I mentioned the other day that my so called work coach scrolled through a few job vacancies on her computer and stopped at an advert for 300 vacancies at a call centre in Cwmbran. It was for Griffin Place Communications and she suggested that I find out if it was possible for me to be able to get to the employer in time for all the three different shift patterns that they were advertising. She then encouraged me to write it down in my Work Plan booklet. I wasn't happy about this but I said nothing and let her play her little game of pretending to be friendly while in reality trying to manipulate me into doing something a bit like homework. Once you put it in writing in your Work Booklet it is as good as being given a direction so you will have to do it or face a possible sanction. Although I wrote the details of the company down I didn't write down the three different shift times as I thought it would be easy to find them online but in fact it isn't proving that easy. As she was scrolling through the job vacancy details for Grifffin Place I noticed something that I decided to hold back from commenting on. I noticed that it stated that all applicants must be available for a work trial so I'm wondering if the advert I saw on her computer for Griffin Place has been produced with Jobcentre help. I can't recall any job vacancy in the past stating that all applicants must be available for a work trial. Travelling by public transport from Cardiff to Cwmbran isn't too bad and by bus to Cwmbran bus station is only slightly over an hour away but then getting to the call centre is another matter. I will probably go to the Jobcentre later this week to try and find out the shift times and use one of the available computers. I was told before christmas that when people are called into the Jobcentre to do jobsearch they will be doing things like planning a journey so I guess I am being given some practice. Over the years I have had many confrontations with staff at the Jobcentre and at numerous providers and I can honestly say that I only spoke up for myself when it was important to me and I was being badly treated. My work coach at the Jobcentre may be smug thinking that she manipulated me into completing a task but if she thinks that I wasn't aware of it going on at the time then she really isn't as smart as she thinks she is. The unemployed have to make sure that they don't give those people any reason to sanction them and if it means allowing them to think that they have got one over on us then so be it. Survival is far more important than caring what those small minded people think. Never forget, they smile and come across friendly as long as we go along with what they want us to do. The same person will threaten sanctions as soon as you respond negatively to them.