28M - Ex-police (resigned) and bankrupt - career advice?

youngbuck2

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I think you're missing a number of positive points here.

Emergency response driving - quick reaction time and safe driver. Good skill if you look at driving work. Also if you have to maintain the car that's good too as often driving jobs expect you to check over your vehicle. Being able to think fast and react is good in any situation.

Restraining people - strength, good for manual work. Calm and professional even in tough situations - good in any job, especially ones where you might get angry customers.

Officer safety/first aid - always handy to know first aid.

Interviewing/case file preparation - Interviewing shows good communication which all employers want. If you became something like a careers advisor then that would be a very handy skill. Case file preperation or anything office/admin based, especially if it involves IT is useful. A lot of jobs require some form of paper work so it shows you can handle that side.

Temp work might be a good idea. Get some positive references and try out different types of jobs, see what you like and maybe gain a few extra skills as well.

You're right, I do have transferable skills, it's all in the way I portray those to an employer and bring what I have to offer to them in a way that's relevant to the role.

youngbuck2

Alter_ego wrote: »

Red Cross (& presumably others) Require a DBS check on most volunteers if they are in contact with the public/vulnerable folk.
Not sure whether your bankruptcy would show or need to be declared on that.
Sorry to be negative but better forewarned.

I believe a DBS check is the new name for a "CRB" check which as far as I know is a basic criminal record/PNC check. If it is the extended/higher level check it is checks against local registers (i.e. if someone is not eligible to work with vulnerable adults or children). I don't think a credit check is part of that.

youngbuck2

So I've been up since 5pm yesterday (haven't been to sleep yet) researching careers and bits and pieces and will finally be going to sleep soon.

Some really helpful posts so far, and also a few reality checks for me which were much needed (I definately need to set my sights lower).

So far, the ones I think are the most realistic/best option for my circumstances are:

Health & Safety Advisor - get a part-time job (any job) to bring some money in initially, at the same time study for a NEBOSH general certificate. Getting a part-time job and volunteering will hopefully bring me a couple of more recent references I can use. After I've achieved the certificate, apply for entry-level H&S Advisor roles - gain a couple of years experience and at the same time take the higher level diploma before applying for a more senior position.

Retail - Apply for an entry level job (sales assistant), gain experience, use my maturity/experience (did I mention I was a supervisor in the police?) and after a while move jobs/up the chain where possible to supervisor then onto more senior retail positions making careful career moves to advance. Possibly at the same time study part-time for a BA(Hons) Business Management degree with the OU?

Close protection - Using my background/experience in the police. Complete close protection/SIA approved courses to be eligible, apply for any relevant roles and progress from there? (I know some may disagree with a security based company hiring someone who resigned for gross misconduct but on the other side of the coin I have a lot of good practical experience working in one of the busiest most crime ridden boroughs in London)





I really like the first two suggestions the most - any opinions on what sounds the better option for me?

I feel I've made a bit of personal progress in this thread, I think I needed a kick up the !!!! especially with my expectations and I've got that kick up the !!!!.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

youngbuck2 wrote: »

OP here. Just wanted to thank you for a very encouraging and inspiring post.

No problem.

I don't often post on this board but this is one of the more interesting threads in a while.

I have considered retail and a potential route upwards sound feasible with hard work and careful moves between jobs.

Retail can be a bit boring and in my experience it also often has lower pay and progression chances, on average, than hospitality/leisure.

Hospitality (particularly in city centre bars/clubs) can be a lot of fun while you're young, as well as being rewarding as they often pay for management training/development. And restaurant chains/hotels can be very, very financially rewarding in later career.

My misconduct was nothing to do with dishonesty, it was unprofessional behaviour on duty to member of the public (unsavoury comments made). It was a moment of stupidity that has cost me my job and I'll be honest with potential employers, I will explain it the same way I just have.

I really don't think that's likely to be a significant problem, if I'm being brutally honest, so long as they weren't racist/bigoted comments I can't see many employers holding that against you particularly if you've learned a lesson from it.

After a few years I reckon both that and the bankruptcy will be non-issues for your career prospects as well.

I've hired a lot of people in my time and youthful mistakes/indiscretions are usually ignored once you get a bit of current experience and more recent good references.

Anyway, good idea to start the thread, hope you find what you're looking for.

Cheers

Undervalued

youngbuck2 wrote: »

My misconduct was nothing to do with dishonesty, it was unprofessional behaviour on duty to member of the public (unsavoury comments made). It was a moment of stupidity that has cost me my job and I'll be honest with potential employers, I will explain it the same way I just have.

