Recruitment agencies

[elvis1958]

Is there anybody out there in the recruitment business who could answer this?

Due to unfortunate sequence of events my son has a criminal record. It was a complete one-off for which he received a suspended sentence and fine.

He wants to put it behind him and move on but is having no luck at all in getting a job even though he has a good degree. He's had a few interviews where he lost out to another candidate (fair enough) but is now finding, after literally dozens of applications, that agencies and recruiters don't even acknowledge that his application and/or CV has been submitted. Where agencies ask the question 'Do you have a criminal record' he is being honest and answering yes, but even where this question is not asked up front he is getting absolutely no response.

So my question is - is there some kind of unofficial blacklist that gets circulated amongst recruitment agencies?

How long ago was his conviction? After a certain amount of time (depending on his sentence) the conviction becomes spent and he doesn't have to declare it.

www.gov.uk/exoffenders-and-employment

As for not hearing back from all of them, that's usual. I've usually found applying for the job directly is better.

Yes we know that after a set period the conviction doesn't have to be disclosed. Unfortunately he's only just over halfway through. Feels totally excluded from the job market and getting increasingly depressed.