you want to get money off your employer for work experience then stop taking social welfare money. Sign off the dole and agree a low salary with an employer. The state should not supplementing private wages.

LOL. You do actually know that in essence that is what Jobsbridge is?...I suggest you go do a little research on how it operates before posting non-sense on here. You're clearly clueless as to how it works. Why would the employer agree to pay a salary...that's kinda the whole point for them...free workers paid for by my taxes.
Jobsbridge "wages" are social welfare rates and paid via Social Welfare plus €50.

Mariol · 03-10-2012 11:22PM

But is it right/wrong for someone on the Jobbridge scheme getting their social welfare payment + 50e p/w + extra under the table?

reallyrose · 03-10-2012 11:34PM

From the JobBridge website.

Out of pocket expenses - There is nothing to prevent a host organisation reimbursing an intern for expenses incurred as part of the internship. However, expenses should not be provided for normal activities such as travel to and from the intern's base and normal expenditure incurred on a day to day basis

Mariol · 03-10-2012 11:44PM

So that doesn't cover any payments made because the company feels like you deserve it on top of what you're getting from SW?

Gary The Gamer · 04-10-2012 08:21AM

Mariol wrote: »

But is it right/wrong for someone on the Jobbridge scheme getting their social welfare payment + 50e p/w + extra under the table?

This money is also paid by the state. I preferred the wpp scheme as it was cheaper and there was no financial incentive to them.

boiledsweets · 04-10-2012 10:48AM

But,It still cost the government as they are paying the workers who are picked up for free by companies who come to ireland to set up....Hardly a way to attract real business...our government obviously didnt think it through properly..

allibastor · 04-10-2012 11:20AM

Guys, i will say it again, the government is in its interest to keep this programe going as the take from business taxes is much higher then the personal tax take from a worker. if a business generates a decent wage from a person, or indeed has a better quality and system of work which will generate more profit, or less expentiture, it is a win for government as they will gain access to higher tax returns from the company. what 1-4 people in the company make and pay taxes is neglible by comparison.

i am sorry to say, but the governemtn have adoopted the stance that it is better to keep a company in business and in profit then it is to have tax paying workers.

Name and Shame Job Bridge

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