<prompt> Human: I applied for benefits in californiathe county of Los angeles and have been unemployed for almost 10 months. I have been trying desperately to find work in my field but nothing has materialized. Originally I applied for unemployment in October 2014 But was rudely told during the phone interview that I wouldnt be getting any benefits. Fast forward to May 2015: I was still unemployed so I decided to apply for unemployment may 15 and received a letter may 18th saying UIEDD will be doing a phone interview with me on May 21st, 2015 to determine my eligibility for benefits. May 21st comes and I accidently miss their call because I am one day late on my cell phone payment because Im unemployed. My cell carrier does this weird thing with the cell service when someone is late on their payment. What they do is they either 1 shut off your services completely or 2 stop incomingoutgoing calls to your cell phone and ONLY forward calls directly to ur voicemail. Luckily, my voicemail was still working so I was able to listen to the UIEDD reps voice mail and call him back. He answers, I explain who I am. Then he says Didnt you get a letter saying you had an interview today??? - He spoke in a rude, annoyed tone. It was only 8:30 AM. I was probably one of his first calls. But he already sounded inpatientunhappyangry. Go figure. I was still hopeful the interview would go well though. So I begin to politely explain that my phone wasnt ringing on my end.He then said So you were denied unemployment benefits last year in October. And you were told why you were ineligible, right? Did you receive a letter in the mail stating this? I said yes.He said Well then why did you apply again! - again he used an angry tone. I then went on and told him that the cust. Serv. Rep. I spoke to last time started an argument with me, was very crypticvague during the phone interview and also very rude. I also said that his behavior deterred me from contesting the decision and from re-applying but that I was in need of assistance and that this need pushed me to re-apply once again; That was why I had applied again despite being denied last time. He said the other rep. Shouldnt have spoken to me that way. Then immediately changed his tone of voice and started questioninginterrogating me. He asked me in a cryptic way of I was able to work. He said Can u drive 1-2 hours away, one way to get to work? I said no. Then he said are u available to work any shift, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, including holidays, even if its in a parking lot at 1am and you are all alone, by yourself? Sounds like he was trying to scare me I said Yes, I can do that if thats all thats available. Its better than nothing.He started saying, But I thought you said you will only work the day shift In your previous interview. Ugh... and u also mentioned you cant work evenings and nights because you want to go to school. I didnt say that, but I assumed maybe he misheard what I had said earlier. What I really said was I wanted to go to school last year but now I dont. So I explained to him again that I wanted to go to college but now I dont.He then cut me off and said Look, let me tell you right now, you are NOT eligible. Okay!?? Do you understand WHY you arent eligible??? then he said for the same reason u werent eligible last time: you arent able to work. I said that was okay I was just applying because I was required to in order to receive food stamps and apply for general relief. When he heard me say that, he IMMEDIATELY became VERY CALM AND POLITE, he stopped interrogating me, wished me luck and ended the call. 2 days later I received the form you fill out right before you receive a check.Was I approved or is this a mistake ???I was told I didnt qualify during the phone interview and that I would receive a letter stating I didnt qualify for benefits. WHAT HAPPENED???  <response>: I had a lady from India, same tone, I was very polite to her said yes maam, no maam and she was still trying to get nasty tell me to be very brief. I got the approval like you did, yes youre fine. Im in LA county as well. Heres what you need to do :Fill out the form, it may have 10 spaces for all the jobs you looked for.Create an excel sheet because you will get these forms every month.Fill ALL of the spaces. And be careful on the boxes make sure you use a black pen.Sign and send back. You will get a notice to attend the Unemployment work shop which is mandatory. Its 2 hours and very well done I think youll be more hopeful after attending. Youll get free resources to use for the job search and the opportunity to visit job fairs and network. If you are a veteran, you will need to attend that class as well. You will need to attend a class of your choosing and then youll have 6 months of benefits, thats it, no longer 2 years like in the past. You will however have option to extend for a year if you take a training course, some of which the state will pay for. I hope that helps. Im sorry they were mean to you, but same thing happened to me, I think they do it to everyone. So recap:1Fill out form, you get this every 3 or so weeks, you MUST fill out all of the jobs spaces, 10 jobs search a month, not hard.2Go to 1 mandatory training Intro course to UE. 2 if youre a Veteran.3Must take a training class at the Employment center of your choosing social networking one was helpful 4You will get an ATM card in the mail, with your initial fund once you fill the form out. You can have your regular bank do an automated transfer into the account you have now to consolidate everything.5Make sure you fill out the form from that point on and mail, typically get paid about a week after you send the form to Sacramento. 