Illustration by Sergio Ingravalle / Ikon Images Like a chain coffee shop calling its smallest cup a “regular’” the Department for Work and Pensions offers no job centre, only Jobcentre Plus. The Norwich one is in Kiln House, a six-storey eyesore built in the 1970s that dominates the corner of Dove Street and Pottergate, which is otherwise a picturesque cobbled lane. After finishing a PhD in English in January 2025, I got to know those cobbles well. Every Thursday for three months I showed up at Kiln House to take my seat on the wipe-clean sofa and await my turn.  Between January and March 2025, I sent 168 applications for jobs at universities, magazines, publishers, estate agents, cafés, charities, insurers, shops and pubs. I interviewed for six companies (an online streaming service, a tutoring agency, a Toyota dealership, a men’s mental health charity, an off-shore wind company, a call centre), and I received one offer (the call centre).…