Security Clearance (SC) Q&A Read first before asking questions

[DiscoStu]

Hi all
I landed on a Permie position in one of the Public Sector services and they want a SC done.
They asked for 5 years of residential addresses, 5 years of employment history and 10 years of financial circumstances.

There is one Glitch which is bothering me a lot and don't know what to answer.
3 years ago I have worked for a company in a customer facing role. I have also done some UAT testing at the same time(which is not usually a part of the job). Now I moved into Testing completely from the past 3 years.
When I applied for this new job the CV I sent said UAT tester instead of the actual role title (because the role title doesn't appeal to a testing position). This is the case with most of the UAT testers.
Now, when I give my employment history I will mention the exact position title. Do they cross check with CV and will it be a problem?.. I explained the interviewer who has a testing background and he understood and is OK with it.
And secondly, if they go to the HR of that company, they(HR) will not have any idea that I have done UAT testing while I am there. I can give my line managers reference and he can tell them what I have done.

My question is do they accept line manager's reference or will they go to the HR.

Appreciate your advise
Thanks a lot

Not quite sure why you needed to ask three times I'm quoting from here.

Your sponsor will have full access to everything you put on the forms to the vetting agency with the exception of the criminal records statement (which is why it's in a separate section) which is marked with a simple pass or fail. Otherwise, how else can they assess your suitability to be cleared for the role in question? It's a test of your honesty and ability to be blackmailed or coerced: everything will be cross-checked anyway and hiding things is utterly pointless.

So yes, your sponsor may well find out you've been creative on your CV.

[cojak]

Not quite sure why you needed to ask three times I'm quoting from here.



So yes, your sponsor may well find out you've been creative on your CV.

My fault with the multiple questions, I thought I'd deleted the extra 2 that he'd posted.

[saanju9]

So yes, your sponsor may well find out you've been creative on your CV.

That is fine because someone in Testing field would understand it and as I said I have already made this clear in my interview
Besides, if one is not creative on their CV, they will be jobless endlessly. I didn't lie, but expressed the same thing in a more appealing way

[youngguy]

Quick Analysis of current Clearance Jobs

** I am not about to tell you anything that will be new information **

Currently on the bench and it seems some agents have an old copy of my CV, when I was SC'd. I've had numerous calls with good fit jobs which unsurprisingly have dried up once I say my clearance has lapsed.

Anyway, for tulips and giggles I thought I would waste 20 mins by doing a very quick, unscientific analysis of cleared jobs.

Went to Jobserve, searched for jobs that mention clearance in them (parameters: searched just for jobs posted this morning, which is about 3.5hours into the working day and I included SC and DV).

23 Jobs


17 of those jobs stated that the applicant must be cleared. Words used were things such as: 'active clearance', 'MUST' (yes, even in caps), and listing clearance under 'essential skills' (go figure..). My personal favourite was "Please do not apply if you do not have clearance". From what I could tell, probably only one of those would be fair in saying clearance was required (CLAS Consultant).

5 stated that the applicant should already be cleared. Phrases such as 'should', 'if you have active...we encourage you to apply...' and 'it will help your application if you have...' came up. From personal experience I know one company that had 2 of these jobs definitely doesn't consider you if you don't have active clearance and I think it is fair to say the rest would most likely be the same.

On a minor positive note, 1 job actually advertised the ability for applicants to obtain clearance, although it didn't state what level.


As I said, nothing new here, but it does make you wonder, given this thread has been going several years and PCG/IPSE have been banging the drum, when anything will actually change (note, I'm not blaming IPSE, I'm just stating that it is a long known issue and the Gov still aren't acting).

I know a number of cleared areas which just keep advertising as they can't get what they need from the small pool of 'talent' with the golden tickets. As the saying goes, "If you always do what you've done you will always get what you've got".

[mlucch]

nearly 4 years in the UK, Powerchex done recently. can I get SC?

Hi all,

I'm an Italian citizen, been in the UK for nearly 4 years now (january), have been PowerChex d for my current employer around 1,8year ago (bank in the city) and now consideing another job offer which demands SC.
I've heard that PowerChex does CTC, but not too sure. In anyway CTC I think is not a concern for me but unsure in relation to the 5 year UK residence treshold. It stats it should be 5 year so I understand there is some flexibility there.
I am quite sure all the other items will be alright, finance, edudaction, background and all that. The only bit that concerns me is the nearly 4 years residence.
If I go ahead and take the offer and get SC denied then I lose both my current and prospect job. big deal.

Anyone been in similar situation or know anyone that got SC with less than 5 year residency?
Wondering if its the case that if less than 5 years than the other items will become more important and more strict.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers
M.

[Scruff]

Read the prerequisites, and if that stipulates 5 years then that answers your questions? If you have a partner then there are other prerequisites for him/her which will be taken into account, such as nationality, residence, criminal record etc. The most important thing when applying is not to lie or withhold the truth.

[knight007]

Overseas work history

I am born n raised in the UK. I have worked in UK all my career. However the last contract I did was based over in Canada for 5 months.

I am now back in the UK and applied for a Home office job. However the agent said there's no point in him putting me forward for the job because I worked in Canada for the last 5 months.

Has my agent got this right?...is my Canadian job history going play a part in getting SC clearance?

[MattZani]

I am born n raised in the UK. I have worked in UK all my career. However the last contract I did was based over in Canada for 5 months.

I am now back in the UK and applied for a Home office job. However the agent said there's no point in him putting me forward for the job because I worked in Canada for the last 5 months.

Has my agent got this right?...is my Canadian job history going play a part in getting SC clearance?

it's a pain in the ass.

I lived and worked in Canada for 6 months and then went back in the UK, landed a job that required SC. They asked me to prove I had no criminal record for the time I lived in Canada. According to the Canadian Police, to get this criminal record you'd need to:

1) get your fingerprints taken (UK police don't do it so you need to go to a private company and pay £100 give or take for paper fingerprints...because if you apply from outside of Canada you can apply just with paper fingerprints)

2A) send your paper fingerprints to the "royal mounted police", pay the fee and wait for 22 ******* weeks (the amount of time it takes them to process paper fingerprints)

2B) send your paper fingerprints to a private company based in Canada. Such company will scan your paper fingerprints and make an electric copy and they will send everything to the royal mounted police, which will process your electronic fingerprints and application in more or less one week (Cost of this...a couple of hundreds Canadian dollars)

Just lie and tell you never lived in Canada

[knight007]

it's a pain in the ass.

I lived and worked in Canada for 6 months and then went back in the UK, landed a job that required SC. They asked me to prove I had no criminal record for the time I lived in Canada. According to the Canadian Police, to get this criminal record you'd need to:

1) get your fingerprints taken (UK police don't do it so you need to go to a private company and pay £100 give or take for paper fingerprints...because if you apply from outside of Canada you can apply just with paper fingerprints)

2A) send your paper fingerprints to the "royal mounted police", pay the fee and wait for 22 ******* weeks (the amount of time it takes them to process paper fingerprints)

2B) send your paper fingerprints to a private company based in Canada. Such company will scan your paper fingerprints and make an electric copy and they will send everything to the royal mounted police, which will process your electronic fingerprints and application in more or less one week (Cost of this...a couple of hundreds Canadian dollars)

Just lie and tell you never lived in Canada

This is ridiculous.

[malvolio]

This is ridiculous.

Which bit: the Canadian bureaucracy or advising people to lie on the clearance application?