Applying for SC

[piotr]

Hi there

7 years ago I was convicted under the Data Protection Act for obtaining and disclosing and fined £500 for each offence.

Potentially my new job will require SC Clearance which means I will declare the conviction on the form.

Is it safe to say due to the nature of the offence I will be declined SC immediately?

There is a story behind it of course which given the chance to explain would put it in to perspective but I feel that might be irrelevent for security clearence?

[DaveB]

Not necceserily.

The point of the disclosure part of SC is that they want to make sure there is nothing you can be blackmailed with. By the time you get to the interview they will already know about it in all probability. Just come clean, explain the circumstances and let them make their minds up. It's not exactly a point in your favour but it's not an automatic rejection.

What will get you a fail is not being competely honest and up front about it, and anything else yo may have done in the past.

[piotr]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your reply - does give me a small glimmer of hope.

Are you interviewed for SC or is it only if they deem it necessary?

I already work for the company, have done for 6 years now, they out source IT to many government departments. I am to be assigned (fingers crossed) to a project with a gov. department and will need SC for it.

The way I was looking at this sitation was, can we trust this guy with sensitive data? My conviction alone would in theory say, no we can't - has given me sleepless nights about tbh!

[watford]

Applying For SC

Most Government agencies are looking for is you being honest , if you don't declare and they find out , they will wonder what else are you hiding ,This might affect a DV application but SC depnds where you are working and what information you are seeing or handling!

[SuperZ]

Not necceserily.

The point of the disclosure part of SC is that they want to make sure there is nothing you can be blackmailed with. By the time you get to the interview they will already know about it in all probability. Just come clean, explain the circumstances and let them make their minds up. It's not exactly a point in your favour but it's not an automatic rejection.

What will get you a fail is not being competely honest and up front about it, and anything else yo may have done in the past.

I don`t think they would know about it before the interview.
In this case I think Dave has a high chance of failing it than others I have read about on here. If you are currently benched, apply for it and hope for the best but keep on looking at non-cleared jobs just in case. Data protection and official secrets etc, kind of go hand in hand.

[pzz76077]

Hi there

7 years ago I was convicted under the Data Protection Act for obtaining and disclosing and fined £500 for each offence.

Potentially my new job will require SC Clearance which means I will declare the conviction on the form.

Is it safe to say due to the nature of the offence I will be declined SC immediately?

There is a story behind it of course which given the chance to explain would put it in to perspective but I feel that might be irrelevent for security clearence?

Provide as much detail in your explanation as you possibly can. Include copies of any official documents that you may has to support your story.

Id say go ahead and apply, but be as honest as you know how.

I once worked with someone that has been convicted of cheque fraud (he got hold of someones cheque book and guarantee card and went on a spending spree) that was 12 years ago but he is now working in a SC cleared role. Took him about 3 months to get clearance though.


Good luck.

PZZ

[malvolio]

I don`t think they would know about it before the interview.
In this case I think Dave has a high chance of failing it than others I have read about on here. If you are currently benched, apply for it and hope for the best but keep on looking at non-cleared jobs just in case. Data protection and official secrets etc, kind of go hand in hand.

They will.

The test is "Do you tell lies".

HTH

[Mr.Whippy]

By the time you get to the interview they will already know about it in all probability.

There is no interview stage for SC. So it's probably best to put any reasons/excuses/migitating circumstances/pleading on the form, on a separate peice of paper if necessary otherwise you wont ever get to tell the story.

Is it safe to say due to the nature of the offence I will be declined SC immediately?

Not necessarily, the only way to find out for sure is to apply.

Good luck, hope it all goes well

[SuperZ]

They will.

The test is "Do you tell lies".

HTH

But I`m sure they use risk profiles also. Certain things will tick certain warning boxes, no matter how honest the individual.

I know of a few who have failed despite being honest. In one case a Police recruit who passed everything else (interview, fitness test) and then failed at the clearance check which was the final hurdle, although Police SC Clearance might be a little different than other SC clearance. They were 100% sure they were honest about everything although did have a few minor convictions in the past.

As per other posts, good luck and do apply for it - don`t be put off. And please let us know the outcome.

[piotr]

Thanks a lot guys - I feel a little better about applying for it now.

To be honest I was actually expecting answers along the line of "don't even try applying" etc - I don't really know the ins and outs of the process, I just assumed the nature of the crime would instantly suggest I wasn't trust worthy.

I will let you guys know the outcome if and when it happens!