Hi,
I’ve been on Centrelink for about 8 years now and I finally found a full time job. Well to be honest, I’m not sure. I haven’t signed any contract but they already gave me a starting date. So is that as good as gold?
Also anyone have any advice about transitioning from Centrelink to full time work? I have been on Centrelink for a very long time and I’m anxious I might be (profanity) at the job and a whole lot of other things.
remember to report to centrelink when you start so they can change/stop the payments
And hit up your job network provider for fuel vouchers and a wage subsidy for the employer for 6 months.
What is a wage subsidy?
It's when when a job network provider pays part of the jobseekers' wage to the employer as an incentive to keep them on. I believe most places pay a certain percentage for 6 months.
Report income and don't go off clink just in case probation doesn't work out. Easier to stay on and not be paid any money, then jump off and have to reapply.
Good luck and well done with the change.
Good luck with the new job.
You 0 skill at wording
I’d be more concerned about someone who’s always worked and has no skills honestly.
The transition is tough. I can try to jot down a few things that might help you.
Every job you start, its OK if you don't know much to begin with. The jump you make from day 1 to day 90 will be huge. You will look back and think wow I have learnt so much in such a short time. I have had many jobs over the years and you always look back and laugh at your first few days and how nervous you were. It is normal to feel anxious. It would be weird to not feel anything so thats totally fine.
It will all feel very new to you at the beginning, and thats OK, because a few months in, you will forget what life was like before you worked there as it will all be so familiar to you.
Starting at a new job, no one there knows anything about who you are and more importantly who you used to be. See this as a fresh start, as a way of reinventing yourself, or at the very least, putting your best foot forward and being the best possible version of yourself.
Don't be late, be early. I repeat Do Not Be Late. This is the very important. Someone who can't get to work on time reflects on so much more about who they are. Get to work 30 mins early the first month or so. Also don't leave at 5pm on the dot (or whatever time you leave). Working isnt about clocking in by the minute and clocking out by the minute. It is an investment that goes both ways.
Use the first few months to get to know the people around you and the work environment. Each place will have a different environment. See how staff interact with each other and try to fit in. Don't do anything outrageous and most importantly be careful of what you say in the workplace. Nothing sexist, ageist, do not talk about religion or politics.
Thats all i can think about off the top of my head.
Happy to answer any other questions you have.
Good luck on the new job. Knuckle down for 90 days and by then you won't even remember how you felt today :)
Great advice. Make sure you do all the little things right like being punctual.
Is it ok to be quiet and keep to yourself or should you make an effort to communicate and talk with your colleagues. For example will they prefer if I am head down working all the time or conversing every now and then..
I remember the awkward silences were the hardest with no talking In between but also.p everybody was working
You don't have a contract in hand.
How will you know what you will be paid and the terms of your employment?
After many many jobs I can recall only one that I had signed a contract/award with. Most jobs don't have contracts/agreements unless you are in the corporate world.
Good luck,you'll be fine. Most people have no idea what they are doing anyways! lol
How did you go with references? Most jobs want work references and won't even read your resume if there are none present.
Report to Centrelink. You will have built up working credits so you'll keep getting Centrelink payments for a while even though you're earning too much. Continue reporting even when you get no payments - if you lose your job, it is much easier to start getting payments again if you are already on their books than if you have to start a new application! You will stay on their books for a couple of months with no payments before you drop off automatically. You may even want to take occasional unpaid leave to extend the period you stay on Centrelink's books.
Best of luck!!
Oh and most importantly - you obviously have an efficient standard of living where you can afford to live on $200/week. Keep living like that, don't suddenly get expensive habits because you can afford it now. Save that money up and you'll soon be able to invest in a house and repay it early if you keep living like you are now.
I would say the opposite. Work is going to take a toll, she needs to open up the purse strings a little to keep things balanced. Buy more quality food, give yourself little treats, talk to a therapist, go get a massage. Only after you've passed the 6 month mark should you start cutting back on things, and it should be done very gradually.
It's WAY harder to go down in lifestyle quality than it is to go up - once you go up, it will be nearly impossible to go back down, as you'd know if you ever lost your job and found yourself without money so were forced, or if you wanted to save up for something and found it very difficult. The ability to live frugally should be used to full advantage while it's there.
I disagree, but then again I'm not really too familiar with the spending patterns of ordinary people. Regardless, I think the risk of dopamine levels tanking due to the sudden change in circumstance, leading to drinking/drugs/gambling and ultimately the loss of the job, is more of a concern than losing a few bucks in the short term.
