Support with finding a job from Jobcentre Plus
How Jobcentre Plus can help you find a job.
Jobcentre Plus is a universal service. This means staff will help anyone receiving benefits to find work or move closer to being in work.
You can visit your local Jobcentre Plus to look for work on their jobs boards from the age of 16.
Most people become a customer of Jobcentre Plus when they apply for Universal Credit. This will usually be at 18 or older, although there are some exceptions.
If you are unsure if you can access help from Jobcentre Plus, you can visit them to ask. You can also check if you can get Universal Credit at GOV.UK.
How Jobcentre Plus can help you
Generally, if you are aged 18 to 24 you can have a youth work coach. Your work coach will contact you every 2 weeks. You may meet face-to-face, on the phone or in an online meeting.
Some people will have weekly contact with their work coach for the first 13 weeks of their job search and meet face-to-face to get regular support.
Work coaches can ask other staff at Jobcentre Plus, such as disability employment advisers, to help you with employment and self-employment.
Your work coach can also help to make sure that you apply for all the benefits that you are entitled to.
Find out more about applying for benefits on the Local Offer finance pages.
To find out what you may be entitled to, use the benefits calculators at GOV.UK.
Meeting with your work coach
Your work coach will get to know you and talk to you about your skills, interests and any qualifications you have.
If you choose, you can bring someone to support you when you meet your work coach. If there is a reasonable adjustment or something that will help you during the meeting, let your coach know.
They can help you write a CV (curriculum vitae), which is a page of information about you, your skills and qualifications and any jobs that you have had. A CV helps employers decide whether they should invite you to an interview.
Your work coach will support you to find suitable jobs and apply for them.
If you have additional needs or a disability, you can talk to your work coach about how these affect your daily life. You can also discuss how an employer can make reasonable adjustments to enable you to work. You may find it useful to complete a Health Adjustment Passport.
Work coaches can help you and a potential employer apply for Access to Work funding.
Health Adjustment Passport
A Health Adjustment Passport is a form that you can use to help you think about your needs and explain them to other people.
The passport will also help you to identify what help and changes can help you move into work or stay in a job. You can use it if you apply for support from the Access to Work fund.
Find out more about Health Adjustment Passports at GOV.UK.
You can get Health Adjustment Passport forms in different formats including large print and easy read versions.
Work capability assessments and health
If you have a health condition, you can declare this when you make a claim for Universal Credit. You will be asked for evidence and then you may have a work capability assessment.
See GOV.UK for more information about health conditions, disability and Universal Credit.
While you are waiting, your work coach will discuss any work-related activities that you are able to do.
If your assessment states that you are fit for work, your job coach will discuss your preparation for employment. They will talk about work search activity using reasonable adjustments based around your condition. You may also see a disability employment advisor.
If you are assessed as being unfit for work, Jobcentre Plus will get in touch with you to see if you need any support, but may not ask you to look for work.
Find your local Jobcentre Plus
There are Jobcentre Plus offices in the following towns in West Sussex. The links below will take you to our Local Offer directory pages for each office, where you will find contact details and a map to help you get there.
If you live in Brighton and Hove or another area, you can find your nearest Jobcentre Plus on GOV.UK.