A blanket ban… even when they’re specifically in for people with criminal records?! That’s just wrong on so many levels. I sympathise with the boogeyman thing, our CVs might as well just say: “Criminal (btw got skills and experience lol)”. We’re people… wanting to earn an income… just like everyone else.

I don’t have a work coach, Punter, is anything published online anywhere? Do the sessions offer anything different that’s not already on Indeed etc?
Thanks for that link, I’ve not heard of them before, the enterprise support has piqued my interest.

re: Jamie. Anyone correct me if I’m overstepping the mark but unless there is a job on offer from an employer, no, you don’t *have* to disclose to any random person. I have a strict need-to-know policy. I think we have to be canny in certain situations, very canny. Eg. When that lady asked if you had a criminal record in front of people, I would have said no, just to save face if anything, it was unprofessional. By going to a job fair you’re going to find out about companies, do some fact-finding, get a flavour of what’s out there… You don’t have to show your hand just because someone randomly decides to ask. During a conversation, you can always “go away and have a think” if it gets to a point where you "must" disclose, but even then it can be done more privately.
So I’d say definitely go to the job fair… but don’t go as a criminal, don’t go as someone who is unspent, don’t even go as someone who gets anxious... Go as nice, friendly, ambitious you! See what happens. If nothing else, just use this fair to practice talking to some of the employers, you may never have to see them again. If something does sound like it might have potential then take some details and contact them when you get home or later in the week. If there’s nothing interesting this time, there’ll be others ones in the not too distant future and you can take what you’ve learned from this one to the next one. Nothing to lose. (And you can let us know any gossip!)

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Fighting or Accepting - its difficult to know which is right and when.

Jobcentres might publish details of upcoming events on their Twitter page, but most do not. You would have to go in to the jobcentre and ask them to put you on the list for an interview. They tend to have a direct contact with the employer, who is most likely looking for local people without necessarily advertising the job on Indeed, so it has that advantage. Depends on the employer and what they are looking for, but recruiting people 'on the day' is usually the aim, because it is quicker than advertising online. 

Well, as an update. I've just been offered a job this morning.

No criminal questions were asked and it was set up by the job centre. I suspect though that it'll come crumbling down when I start as I have a feeling they'll do a disclosure check and once that comes back then well.. yeah.. But we'll see.

If you're in Scotland, and your conviction is spent, a basic disclosure through Disclosure Scotland should be clear. Of course, if you're still grappling with Google and the ICO, that might cause an issue but you would still have the clear disclosure check, so unless they have a picture of you or you have a rare name, you might have the benefit of plausible deniability.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Sadly not spent yet, I actually thought it was but seemingly it only becomes spent once I'm off the register (which is in about 6 months, which was also another issue too as I believe it should be sooner but I won't bore you with that just now). I do have a somewhat rare name, last name anyway however the one saving grace is I've taken to using my birth name compared to my old name which I was known by (Think like being known as Chris then going by Christopher). If you Google my full name like that then only a couple of things show up relating to some old music I was a part of.

We'll have to wait and see, that's really all I can do. I'm optimistic but also realistic. I'm waiting to hear back from my social worker as I have asked them if there is a potential for some kind of letter of recommendation or something like that which I could maybe present to a potential employer which might help alleviate some concerns. Basically saying like "Yeah, Khafka was done for this years ago but throughout these years on this course he's shown massive changes blah blah and would be a great asset blah blah"

Can I ask who told you that? If it was the police or your social worker, they might not know as much about disclosure law as they like to think. Or want you to think. Why not do a basic disclosure on yourself through Disclosure Scotland and see what it says? All I know about the law in Scotland is what I've seen online via legislation.gov.uk, but I can't see why your conviction would still be unspent, going on what I can see of the relevant Scottish law.


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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

It was a social worker, it was a bit of a debate that happened in a group session as I had mentioned at that point my sentence was spent as my 'punishment' element (community service) had been completed for well over a year by then, I was just working my way through the rehab bit and obviously seeing out my time on the register. After much back and forth they basically ruled that normally yes but being on register keeps it unspent, so it'll remain unspent until the day I'm off the register. I could be wrong but I could've sworn that sexual offences will still show on a basic, albeit they'll show as spent but they'll still show up as they're on a basic disclosure but I might be wrong on that and maybe misread it.

EDIT -
Doing a bit more reading it does seem my initial suspicions were correct that as it stands, right now my conviction is spent. One website addresses it specifically and even has an example which is basically my exact situation.

Example 2

Dave was convicted of downloading indecent images and received a two-year community order. He will be on the Sex Offenders Register for five years, but his conviction will be spent after three years (i.e. one year from the end of his two-year order).

I was 6 months community payback (got pushed to 12 months due to COVID delaying things) and register for 3 years.

I know you're in Scotland, but I can assure you that in England, being on the SOR doesn't keep your conviction unspent. If you have an SHPO, that will keep your conviction unspent while it's in force, but I couldn't see anything about relevant orders (or any Scottish equivalent) when I looked at that law. If anything, it would come under the very last entry, where "anything not listed here" is 12 months. If you do get that basic disclosure and it's clear, you know exactly where you stand.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Please keep us updated khafka. I wish my job centre could set something up like that. All they seem to do is say ok well see you in 2 weeks. OK thanks

Thanks guys, I will keep you posted!

I haven't ordered a disclosure certificate yet as by the time it arrives I might be employed and they might order one as well so seems like a wasted exercise  However, I have reached out to Disclosure Scotland to basically say "This is my situation, what do you reckon?" so we'll see what they say.

Jamie - It's a relatively new thing that seems to have started up called the Long Term Unemployment Scheme. It's partially funded by the Scottish Government and it's geared towards those that have been out of work for 12+ months and are facing "additional barriers" back into work. Basically employers will sign up for it, they can get some staff on the cheap for XX time (I believe it's up to 6 months). The DWP/Scot Gov will cover a majority of their wages, I'm not sure the exact split, the employer then also has the chance/potential to bring that member of staff on permanently. In theory the idea is that employers won't have to be as cautious about who to bring in and allow them the opportunity to 'take a chance' on someone they might otherwise look over in a more traditional hiring setting. The cynic in me though sees this getting abused by companies to just get some cheap labor then dump them once the contract runs out.