Pros
If you like work that will keep you on your toes, work on the frontline in a Jobcentre. It differs from office to office but in my experience, working in Willesden and Harlesden primarily, it was very lively. It’s great fun because you never have time to be bored, and the people on the most part are great - I never thought I’d have a ‘work family’ and ‘work wife’ etc but I really did here. I trusted these people with my life - you need to at times. Working with the public can be amazing too, you really have the opportunity to change lives. I enjoyed this as a gateway into the civil service and I also found the interview process tremendously easy. This was my first ever job interview and I scored 25/28 , then when I left for study break and had to reinterview I scored a full 28/28. As long as you have basic comprehension and common sense you will ace the interviews. It’s also a great place for working class parents who need a job that pays decent while allowing flexibility around families.
Cons
All those positives about it being lively, and the staff, and working with the public - can all be flipped too. It can sometimes be unreasonably busy and things go into complete meltdown. For example if a work coach or two call in sick and you have to cover all their appointments on top of your own. Sometimes a ‘10 minute appointment’ can also turn into an hour if the person has specific needs or requires help with something which has a huge knock-on effect for your own workload and your colleagues’. The public can be lovely as mentioned, but you do et that 5% who ruin it for the others. One man tried to kill my friend for absolutely no reason (he was just insane I guess). One staff member got chased at knifepoint (she deserved it in fairness, horrible woman). One customer also threatened to wait for me after work and stab me to death because I asked him what time his appointment was. But security are generally pretty good and some risked their lives in front of their eyes. It can be dangerous in summary but I find if you treat people with respect you get it back - although there are always loose cannons you can’t predict. Also completely different topic but management is awful. They are seen as a common enemy among staff in most cases. You get the odd good one but most are playing office politics or have been moved around offices because of complaints. DWP never actually disciplines or fires bad managers, they just move them somewhere new until that place gets sick and complains about there behaviour too, then the cycle goes on.