Please can someone give me some advice!?

flyingguy

Hi all,
Been a pretty bad night all in all.


I had been offered a very good job with a company, due to start on the 14th Feb. In the contract it said subject to satisfactory references and security clearance as the company have MOD type contracts. No problem I think, I've never committed a crime, done anything wrong etc. Emailed the HR lady to ask if it's safe for me to give my notice, she said once you receive the contract, which I did last week. So notice handed into current employer.


Anyway, at 4pm today, I get a phone call from one of the resourcing teams. " this is not an easy call to make, but you have failed the security checks, and the offer has been withdrawn". So I said, based on what? The only info I've sent them so far is a list of my employers for the last 5 years (all of whom I left on good terms with) and my addresses I have lived at. I hadn't yet completed the SC forms which go to an external company. So this is purely based on whatever checks their 'security' team do. To make matters worse, I said to her, do you not have any information about what this was based on. She just said that the team don't share this information. So potentially there is something in my record I am unaware of. I said to her that this leaves me potentially unemployed now, so can you find out what is going on and if I can appeal whatever decision has been made. She's going to call me back in the morning once she's spoken to them. I know now I shouldn't have handed in my notice until this was all satisfactory, but I have no reason to see why I'd fail any checks, and had there been, I wouldn't have applied for a job like this!


What kind of checks could they have run on me that would cause them to just withdraw the offer without giving me a chance to explain myself (if there is something I've done)? It sounds like it must be something serious because I asked her if this has happened to her before and she said this is the first time. Could it be an error in my records that I could rectify, or could this just be BS and they've decided against going with me for whatever reason?


Feeling pretty low right now about this situation

jfh7gwa

It could be a genuine error; I suggest you wait and see. depending on what you find out, you may want to consider if your current employer would consider withdrawing your resignation or keeping you on a little longer, say a short contract? That depends on your relationship with them, your line manager's support, how vital you are to them, or all three.

I once "failed" the initial background check because my old employer's admin team couldn't verify that i'd worked there - they basically said "never heard of 'em" despite the fact that it was only 2 years previously (admittedly before that company admin team expanded with a lot of staff who didn't know me, merged with another company's team). reason turned out to be, when i appealed and found out the issue... misspelled name when checking the HR records. it was a silly typo - imagine checking for Stephen Brown when it should have been Steven Brown, that sort of thing. they didn't even check the very specific dates i'd given (month/year) or think to check for other spellings/etc - a very stressful time for me (was not in work though), so i know some of what you're going through.

keep us updated on how it progresses once you hear more, there may be more specific things the forum can help with.

flyingguy

Thanks for your reply, really appreciate it. It just astonishes me that the woman who rang me didn't think to ask for a bit more info from whoever made this decision. Did she think I would just say, oh thanks for the call? And not want a bit more info.


I really hope it is an error, but why would they not think to discuss it with me, I'd been in for two interviews, all the contracts signed and returned, lots of communication, I was the only one they brought back for 2nd interview, just to then U-turn completely. Does this make any sense at all?

AcidHouse

I knew someone in the financial sector who lost their role because an examination grade on their CV differed to the actual certificate. Even though the GCSE result was 20 years ago and he's since got degrees and been a teacher. He lost the job.

Also I know someone who was told by HR that they had contacted previous employers but found she had never worked at a certain place because they had no record of her - it was a temporary role. Even though she provided contractual paperwork etc as evidence, this delayed her employment start date.

Check the accuracy of everything you've submitted to them in terms of dates, explanations, grades etc.

Also in terms of the role - would they be checking other factors about you / your family / background that wouldn't be checked in an application for a more normal job? Only you mentioned MOD type contracts, and I have no idea what they involve.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow morning!!

jfh7gwa

To the job seeker, no. but in my case (when my old employer said i'd never worked there because of the misspelling) i just heard nothing at all for two weeks, left messages after hearing nothing for a week, no one got back to me, chased the 2nd week, found out, pressed them to tell me what the problem was.. had to chase my old employer directly, and round it went. it wasn't quick or a nice experience, and no one really seemed to be fussed - new employer seemed fairly laid back, i assume because they were starting to look at number 2 or 3 candidates to call!

so it is frustrating but not necessarily a sign that it's all gone wrong just yet

mountainofdebt

Abit like shutting the door after the horse has bolted but why did you hand in your resignation before everything was confirmed???

As for failing security checks, has anyone in your family been a naughty girl/boy? what about your credit rating??

jfh7gwa

AcidHouse wrote: »

it was a temporary role. Even though she provided contractual paperwork etc as evidence, this delayed her employment start date.

actually this is a good point - the new employer i have referred to in my case would have accepted 3 payslips from my old employer as proof if it had still remained unproven.

if it does turn outto be something you can prove with paperwork, make sure you're ready and armed to get photocopies or take in paperwork yourself to prove whatever problem they think needs to be resolved. that's only true if it is a mistake on their / someone else's part though - check for typos in your CV, as AcidHouse mentioned.

flyingguy

All good advice.


Yes I know now I should have waited, but I asked the HR lady who was doing all my paperwork if I should hand my notice in, this was before I actually received the contract. She said wait until the contract arrives, so I did! But I do have the email from her telling me to do this, she should have said, wait until the clearance is done.


As for family, no my family are squeaky clean. I've had debts in the past, but no CCJs or IVAs etc. Even so, on Friday all was fine, they were emailing me asking for bits and bobs, so whatever has come up has come up today. It's not a financial job, it's an IT managerial job. If they actually gave me a reason which was genuine, I would hold my hands up and hang my head. But to say nothing is what gets me.

mountainofdebt

flyingguy wrote: »

All good advice.


Yes I know now I should have waited, but I asked the HR lady who was doing all my paperwork if I should hand my notice in, this was before I actually received the contract. She said wait until the contract arrives, so I did! But I do have the email from her telling me to do this, she should have said, wait until the clearance is done.


As for family, no my family are squeaky clean. I've had debts in the past, but no CCJs or IVAs etc. Even so, on Friday all was fine, they were emailing me asking for bits and bobs, so whatever has come up has come up today. It's not a financial job, it's an IT managerial job. If they actually gave me a reason which was genuine, I would hold my hands up and hang my head. But to say nothing is what gets me.

You may be lucky and be told the reason - if everyone in your family is squeaky clean as you are and there are no financial reasons as to why you would be a security risk then it may be a case of mistaken identity.

AcidHouse

Yes the HR rep should have definitely pointed out that the contract is subject to satisfactory results of checks that are to be carried out - I'm assuming this would be the case, and that this should also be stated somewhere on the offer letter/contract they sent you.

If the worst comes to the worst and whatever they've found out is not something they can get around and you have the offer of employment retracted - How far into your notice period are you / has the current employer advertised your position yet / interviewed for it - are they intending on replacing you?

flyingguy

I've spoken with my line manager who I have a good relationship with, and he's pretty sure he can keep me on which is good news. The fact remains I wanted out of the job anyway, but with the prospect of being unemployed, it now seems like the best job in the world. I'll try and sleep tonight and hopefully they can give me some answers tomorrow. The only possible reasons I can think of (If I have genuinely been rejected) is that I've moved address a few times in the past few years, or that I was given a bad reference from an old employer. But I would have thought that if either were true, they could just tell me this. Unless they've run it through a computer and the computer has just said no. Again though, why would they waste their time recruiting me, to just look at X against my name>?