Civil Service Pre-Employment checks- how long?!

[LegoMa]

Hi,

I’ve currently been waiting 8 weeks to receive a formal offer for the Home Office. I have completed the Security Vetting questionnaire which now shows as completed on their site.

Any idea how much longer I should expect to wait? I applied for this job a year ago! It seems like it’s no secret but their recruitment process seems so clumsy!

Anyone? Thanks!

Sorry, meant to say - my checks haven't even started - I've not been asked to provide any info yet.

Hey. My SC form didn’t come through until about 3 weeks after my provisional offer so I wouldn’t worry. You should get it soon :)

Quick question. Which check do we have to do SC or CTC?

I passed the assessment/interview on 29/5/18, offered a provisional role in 3/11/18 and completed all pre-employment paperwork and received a link to uksv portal on the 19/12/18. I subsequently received a follow up e-mail on 9/1/19 to confirm some parental details and was waiting for further communication regarding my application. Checked the online portal today (23/1/19) and my CTC is granted, so I checked my spam emails and had received an email on the 17/1/19 which contained the official letter confirming this.

My experience so far has been very negative with the process, mainly the lack of communication and the length of time taken to process applications for successful candidates, as I can understand why people lose faith in ever obtaining a start date!

After reading through the thread it appears that once security clearance is granted then a start date is usually agreed within 6 weeks on avarage, and I would be grateful if anyone who undertook the process along the same timeframe as myself, could shed any light as to their experience and potential start dates that may be upcoming for a group of new employees. The only one I have found on this thread appears to be the 4/2/2019, so I'm hoping for something similar!

Good luck everyone else, I'll post an update to my situation once I get one!

Start date finally, all in all it will be 9 months since I passed the assessment and interview! The process for the checks has taken 3 months, and it's a further month before I actually start, but this is agreed so the wait is over. I have found that from being offered a provisional role the process is fairly slow until you receive your CTC link, this process says it will be checked signing 40 calender days from submission, which it was. Once I had this I waited 2 weeks then began emailing, Central Recruitment and government recruitment and Home Office recruitment asking about lead times on the rest of the checks and subsequently possible start dates upon satisfactorily completing these checks. CRS and GRS could not help with this but the HO recruitment was very fast in dealing with the matter as I received an email the next confirming I had passed, and an hour later another email from CRS to offer me a start date, which I confirmed immediately.

The process is long, there is a lack of communication and if you are unemployed I wouldn't say the process is suitable, but as long as you know that applying for a job with the CS is a minimum 6 month process, you will be fine!

Good luck everyone who starts this journey on whatever campaign you select :-)

Hello. Just wondering if you could help me. I am on the reserve list at sheffield home office for an AO since mid January. I was told at the interview that I was a strong candidate and they offered a position. So I feel gutted thst I am on the reserve list. Do you think that they could be doing my ctc checks? Or do I have to wait for a provisional offer? Thank you.

Reserve list either means you “passed” the interview but there were others who scored higher and therefore you didn’t get an offer, or that they stuck everyone who passed on the reserve list before making provisional offers because they aren’t quite sure where they are going to put people yet. They can’t have offered you the position at interview as CS recruitment just doesn’t work that way. I would never tell someone they are a strong candidate.

Either way, you don’t have a job offer yet so no checks will have commenced. When you get a provisional offer they ask you for the info they need in order to do the relevant checks. They cannot do the checks without making an offer, not just because the checks require your participation.

People are often appointed from a reserve list - for all but 1 CS job I’ve had I’ve been on reserve list and then had an provisional offer pretty quickly after (within days). I do some recruitment at work and we have just made provisional offers to two people who had been on the reserve list from a campaign we did 9 months ago because we created more vacancies for that particular role.

CS recruitment is a very special creature - it doesn’t move fast and it’s not like real world recruitment. Because it’s so slow, a lot of people drop out whilst waiting for checks etc, so people often get appointed from the reserve list - the poster above you waited 9 months from offer to appointment! So don’t lose hope.

Hello. Do you know anything about reserve list. I got offered a position at sheffield home office at my interview told I was a strong candidate but a few weeks later they emailed me to say that I am on the reserve list for 12 months. Thanks.

