Unemployed Mother Told To Take Degree Off CV By JobCentre Staff

Readers, this mother, Rachel Sawford, hasn’t revealed a disability. However, I am sharing this article because something like this could so easily happen to anyone.

I have a degree myself, and if it was me, I would feel that all my struggles for an education were worth very little if I was not allowed to reveal my achievements when it should matter the most. This is exactly why I, personally, am scared of JobCentres, and thankful that I only claim DLA.

Are benefit claimants not human? Do we not have a right to an education? Someone needs to remind Jobcentre staff that not everyone who goes to university can go to Oxbridge and get a job immediately afterwards.

A mother who escaped an abusive relationship to get a degree was told to remove it from her CV by Jobcentre staff to avoid ‘scaring off’ employers.

Rachel Sawford, 29, proudly told the careers advisor about her 2:1 in social work as she asked for help finding a job.

But she was advised to leave her qualification off applications because it would hamper her chances of getting work.

Ms Sawford, from Portsmouth, has blasted the advice, which ‘made my degree seem like nothing’.

She said: ‘They are saying everything I have achieved in the past four years is worthless.

‘I have worked since I was 16 and this is the first time I have been on benefits.

‘I want to get off benefits but I will not take my achievement off my CV.’

The mother-of-one, who graduated from the University of Portsmouth in July this year, hoped to use her qualification to help other vulnerable women in violent relationships.

But straight out of education, she struggled to find work and was forced to sign-on for Jobseeker’s Allowance later that month.

To her dismay, the staff informed her she would be ‘more employable’ for the jobs they had to offer if she hid her BSc (Hons) from would-be employers.

However, the graduate – who now has a £30,000 student loan to pay off – refuses to do so.

She said: ‘I knew it would be difficult for a single mum to find a job, so I went to the Jobcentre to get advice, which is what I thought they are there to do.

‘The contract you sign says after 13 weeks you will have to look for jobs outside of your remit.

‘When they were building the contract on the computer, they asked if I had my CV, so I gave it to her.

‘She said ‘this is lovely but you will have to amend it’ because I would be overqualified for some jobs.

‘She said I would scare employers with my degree. I was shocked.

‘I said I was not happy with that advice because I had worked really hard for four years to achieve it.

‘If I did not want to get a job in this area, I would not have gone to university.’

Ms Sawford, who has a six-year-old daughter, said if she couldn’t find a job as a social worker she wants to do support work or youth projects.

But, currently on a four-week placement as a substitute teaching assistant but, she is still struggling to find employment for when her placement finishes.

Her case follows a study by the Office for National Statistics showing half of recent graduates are in jobs they do not need a degree to do.

Liz Holford, a careers advisor at the University of Portsmouth, said: ‘If people’s circumstances mean they can’t move, it is about seeing what other roles she could consider.

‘A lot of social work jobs say you need experience, but graduates do manage to find employment.

‘I have heard other students say employers only want people with experience but there are a lot of jobs for new graduates, too.’

A spokesman from the Department for Work and Pensions spokesman did not deny staff tell jobseekers to omit the fact they are a graduate.

He added: ‘Jobcentre Plus advisors work with jobseekers to ensure they have the best chance possible of moving into work.

‘This may include helping someone to highlight relevant skills, experience, and qualifications to ensure their CV is focused towards the job they are applying for.’

Almost 40 per cent of people over the age of 21 are now graduates, compared with 17 per cent in 1992.

The Office for National Statistics say non-graduates experienced the highest unemployment rise during the recession.

But some are are still finding it hard to get a job to match the skills they are qualified in.

Many cannot find work at all.

The University of Portsmouth said 93 per cent of social work graduates from its course were in employment six months after graduating.

The research does not show, however, if these are graduate jobs.