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JASB
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Group: Awaiting Activation
Posts: 1.1K,
Visits: 1.7K
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+x+x+xSo I thought I would start a post where everyone in a similar position to me can post any ideas of what has worked for them and what didn't work.This can range from training to self employment to employed work. I will list everything I have managed to do with an SO. I still have 2.5 years before mine is unspent. I can't sit here till then. Clean Sheet - Just started with this company. They call me up every 2 weeks to ask how the job search is going. They have an employment portal with vaccines. Most are out of my area or don't accept SO applications. Nacro - They actually got me a job once. I had a guy calling me every 3 days checking up on me. Applying for me. Really super proactive. That was over two years ago. I tried to get in contact with them again but all they do is send me generic links I should check out. OffPloy - The job centre tried to get me on their books. But I was basically ignored. Tried 3 times. All they said. They were waiting for funding. Self employment; I would really love any extra ideas that people could suggest. I wish I knew someone personally who had started an ebay business who I could learn off. The whole process seems daunting. But if I could sit here all day taking pictures of items and listing them. It would be ideal. Education/Training. Go train. Managed to do a course with them. Never actually got a certificate, got told the whole class failed. Because the teacher taught us all wrong?? I didn't really care at the time. Just glad to be out the house ACL - Managed to do a maths and forklift course with them. So yeah as the title states. Lets start a post and try to help each other though this difficult time in our lives. Agnecy's - I have gone down to sign up for them in the past. Taking all my I.D etc. Then just get ignored. Hi I applaud your topic but after 8 years since my release, 6 since ending my licence, circa 2000 applications, various job offers / headhunted but as soon as I declared all roles are rescinded. Just out of interest, what kind of jobs have you been applying for? Were they all in one specific area of employment, or were you looking for a particular level of salary and were unwilling to consider anything less? I don't doubt that you have faced huge levels of unwarranted discrimination, but as I said in another post, there are some employers who don't ask you to disclose and they tend to be either really low paid, low skill jobs, or jobs with smaller, family owned companies. The other way that SO tend to get jobs, is through personal contacts, friends and family etc. When an SO goes up against other people, in an open competition, particularly for a well paid job, they are at an obvious disadvantage. If the employer is a big name, who can afford a big HR department, they can be especially concerned about reputational damage too, so will want to tick all the boxes. Smaller firms, in my experience, are less inclined to ask questions. They just want someone who can do the job and can start asap. Everything else, is immaterial to them. Hi sorry for the delay in replying. I have applied for roles utilising my skill set plus those that I have transferable skills to meet the role requirements. As I have been involved in "HR/recruitment " for many years as part of various responsibilities I have always read the adverts very closely. If there is ambiguity in the wording I discuss without disclosure of my details initially. It is / can be a game of chess as I fully agree why disclose if there is not a need. BAE for instance was disclosed to and was willing to apply for my SC clearance; the Project Manger though had no issues said he was just to busy to argue why me and not another. A minimum wage "customer support" firm that had no reason to be disclosed to did ask an "off handed" question about why, with my skillset did I want the job". I obviously went down the "honesty" path but only to be rejected because of the "public image" aspect. I had a planned face to face interview with the probation office in a "liberated" southern coastal town/city. No client interaction was required. When the PO Manger found out they cancelled the interview due to it being a "sex offence". My PO/PPU was supporting me for the role!. Charity shops are plentiful in my small town BUT it is the "older generation" managing the "data" so the dangers of the information spreading due to lack of control measures makes it not an option. I could go on but I believe you get my approach has not been limited as you described,. I am never negative in my approach just realistic based on my understanding of "society" and it's comparison when making decisions based on incorrect or unknown facts but see the label "sex". I become officially a "pensioner" soon so for the last few years I have accepted the path my life is following with a smile and living in the "present" knowing I am an "EX sex offender" not a "sex offender". .
Society suggests I must let go of all my expectations but I disagree, as whilst I have a voice, I have hope.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope is for tomorrow else what is left if you remove a mans hope.
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This forum supports these words, thank you Unlock and your contributors.
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Jamie7718
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 21,
Visits: 1.8K
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+xThanks 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. oh wow that seems pretty helpful. I wish we had something like that down here. I'm trying to get out of this mode of feeling helpless. I keep thinking about all the years left till my order is over. I'm trying to get the confidence to start ebay reselling or something like that. Really need to push myself into something soon, because sitting at home is doing my head in. I keep thinking about finding another course to do. But then I think oh well that will just be a week or two. Another worthless piece of paper and im back to where I started. Sorry for being so negative. Life is hard.
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 330,
Visits: 18K
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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.
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Jamie7718
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 21,
Visits: 1.8K
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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
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AB2014
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 1.1K,
Visits: 7.4K
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+x+xCan 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. 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)
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 330,
Visits: 18K
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+xCan 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. 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.
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AB2014
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 1.1K,
Visits: 7.4K
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+x+x+xWell, 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. 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)
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 330,
Visits: 18K
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+x+xWell, 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. 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"
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AB2014
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 1.1K,
Visits: 7.4K
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+xWell, 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.
=========================================================================================================
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)
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 330,
Visits: 18K
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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.
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