Just read your email. Thank you so much.

Thank you again for your reply and time. I am still feeling confused because they didn't offer me a position and told me not to put my notice and they look forward to seeing me after Christmas. I am hoping they will contact me. However at the moment I am only working in retail. Would you advise me to look for other jobs? I have a distinction in a Masters degree. Thanks.

Meant to say they did offer me...

They can't offer positions at interview, it doesn't work like that. If they did, they should not have done. If you're on the reserve list I wouldn't wait around to be offered something, apply for other jobs.

If you want to know for definite than ring the campaign manager and ask them - you should have been given their contact details at the interview stage.

Also having a distinction in a Masters means very little in CS unless it's a requirement for the vacancy you're applying in (will be specified in the job ad).

So finally been given a start date exactly 1 year to date from initial application . To say it’s been a long process is an understatement. That being said can’t wait for April now. You guys who is still awaiting a start date hang in there.

Hi all. Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I am filling up the online application for Civil Service position and I am bit confused. When they ask about skills in the CV part, should it be full sentences and STAR model used or should that be left for the personal statement? Same for employment history and education. Also has anyone left out a name of an employer which could very easily identify you?

Thank you!!!!

Use bullet points, STAR is for personal statement

Don't leave out names of employers, put all the info as they'll use it for references later on. When the applications are sifted they will only see the personal statement not any of the other info which could identify you.

@Isleepinahedgefund Thank you!
I was quite confused about the name blank recruitment where you are supposed to remove anything identifiable, but considering I was a co-funder of a company in question that name would identify me. I might have to risk it and write it in there then.

Really appreciate your help!

Yep put it in and don't worry about it. I've got some application sifting to do and when I look at the list of applications on the system all I can see is the personal statement and a reference number, not even their names and definitely not the employment history. I won't see the full applications until the interviews.

When you get to the personal statement you will get instructions about how to make your application everything blind.

Hi all. So I am still waiting on my SC clearance as it still says In Progress. I submitted the form just before Christmas.

I just wanted to ask how much longer roughly should I be waiting for these checks to be completed? Will I be informed when the checks are done? Do you get a start date soon after the checks are complete? I am pretty sure my employment checks have already been done in January.

Thanks

SC adds time to the process but id be tempted after this much time to prompt GRS to see what's happening re your SC/ pre employment checks. The vacancy holder can't influence this so go straight to GRS.

After everything is complete, it can still take quite some time to place you and get you on board. I'm an existing CS about to move govt departments - I have the necessary clearance already so "checks" were just a transfer of staff form. I got provisional offer around 20 Jan and I will be starting 1st April. Everyone thinks this is remarkably quick! I applied for the job in October. Nothing moves quickly in CS recruitment.

Don't be afraid to chase things up though. Once you have a line manager allocated, things will speed up a lot but until then......

Thanks for the response! Are GRS the people who carry out the SC checks? I was told the checks can take up to 16 weeks but that did seem quite a long time.

I already know who my line manager is and they have booked the new starters in for a training course for a week in June so I am assuming they would want us to start at least a few weeks before then.

I can't seem to find a number for CRS? I've been waiting for months now. They hold my documents for two weeks and then tell me I need to resend because my address didn't match.
Does anyone know where to find a number i can call to chase up my pre employment checks? Getting desperate now.

GRS can only be contacted by email. I imagine it will be sorted out by June though.

Hi - I wonder if anyone can help me. I applied for a position and was offered the role in late February. They informed me that the security clearance vetting clinic will be in touch within a week and that they will take up references. I chased up after the two week passing by and no references being checked, nor receiving any security vetting forms. How long will this whole process take? When I called they said Brexit if taking up all their time and that because my start date is not for another few months, my SC is most probably not high priority. I received another job offer and I am now wondering what I should do. Does anyone have any experience on this?

Mishmishai- once you have sent off your SC forms it probably won’t come back for at least 3 months. I sent my forms just before Christmas and it’s still in progress.

What's the difference between Security Clearance and pre employment checks? I already have my SC but still waiting for pre employment checks.