Gissa Job

By Saban Kazim
shabs.net

Ah, the JobCentre, last bastion of the unemployed. The place you have to go to every two weeks in order to say “yes I have been looking for work, please give me some money”. The place I have to go to in about an hour (hire me?).

I’ve actually read three or four comics _this year_ that feature JobCentres in them, which I think is rather indicative of both the UK art scene and the UK’s society in general. ie. This country is not doing so well economically.

However Kazim’s comic is by far the most creative of all of the ones I’ve seen, as it imitates the JobCentre form they give you to fill out. The comic comes inside the same plastic slip that the form is issued in, and was drawn over an actual form and then photocopied.

I’m not sure if people that haven’t been to a JobCentre will really get this comic, but I thought it was really good. It accurately describes the mind-numbing tediousness of going for your biweekly meeting, and the general idiocy of some of the people that work there. (I was recently asked how the non-profit organizations I was applying to work for would pay me since they clearly didn't make any money...)

The JobCentre is not set up for educated people with actual qualifications, they're (I’m) supposed to be able to find a job by them (my) selves. Instead it’s created for those who have no qualifications or education. Want to be trained in basic computer skills? They’ll pay for that. Want actual help improving your skills in your chosen field? Hah, you’ll have to pay for that yourself.

At least I haven’t been asked to apply to be a Bollywood singer. Yet.