MoJ Vetting

[Lockthedoor]

Hello all,

So after 11 months spent in the limbo of the civil service recruitment process, it seems like i am finally taking the last steps towards full employment. I am feeling so impatient I am giving myself anxiety!

Annoyingly I have to go through pre-employment checks again, despite obtaining my clearance only 10 months ago , and have no idea what they will look for and how long they will take. So far all I was asked was ID cards and proof of address. Then looks like I will have to upload it all to a website as soon as HR sends me a link, and THEN the checks will begin.

I have a few of questions that was hoping to find an answer to:

1. Does the fact that I've already obtained clearance contribute towards perhaps speeding up the process?
2. Would 5 months of unemployment between Sept 2019 and March 2020 reflect badly (I've read somewhere that there is such a thing as "insufficient employment history"). Unfortunately that was when I was offered a role in DIT and then the General Elections messed everything up.
3. Will they actually contact my current workplace to ask for references? I haven't told them I am in this process (of course!) and I am quite keen to keep this job until I have a formal and definitive job offer. Considering the whole Covid thing though I have a feeling they might jump on the chance of making people redundant...
4. As I was fished out of a reserve list, I have no idea what level of clearance it is required. The only info I have is that "BPSS is the level required, unless otherwise stated" - standard email that doesn't reflect the specificity of my case. BPSS takes a really short time, but I'd be amazed if a grade 7 actually only needs that....
5. In a month my notice to my current workplace will go up by 3 months, so I am super keen to resign before that - which I am only going to do once the formal offer from the Civil Service is made. Any chance the checks will be done by then?

Thank you all for any advice or information you have. Once all of this is done I will post a longer entry detailing my experience and offering some advice based on what I have learned over these 11 months of hell.

1. Difficult to know, they will rerun the security check and double-check they have all the information they need with no gaps or anomalies
2. Five months of unemployment is inconsequential. They are looking for long periods with unexplained gaps in employment (dare I say it, their main interest is whether the person may have committed an offence and the gap is a prison term). That's not you, so don't worry!
3. No they do not contact current employers, in fact you should have been encouraged not to hand in your notice yet.
4. BPSS is normally fine. Security levels are not based on grade, it is based on role content, what you will be working on and the sensitivity and security profile of the work.
5. Absolutely no way of knowing. Even if it does go up to 3 months, you can try negotiating it downwards, as it sounds like you haven't been there long. Don't resign!

@daisychain01

1. Difficult to know, they will rerun the security check and double-check they have all the information they need with no gaps or anomalies

1. Five months of unemployment is inconsequential. They are looking for long periods with unexplained gaps in employment (dare I say it, their main interest is whether the person may have committed an offence and the gap is a prison term). That's not you, so don't worry!
2. No they do not contact current employers, in fact you should have been encouraged not to hand in your notice yet.
3. BPSS is normally fine. Security levels are not based on grade, it is based on role content, what you will be working on and the sensitivity and security profile of the work.
4. Absolutely no way of knowing. Even if it does go up to 3 months, you can try negotiating it downwards, as it sounds like you haven't been there long. Don't resign!

Thank you very much daisychain01. Clear and on point :) Much appreciated!

hey are looking for long periods with unexplained gaps in employment (dare I say it, their main interest is whether the person may have committed an offence and the gap is a prison term

Or has been overseas, associating with dodgy types in Afghanistan or Syria.

DH has similar vetting for his job, repeated regularly, but he has to answer lots of stuff about me and his other rellies too.

I would have thought SC might be required for an MoJ grade 7. It would be for a lawyer, for example.

I’m going through my vetting I already received my dbs certificate and the character reference gone through .how long does this take ?