FINALLY I have a spare moment to update my blog in what has been a hectic last few months.

My last post talked about my search for work in Swansea. I have found work at HMV in the quadrant. This is great for me as I am a big music/entertainment buff.

This job is temporary however which seems to be the trend for job vacancies in a recession.

But for now I am thoroughly enjoying my time there where I am working between 50-60 hours a week. It is fair to say I am exhausted.

In the last few months I have applied for more than 50 jobs. I was looking primarily for full time hours on a permanent basis. Clearly these are hard to come by so I was forced to change my focus to include temporary positions.

The Jobcentre and Government figures will show another person getting back to work that can only be a positive indicator of a recession fading away.

What I will say however is that during the time I was unemployed, the Jobcentre was of no help to me whatsoever. There is literally no point in it existing. It is not hard to see why so many people are unemployed and the Jobcentre can claim no credit for me getting a job.

I had to visit the local Jobcentre regularly to prove that I was looking for work while I was claiming job seekers allowance. My meetings with 'advisors' there basically consisted of a short conversation that goes a bit like this -

Advisor -'So have you been looking for work?'

Me- 'Yes I have'

Advisor- 'Ok good, see you in two weeks '

It really is laughable. I know that unemployment has gone up and they now have to see more and more people who are looking for work but the service is embarrassing. I was not offered or suggested a job by the Jobcentre for two months.

I then put my CV with a private employment agency. Less than 24 hours later I was rung by a member of their staff asking me if I wanted to work on the Swine flu help line based in Conduit that started the next day. It really was that simple.

This was temporary of course and I only ended up doing one shift as HMV then offered me a job. But the point I am trying to make is that in 24 hours the employment agency had me in work and off benefits, which is what I have wanted. Basically if you want work forget the Jobcentre.

Also, jobs like HMV and other retailers advertise via their private websites so check there first which is what I did. In my opinion the Jobcentre is such a waste of public money it is unbelievable. If someone can tell me what the advisors do for anyone I would be grateful. It really does need a shake up or review. There is a lot more potential available to put more people in jobs. It is simple as proved by private employment agencies.

Continuing with my job search, I was also offered a temporary job at Marks and Spencer, which was great. I had my interview on October 15.

But you can imagine my face when the interviewer tells me that my contract commences on November 30 and ends on Boxing Day. How odd is that?

I was grateful to them for offering me a job but the time between my interview and start date meant I could not take the job. I needed to earn money immediately, which is what HMV provided.

So for now I am happy and working hard. I am off to enjoy the rest of my day off. I need to make the most of it as I don't have another until we are well into our advent calendars.

Christmas is so close and it is creeping up fast, I haven't even thought about it yet but that is for another blog maybe. Bye for now

Chris.