SC Check - employement

opethdisciple said:
I was arrested. It wasn't a caution, it was an arrest. I had a quarter of marijuana on me.

It was a random stop and search in Earls Court. I full complied and didn't resist. They asked me if I had anything on me I shouldn't.

I said yes, some weed. They took me in the car to the station for processing.

Finger prints, DNA everything was taken.

They did say to me though that the record or the evidence only lasts for 5 years.
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Then if the question on the form is Have you any past convictions, then you are telling the truth by saying no.

What does the question actually say?
 
Just tell them everything. What they are looking for is how blackmailable or bribable you are and if your still taking drugs or doing anything that can be seen as dodgy. They want to figure out how likely it is that you will sell your country out to our enemies basically. If you lie about something and they know, they will fail you and you will never be able to get cleared.

I have a DV which is a full on interview by the man (more like interrogation), checking references, full background check, family history, finances, etc and takes about a year to get. SC is much quicker and less intrusive. They don't usually do a face to face interview for those.
 
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This is the thing people forget.

With SC and DV, it's not about what you've done in the past (although yes, that can have a bearing), it's about you being direct, open and honest about it.

Remember, this isn't you telling them what you've done. This is you confirming to them what they already know. If it happened to you, and you declare it, when you're vetted (although for SC, most even aren't) they might just ask you about it.

Being honest, your little incident pales into insignificance compared to some of the things I know people have successfully been vetted against (for both SC and DV)
 
robfosters said:
Then if the question on the form is Have you any past convictions, then you are telling the truth by saying no.

What does the question actually say?
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I don't have any forms yet. Was just enquiring how the SC Check worked.

They said to me that some people in the past have started then failed the SC Check and they have had to let them go.

I didn't want that to happen to me.
 
Django x2 said:
This is the thing people forget.

With SC and DV, it's not about what you've done in the past (although yes, that can have a bearing), it's about you being direct, open and honest about it.

Remember, this isn't you telling them what you've done. This is you confirming to them what they already know. If it happened to you, and you declare it, when you're vetted (although for SC, most even aren't) they might just ask you about it.

Being honest, your little incident pales into insignificance compared to some of the things I know people have successfully been vetted against (for both SC and DV)
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OK. So all I have to be is upfront about it rather than keep it hush hush.
 
I got SC having been in a similar situation. For me it was so long ago that I couldn't really remember what happened. Heed the good advice on here from those that have posted already. Be honest - they only want to know if you're blackmailable or bribeable because of secrets you're ashamed of. It'll be of no concern if you're up front. DV is another matter entirely though.
 
Just be honest and declare everything, as others have said, having done something "dodgy" is not necessarily an issue, attempting to conceal it is. It's about assessing your character and likely future behaviours, not finding out if you did stupid things as a kid.

The vetting agency will already know (be able to find out), even if you were only arrested and never charged it's recorded.

This is the same check that every member of the armed forces and police have, you think you're the first person ever to go through an SC, or even DV, check and have some questionable things in their past?
 
From the Gov website

If you have a criminal record this will be judged on its own merit. It is important to be completely open about any criminal history, you should include details of any spent convictions and police cautions in your security questionnaire.
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Having been through DV in a previous life, just be open and honest.

Also from the same site, it says you must notify if:
you have received a criminal conviction or have been arrested or cautioned by the police (including by military police if relevant);
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So it's very likely it will be on the form
 
opethdisciple said:
Any one have any experience of this?

I've been told by a potential employer that they would have to run an SC check on me before I can get a role.

I was arrested in 2001 for 'possession of a small bag of herbal marijuana'.

How does his work and would this stand against me?

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Honestly the police should not dish out arrests willy nilly for small things if they are going to have a serious impact on the rest of a persons career. In 2001 I was around 1 year in to Uni. And it was a random stop and search as well.
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You did illegal thing and now must pay for it. Should've thought it through in begining.
 
opethdisciple said:
I don't have any forms yet. Was just enquiring how the SC Check worked.

They said to me that some people in the past have started then failed the SC Check and they have had to let them go.

I didn't want that to happen to me.
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Often that's due to what hadn't been disclosed rather than what they put on the form. Like has been said been open and honest and you should be fine.
 
Very often it's the case that they are not concerned with what you did but more the fact you are open and honest about.

Have friends that have required dv clearance.
 
Do arrests without charge get recorded anywhere? Seems odd that someone can be arrested, found to have done nothing wrong but there is still a record of the arrest and the reason for the arrest on file.
 
mr tommo said:
Do arrests without charge get recorded anywhere? Seems odd that someone can be arrested, found to have done nothing wrong but there is still a record of the arrest and the reason for the arrest on file.
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Yes, they are held on local police systems with some also being added to the Police National Database. How long they are there for depends on the offence and is managed by the Management of Police Information (MoPI) rules.
 
OK. So the bottom line is I shouldn't fear being offered this role and then failing any SC checks? As long as I disclose I was arrested back in 2001 for possession of weed.

It really throws a spanner in the works, because it makes it hard for me to choose whether to accept the role if they offered it too me, considering there might be other opportunities. :rolleyes:
 
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Evole said:
You did illegal thing and now must pay for it. Should've thought it through in begining.
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Don't be ridiculous, he was a kid at uni 15 years ago... Do you really think we should live in an authoritarian state where people who have not harmed anyone are potentially penalised for their entire life? The fact that a few people in government impose their iron fist rule on the public in this way is an outrage in the first place.
 
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In my experience nationality plays the biggest role of all by far...

When I did SC it took all of about 5 minutes - "Nationality? British... Parents? British... Grandparents? British.... Convictions etc? Nope..." left the room for a few minutes then "Okay, welcome aboard"... By contrast colleagues from overseas were on a sort of probationary clearance status for ~3 months or more...

As people above have said DV is a different matter all-together... I didn't fancy it as although I have nothing to hide I preferred not to get further into that line of work and instead moved elsewhere
 
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