CV gap - agency asking for bank statements

[uk contractor]

Std practise nowadays. Do it or let someone else get the contract its that simple. If you have nothing to hide what is the exact problem?

[LondonManc]

Your bank statements are confidential and none of their business.

At risk of stating the blindingly obvious, you are an owner of a business providing a professional business service for a price. If you're a contractor your CV should make clear that you're Owner and Director of xyz ltd from date yyyy to the present time, therefore no gap on CV.

You are the contractor scheduled to carry out the work at ClientCo. As such, it is you that is gaining access to their systems and data and their operational risk policy will involve carrying out due diligence on you as the person gaining said access. That's what these checks are about. I've worked in the Operational Risk Reporting team for a large investment bank and there are inherent risks, actions and residual risks after the actions have been taken. One of the actions is the level of screening of people gaining access to both the buildings and the systems; as you'd probably expect, there's different levels of risk assigned to lift maintenance people and data scientist contractors. Similarly different organisations will have different screening requirements - DBS checks, personal statement confirming what you were doing, accountant's testimony, whatever they see fit. I personally don't see what a bank account statement will tell you, especially if it's a joint account but if they've asked for it, it's up to you to negotiate a compromise if you don't want to show them.

[fidot]

I personally don't see what a bank account statement will tell you, especially if it's a joint account but if they've asked for it, it's up to you to negotiate a compromise if you don't want to show them.

Absolutely 100% this

[Eirikur]

Absolute bulltulip.

No it's correct, just got a contract with a bank by doing just this

[Scotslaw]

I was asked a question recently by an agency along similar lines, relating to a large (and not currently ongoing) gap between contracts. They wanted ‘references’ for my time off work. This seemed quite strange, because who apart from me or my personal contacts would vouch for me during my professional gap? And what value would such personal assurances hold in a professional context?
It’s the first time I have been asked such a question, so I was curious why and the agent explained that they recently had a candidate who had a gap because he was in prison!! And it only came to light during a background check, which damaged the agency’s credibility with the client. The rationale made sense to me, though the request for references didn’t

[radish2008]

No it's correct, just got a contract with a bank by doing just this

Good for you. But you increased the risk of being rejected. I had the same initial query with the current bank job and was told if I didn't supply company bank accounts then I would be rejected.

Slightly different as not personal but the same sort of thing.

You could approach this a few ways - send them redacted copies with no balance information on it - either ways it's pointless to argue the toss in my opinion.

[WTFH]

https://forums.contractoruk.com/busi...ntract-bt.html

[LondonManc]

Good for you. But you increased the risk of being rejected. I had the same initial query with the current bank job and was told if I didn't supply company bank accounts then I would be rejected.

Slightly different as not personal but the same sort of thing.

You could approach this a few ways - send them redacted copies with no balance information on it - either ways it's pointless to argue the toss in my opinion.

Why are corporate bank statements any more relevant?

[SueEllen]

I was asked a question recently by an agency along similar lines, relating to a large (and not currently ongoing) gap between contracts. They wanted ‘references’ for my time off work. This seemed quite strange, because who apart from me or my personal contacts would vouch for me during my professional gap? And what value would such personal assurances hold in a professional context?
It’s the first time I have been asked such a question, so I was curious why and the agent explained that they recently had a candidate who had a gap because he was in prison!! And it only came to light during a background check, which damaged the agency’s credibility with the client. The rationale made sense to me, though the request for references didn’t

What jobs do your personal contacts have? I've had to give personal references even without gaps and I tend to choose those in regulated roles so I'm left alone.

I also had to write a statement once when the gap was due to their own fecked up screening process. I mentioned this in the statement.

[Scotslaw]

What jobs do your personal contacts have? I've had to give personal references even without gaps and I tend to choose those in regulated roles so I'm left alone.

I also had to write a statement once when the gap was due to their own fecked up screening process. I mentioned this in the statement.

In the past, I have had to explain gaps saying it was a combination of holidays, applying and waiting for interview calls and screening process following an offer. That was usually sufficient.
The requirement for references for the gap, is new in my experience.

Once I understood that the intent for the ‘gap in employment’ references was to establish that I had not been incarcerated, I offered to share emails confirming all the contract roles I had applied to during the gap in employment. This seemed to satisfy the agent.
If a candidate has had an arrest record or court conviction, they will flag red in a background check. If they don’t flag red, all the personal references or bank statements in the world won’t really prove they weren’t involved in something illegal.
I generally don’t fancy troubling my friends or family for character references for getting a contract! And I struggle to imagine under what circumstance could such references ever to be negative!!

When it comes to references for the time someone’s worked, there are well established practices to confirm their ‘worth’. I think agencies don’t really know what to do with gaps, so they try the same things they use elsewhere… references and financial statements.