Dealing with employers or interviews.

Just had a serious think about things as they progress over the next couple of weeks.

How do you tell your employer or a prospective employer you want to work for them but you have serious baggage and a criminal record including being on the sex offenders register as is most likely going to be the case for me. How many companies will give you a second thought when you reveal such information?

Does an employer have the right to know all the details? I know they have to act responsible with personal information regarding the data protection act. I understand the law will require me to inform my employer but I just don't know how to deal with that. I also know the probation service will likely assist me with issues like this.

I already lost one job because of my arrest even though I have never been inappropriate with anyone or hurt anyone in real life, I just don't want to be struggling for a job forever.

I always said honesty is the best policy with employers but to be honest it has never got me very far in life, people who lie and are lazy etc seem to always get away with stuff, yet when I make a mistake it's a different story.

I put 100% + into my work and always have done, yes I make mistakes but I am only human, but I give far more than I get back from an employer in remuneration most of the time, including working hours I don't get paid for.

Just wondering how other people have dealt with this and how employers have reacted, mainly for downloading offences not contact offences as at least the fact that it is a non contact offence then it is slightly easier for people to come to terms with.

As always hindsight is a fantastic thing and I wish so much I had not done the things I have in the past.

Does an employer have the right to know all the details?

I don't know how it is for you in the UK but in the USA we have a similar deal, the employer has to be informed if the applicant is a sex offender/on the list or has ever been convicted of a felony. In my opinion this kind of sucks because it makes it hard for people who want to reform to get hired and get their lives back on track. That's part of why so many people end up right back in the prison system. I think that needs to change.

If you're not working around children, there's no reason an employer should have to know you're on the sex offenders register. It's only fair. Especially if you're only on there for CP, and not even for abusing a child.

You're in the one place in the world that offers unemployment benefits without ever having the requirement of being hired, so you should take advantage of that as much as possible. You should also learn to live cheap, really cheap, because things like that are sure to run out. There is always a reason you're not good enough, and the sex offender registry is just what happens to be on top of the heap. I spent 7 years making about 3k applications and never got a real job, and I don't even have a criminal record. Having a job or a girlfriend is what someone else does, not you.

FSaved wrote:You're in the one place in the world that offers unemployment benefits without ever having the requirement of being hired, so you should take advantage of that as much as possible. You should also learn to live cheap, really cheap, because things like that are sure to run out. There is always a reason you're not good enough, and the sex offender registry is just what happens to be on top of the heap. I spent 7 years making about 3k applications and never got a real job, and I don't even have a criminal record. Having a job or a girlfriend is what someone else does, not you.

Well aren't you looking on the bright side of life.

This doesn't need to be career crashing, you just need to enter jobs where children aren't about and make sure you manage the flow of information - if you need to admit things, get in first and give the situation your spin. Im not sure how good you are at reading people, but a good spin on the story can win hearts and minds, esp if you play their soft spots.

Oh and remember anti discrimination laws and privacy laws are your friend. As is the propation service and ex-con programs.

Since you (and I and hopefully everyone else here) intend never to offend again, you can muddle through.

Thanks platonic. I have never wanted to work with children so that has never been a problem for me. I did start a job a while back but it meant going to schools occasionally so had to give that up even though I am perfectly able to do my job and have no impulse problems around children.

I agree with what you say and just want to manage who knows and needs to know.

You know you have no impulse control issues, saddly the world around you isn't likely to believe you or trust you. No chance of name suppression?

platonic wrote:You know you have no impulse control issues, saddly the world around you isn't likely to believe you or trust you. No chance of name suppression?

Sadly not we lose the right for privacy in this country when we do wrong no matter how badly you feel about it and how much you have changed your actions.

The best hope I have is there are more juicy stories on the day and it does not go in the paper, but if it does it should only be the local rag hopefully and hopefully without a mugshot but I have no idea.

Just in the last few months I have had numerous interviews where they give me a form asking me to disclose any criminal conviction and the minute that is done they lose all interest in me.

The last interview I had, they had rung me twice to make sure I was going to be there and they were extremely keen on me, I had filled out an online application and there was no problem there as it was a telephone job, but when I actually showed up for the formality chat they had a disclosure form waiting for me, her face literally became a mask as she tried and failed to hide her disgust.

You'll probably pass with the boss in the field of self-employment...

In many areas of work and with many employers it makes no difference about one's past. Keep hacking at it and you'll find your niche.

Do whatever you can to avoid working as a box lifter for Fedex or any similar job. Their median turnover is 3 weeks as their business relies on a constant churn of desperate people that work there until they get hurt. I don't know how it works in the UK but I presume that after you quit you will not qualify for unemployment benefits. Of course, if you don't qualify for them anyway, you can always work there for a few weeks. The bosses there are the most abusive people you will ever encounter and that will make you lean more towards my views on life.
There are all kinds of scams out there that are going after the unemployed and little is done about them. There are "employment agencies" that cost $200 a year to join and you have to squint anywhere jobs are advertised to find things that aren't them. There is an epidemic of identity theft as everyone you apply to is going to want your social security number. Lots of bait-and-switch operations where you don't know what jobs you're actually applying for. The worst off went back to school and got student loans they'll never be able to pay off, and here you can't bankrupt out of them either.
I do hear that in the UK that they are going to start making unemployment collectors spend 35 hours a week looking for work. What an exercise in futility. My advice is to take your sweet time filling out applications and get a sandwich board, you'll see plenty of other people walking around with them. Enjoy it while you can - things like that in the US always have waiting lists and soon to disappear as they'll start saying that anyone who wants a job can get one. After all, Fedex is always hiring