SC Clearance with foggy employment history recollections!

**SueEllen** · 12 June 2012, 19:06

Do you have respectable people who are non-family members who can provide you with a reference to cover 10 years?

If you have then don't worry too much just admit on the form that you aren't sure about the dates of your employment further back than 2005.

**b1gdeano** · 12 June 2012, 19:10

Originally posted by SueEllen View Post

Do you have respectable people who are non-family members who can provide you with a reference to cover 10 years?

If you have then don't worry too much just admit on the form that you aren't sure about the dates of your employment further back than 2005.

I do have people I can use, but I already have to provide 3 personal references as part of vetting.

They have also stressed on the guidance that the employment history be filled in accurately on a month by month basis.

10 years is quite a stretch really to remember, unless you have had only one job!

**northernladuk** · 12 June 2012, 19:11

You did read the SC sticky?

**b1gdeano** · 12 June 2012, 19:13

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

You did read the SC sticky?

Yes, but could find nothing in it relating to my question about patchy employment history

It was mostly about declaring credit issues, criminal records etc in the sticky that I could see

**bless 'em all** · 12 June 2012, 19:19

Just answer honestly and openly. Use the 'additional information' section to add the information you've put in your post.

They're not trying to catch you out, and if your honest about these few years they should be fine with it.

**SueEllen** · 12 June 2012, 19:20

Originally posted by b1gdeano View Post

Yes, but could find nothing in it relating to my question about patchy employment history

It was mostly about declaring credit issues, criminal records etc in the sticky that I could see

What the sticky indicates, what NLUK is hinting and what I'm now saying clearly is you need to inform them that you honestly cannot give them the exact dates due to how you worked at the time i.e. doing lots of short term temporary work for a few weeks/months here and there.

Then give them approximate dates making clear they are approximate.

The reason they want exact dates is because it makes it easier for the person referencing you but unfortunately for that civil servant life in the real world isn't like that particularly with younger adults.

**Wanderer** · 12 June 2012, 20:32

Originally posted by b1gdeano View Post

Did occasional few weeks with various agencies on tulipty jobs, but nothing for any period of time.

Just tell them what you can find out. If you did some mundane temp work, nothing that would impact your clearance and you really can't even remember exactly who it was for then just say that.

The main thing to note is that if you got the sack for shagging the bosses wife or something then this is one that you shouldn't "misremember" or it may come back to bite you when they dig up your history.

**Gentile** · 12 June 2012, 23:26

Originally posted by b1gdeano View Post

Hi,

Hope someone could give me some advice here...

I've been through the SC and DV clearance processes for different jobs. I'm sorry to say that gaps in recollection over a period as short as ten years are a big red flag for these types of check: moreso than just having an unimpressive CV, or having wasted a few years at the start of your career would be. So, if there is something you're embarrassed about, just tell them: it's a bigger deal to encounter someone that can't face up to their past than it is to deal with someone that's had a few interesting experiences on the path to where they are now.

If the years you can't recall accurately were just you at Uni working odd jobs in the Summer, or generally being a daft kid before you started your career proper, that'll be more easy to overlook than if you'd already started your career by that point, and then a mystery blank patch came up. Whether you genuinely can't remember or not will be a moot point to them: it's the absence of any sort of trail that will act as a red flag.

So, my advice, FWIW, is to do what you can to research your past as you have been doing. Find out from HMRC, the job centre, your old bank statements, etc, as best you can what you were doing during that period, and just be honest on your SC form or with your DV interviewers about what you can remember about what you were doing. HMRC is who they will be cross-referencing the information you provide them with anyway. So, if you've checked with HMRC yourself, you'll probably be OK and not be caught in the appearance of a lie.

Other than that, with SC it should just be a matter of them doing passive checks on things like Police records (which don't just include convictions and arrests), and criminal and civil convictions checks with the Courts or other body responsible for disclosures in your area (e.g., in Scotland they'd ask Disclosure Scotland to reveal any criminal convictions you have). With DV, it's a bit more involved, but none of that will affect you.

Good luck.

**SueEllen** · 13 June 2012, 13:56

Originally posted by Gentile View Post

I've been through the SC and DV clearance processes for different jobs. I'm sorry to say that gaps in recollection over a period as short as ten years are a big red flag for these types of check: moreso than just having an unimpressive CV, or having wasted a few years at the start of your career would be.

If you bothered to read the post b1gdeano wrote you would see the years he is missing were when he was a youth
so there is no need to write a long post in an attempt to scare him.

I had a similar thing when I was in my early twenties but luckily for me I was told that it didn't matter as I was also studying at the time I had these random jobs, so my references were from school and university.

SC Clearance with foggy employment history recollections!