She might also consider seeing a doctor to get a antidepressant prescription to smooth the transition a bit. Unemployment is not a fun place to find yourself, and 8 years is longer than all of highschool. Going from that to a fulltime shytkicker position is like redlining it in 2nd gear. Its a lot of stress to deal with
@outlander: antidepressants aren’t for smoothing the transition, they’re for when therapy has failed.
According to you maybe. Antidepressents, or medicine in general, are for whatever you need it to be. Of course it has to be handled responsibly, and if you can't trust yourself to stop you probably shouldn't start them.
@outlander: they flat out don’t work like that though, they’re for chemical imbalance. Not situational issues. The best you’ll get from that if you don’t have a chemical imbalance is a placebo effect, you can’t even abuse them. It’s just simply not how the pharmacology works.
While you're right they are not drugs of abuse, they work on regular people too - just the positives don't really outweigh the negatives unless you really need that reduction in negative mood and anxiety.
@ozbjunkie: anyone they work on has a chemical imbalance, it may just be really mild. Otherwise it’s flat out a placebo effect.
Are you working or have u worked in the medical or mental health field ? If so you would know people arent just treated for chemical imbalances. Having worked in mental health care for a few years now we see alot more cases presenting with stress and anxiety due to bullying, change of job, moving out of home, divorce etc.. in other terms life or situational issues as well as drug and alcohol abuse from above.
Life for some can get complicated quickly sometimes through circumstances beyond your control.
Coping with change can be hard for some people and i agree with outlander that she should be prepared for it and getting any additional counselling or necessary meds is a good idea.
@Spacegirl1972: I have worked in mental health actually, antidepressants are no joke. Pretty sure the only approved reason other than anxiety or depression is Bupropion for smoking. Other than that, you’re not going to respond well enough to an antidepressant to make a significant difference, hence why it’s for treating chemical imbalances. Chemical imbalance isn’t a dirty word, but that’s exactly what it’s for.
Anyone working in the mental health sector thinking that prepping themselves with antidepressants is an acceptable way to cope with a new job is honestly terrifying. Get in contact with a psychologist OP, you genuinely wont need medication unless there’s underlying issues which most likely would’ve been more apparent when you’re unemployed anyway.
As others have said - report to Centrelink because they will find out immediately when you get paid by the company and they register your Tax File Number.
Good luck and hang in there!
Firstly, well done
As others have said, don't be hard on yourself at the start. All jobs are difficult as first whilst you find your feet (I have been in mine for 10 years and still sometime feel like I don't know what to do!)
Wow. I'd say the standards for news have dropped, but we all know 'quality journalism' is a dirty word at the Dailymail
The daily mail is not "news" nor journalism. It is a waste of the IPv4 address space it's written on.
Great example of sensational journalism. It selected one sarcastic comment to portray whole ozbargain community as dole buldgers .
NONE OF US HAVE JOBS DON'T YOU KNOW THIS IS OZDOLEBLUDGER NOT OZBARGAIN
Looks like a BOT has turned forum posts into a "news article".
OP look for your next job in journalism, as you can just cut and paste from internet forums for your stories.
That seems a lot easier than most jobs.
Wow. Lucky the journalist didn't go through ops previous post about spending $4000 on boxing Day and a holiday in the Maldives.
They only know half the story ;)
edit: nevermind
…lol….how does the author know it's a woman and not a man? Nothing in the topic thread mentions gender….
I'm guessing the ops username? Pretty good guess I say.
Hmmm, I guess the reporter probably asked the poster for their gender identity I guess….
Lol at "gaming the system".
As long as you are reporting correctly, clink recommends staying on, in case you are terminated during probation.
I was a dole bludger, then I read the daily mail and now i'm a nazi who likes to kill babies.
I didn’t work for about three years, my biggest mistake was not saving properly because I was so used to having nothing after I’d paid my bills. Find a method that works for you, I put 60% to living, 20% to savings and 20% to spending. I saw it on a bank ad, worked for me. I’m now too sick to work again and not receiving a payment but my savings should last me 6 months before I have to find work again. You’ve got this, best of luck.
good on you for getting out there and finding a job, hope it goes well.
being on benefits, benefits nobody
You've been working for a while, albeit casual work, so why would it be such a big jump?
I like trolling newspapers who believe anything written on the internet and people who read news sites such as dailymail and fall for that bullshit
Did you tip off the daily mail who then promptly posted it? That is ingenious.
So you include us Ozbargainers in that group too with your troll post. Thanks a lot.
I didn’t write the article and I don’t control what people say on the internet
About to go through this soon.. hmm maybe I should post my own story too lol
On and off small jobs here and there since God knows when.
dcep on 13/04/2018 - 12:11 Comment score below threshold.