Feeling a bit lost and underwhelmed.

[SiSenor]

Hey all,

Over the last six months my life has changed a lot and I'm really not sure what I want to do anymore or where to go.

Not sure how much detail I can go into so I'll try to keep it brief.

I was basically dismissed as a civil servant for gross misconduct sometime last year (breach of data protection). I had looked up a family member on the database to see how our visa application was going - extremely stupid decision, I know. Please spare the judgement, I'm aware how pathetic it was. Anyway, almost two years after I done it, it came to light. No idea how other than I know it was raised by the governing body of my employer, who then reported it to then-employer who investigated.

I was only out of work for three weeks because I got another job where I'm working now.

It was also during this time I was about to receive an offer from a police force, who withdrew it after they learned I was sacked. I told them. I figured I would because I refused to go into work as a police officer each day worrying I'd be called into the office by a supervisor who learned I was sacked, and go through the entire disciplinary procedure again and likely get sacked from there too.

So now my current job pays the bills, but I really dread it. I feel like no matter what I do, I can't seem to get past being sacked. Pretty much every job I want to do involves working in government and obviously, given my history, that's pretty much impossible.

I've no idea what to do. I've learned from my mistake, I was going through some really bad anxious times when I did that and it set my mind at ease. I feel as if I will never get another job as a civil servant or police and I just don't know what to do. I keep telling myself it might be forgiven if I apply in 5 or more years, but with a history of breaching DPA, I doubt it.

Any ideas for someone stuck in a rut? Things could definitely be worse, but I'm someone who made one stupid mistake over two years ago and feel like I'm still paying for it now.

I was thinking of shelling out about three grand for my HGV license to drive the lorries, but I just don't know if it's worth it. I do enjoy driving but I don't know much about the trucking climate and whether or not I'd just be out of work after spending so much money on a license.

All in all, I made a very silly mistake and paid the price. I know... I'm not looking for sympathy or anything like that, and my and my partner's health is all good - so I know things could be worse! Just really stuck for ideas for a career.

Hope your replies are not too judgemental although I understand, haha. Thanks.

In addition, I'm 25. I was 22 when I committed the offence and 24 when I got sacked! Is there a way forward for those with gross misconduct on their CV?

 

[SiSenor]

Is there any possibility of getting back into education maybe an evening course, look through your local college prospectus or have a look at online courses see if anything looks interesting to you.
There is some lorry drivers on here that i hope see this thread as they can advise.
Easier said than done but we all make mistakes, you have learnt from it so just move on dont look back.

I'd considered education but at this moment in time, it isn't really possible for me. Yeah, I was just feeling pretty lost and needed to voice my frustrations and get if off my chest since the so-called wounds are still fresh. I've definitely learned from it, no doubt about that.

As for time frame, i'd assume that a few years and you'll be fine to move past it. It'll only affect you for as long as companies want to go back to that job for a reference. A lot of companies go for around 3 years. I suppose the only issue is if there's some kind of red flag on a database for the breach, but i'd be surprised if so.

Yeah, it'll definitely be in the system against my name however that's only for the civil service so not too worried since I won't be applying for anything in there. I've had two jobs since then solely to put as much employment distance between myself and the sacking as possible but since it was only around 6 months ago, it's still fairly recent.

Why do you want to work in government? The private sector will only ask for references. If you're asked by a prospective employer if you've ever been sacked, say no. Get a couple of roles in the cv and stop worrying about it.

Just because I enjoyed it and was learning so much stuff in there. I think the best advice was to get as much work experience in between getting sacked as possible. The only difficulties I've faced is when applying to new jobs and explaining what skills I bring to the role - pretty much all of my experience in leadership, meeting targets, working to deadlines etc. came from there so it's difficult to bring it up without mentioning why I left. However, I guess that's just the way it is and it's by no means mandatory to even mention it. I do have a previous job which also gave me all these experiences except that was in mental health care and is difficult to talk about when it comes to office-environment jobs etc. Still, I've been applying for a variety of roles so hopefully something comes up soon!

 

[SiSenor]

lol i've been sacked a few times .. you get hot and bothered in a kitchen stress levels thru the roof .. so a fight may happen (btw 20 odd yrs ago)
thing is it really does not matter if your good at what you do you can walk out of one into another .. done this a few times

That's true! I've known one or two to be sacked but just not from the government... not sure how different that is but just feels like it's impossible to get out of this rut right now. I only had about two years experience in that job, so not long. I'm probably just bugging man.

Thanks all for your comments though. They are very helpful