If you're going to have to work for free (volunteering) you might as well do it for a charity and not a regular business.
I did this for the local pdsa shop for 3 months.
I started volunteering before the JC sent me on their 'program'. I was basically fed up of applying for loads of jobs and not hearing back from them (the ones I did get a reply from were along the lines of 'overqualified for the position' etc), so I had to go and do something to get me out of the house to stop me going nuts.
I guess I did something right as they trusted me to take the days takings and pay them into the local bank every week.
It's important to be yourself OP, but you have to temper that with a little bit of a nod to the pecking order. However this does depend on the people you work with and their character; if everyone is fairly close knit then having a bit of a rapport at work might be ok. On the other hand, if everyone is yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir, you have probably shot yourself in the foot if a job offer was seriously in the offering.
But if you're doing this for the jobcentre, then expect to be back in the dole queue when your placement is over. There was never a job for you. You were just being made to conform to the JC's arbitrary bs so they can justify IDS and his work for your benefits policy reforms (a carry over from the labour government... but we'll not get into that hehe).
The only way this might benefit you is that another potential employer might see your willingness to do work for free instead of sitting on your arse all day, despite you being on the dole, as an indicator of 'hmm, this bloke wants to be busy doing something, even when he has no other reason to be busy than his own drive to do something'. If that's the case, in an interview situation you have to make it clear that the idea of volunteering was your idea first and that you did not wait for the JC to push you into action.
A lot of employers see potential employees in a favourable light if they're already working/volunteering/or otherwise engaged with something that requires you to be up and our of the house all day. It conveys the impression of activity and engagement with the world, initiative, if you will.
I did this for the local pdsa shop for 3 months.
I started volunteering before the JC sent me on their 'program'. I was basically fed up of applying for loads of jobs and not hearing back from them (the ones I did get a reply from were along the lines of 'overqualified for the position' etc), so I had to go and do something to get me out of the house to stop me going nuts.
I guess I did something right as they trusted me to take the days takings and pay them into the local bank every week.
It's important to be yourself OP, but you have to temper that with a little bit of a nod to the pecking order. However this does depend on the people you work with and their character; if everyone is fairly close knit then having a bit of a rapport at work might be ok. On the other hand, if everyone is yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir, you have probably shot yourself in the foot if a job offer was seriously in the offering.
But if you're doing this for the jobcentre, then expect to be back in the dole queue when your placement is over. There was never a job for you. You were just being made to conform to the JC's arbitrary bs so they can justify IDS and his work for your benefits policy reforms (a carry over from the labour government... but we'll not get into that hehe).
The only way this might benefit you is that another potential employer might see your willingness to do work for free instead of sitting on your arse all day, despite you being on the dole, as an indicator of 'hmm, this bloke wants to be busy doing something, even when he has no other reason to be busy than his own drive to do something'. If that's the case, in an interview situation you have to make it clear that the idea of volunteering was your idea first and that you did not wait for the JC to push you into action.
A lot of employers see potential employees in a favourable light if they're already working/volunteering/or otherwise engaged with something that requires you to be up and our of the house all day. It conveys the impression of activity and engagement with the world, initiative, if you will.