The problem is I suspect you will have quite a job to convince a prospective employer of that. I would assume (or more relevant, most employers would assume) that the comments must have been very unsavoury indeed to have pretty much guaranteed your dismissal. You must see that is going to make any potential employer very wary of employing you if you have to interact with the public.

Also, you presumably have no hard evidence to offer a potential employer that is all it was? I assume any reference would just say "resigned whilst under investigation for GM" and not give any details of the alleged "offence". You must see how that will look and how easy it would be for an employer to assume, maybe totally unfairly, that there is more you are not telling them.

As I say, I think you have got to effectively start again but initially taking any job you can and gradually build a new reputation unlit you reach a point that no reference from the police is required.

TBagpuss

I agree with Hamish that if the comments you made were not racist or discriminatory that would not be too much of an issue provided that you can demonstrate that you have learned from it - I understand that you may not wish to be explicit on an open forum but think that when you get to an interview you should probably, if asked, be clearer about what was said and under what circumstances - if a potential employee told me that they had been facing gross misconduct proceedures and explained it as you have as " it was unprofessional behaviour on duty to member of the public (unsavoury comments made)" I would want to know what the 'unsavoury comments' were, at least in broad terms, so I could form my own judgment. Not everyone has the same view of what is unsavoury, and it would concern me if a candidate was unwilling to be clear about the exact nature of any incident - particularly a career-ending one.

Alternatively you could look at working short term, temp jobs so that you can obtain a reference from someone other than the police.

Speaking as an employer, I would not agree with your assessment that moving from the Police is a hard career move - being a police officer requires a range of skills and level of flexibility which can be very attractive to an employer - in fact the only issue I have ever had with ex-police is that they can have unrealistically high expectations regarding pay etc, as the police service package a whole, particualarly the pension, is pretty good.

Brickwall

I don't know if this would be of any interest, but, what about retraining and heading into teaching?

My daughter has just finished a BTEC course at college in uniformed services, the teaching and support staff are all ex service personnel, from ex army, marines, prison/police officers.

Just a thought.

youngbuck2

Undervalued wrote: »

The problem is I suspect you will have quite a job to convince a prospective employer of that. I would assume (or more relevant, most employers would assume) that the comments must have been very unsavoury indeed to have pretty much guaranteed your dismissal. You must see that is going to make any potential employer very wary of employing you if you have to interact with the public.

Also, you presumably have no hard evidence to offer a potential employer that is all it was? I assume any reference would just say "resigned whilst under investigation for GM" and not give any details of the alleged "offence". You must see how that will look and how easy it would be for an employer to assume, maybe totally unfairly, that there is more you are not telling them.

As I say, I think you have got to effectively start again but initially taking any job you can and gradually build a new reputation unlit you reach a point that no reference from the police is required.

TBagpuss wrote: »

I agree with Hamish that if the comments you made were not racist or discriminatory that would not be too much of an issue provided that you can demonstrate that you have learned from it - I understand that you may not wish to be explicit on an open forum but think that when you get to an interview you should probably, if asked, be clearer about what was said and under what circumstances - if a potential employee told me that they had been facing gross misconduct proceedures and explained it as you have as " it was unprofessional behaviour on duty to member of the public (unsavoury comments made)" I would want to know what the 'unsavoury comments' were, at least in broad terms, so I could form my own judgment. Not everyone has the same view of what is unsavoury, and it would concern me if a candidate was unwilling to be clear about the exact nature of any incident - particularly a career-ending one.

Alternatively you could look at working short term, temp jobs so that you can obtain a reference from someone other than the police.

Speaking as an employer, I would not agree with your assessment that moving from the Police is a hard career move - being a police officer requires a range of skills and level of flexibility which can be very attractive to an employer - in fact the only issue I have ever had with ex-police is that they can have unrealistically high expectations regarding pay etc, as the police service package a whole, particualarly the pension, is pretty good.

I won't go into what I said on a public forum as I'm sure you'll understand but I will be nothing less than upfront and frank when I discuss it with any future employer. All I will say is, the comments I made were not racist or homophobic or anything like that.

Yep, myself included, have been used to being paid "well". I think the police service as a whole could learn from other professions and how well police employees (particularly in London) are remunerated. I was still looking at a good final salary pension (very rare) including lump sum and my basic was £35k + London weighting + unsocial hours shift allowance. Add fairly regular overtime on top of that, I was probably making over £45k as a PC. Now that I've been out of it for a few months I think a lot of my ex-colleagues could benefit from being a bit more grateful for that sort of money.

Tiddlywinks

youngbuck2 wrote: »

My misconduct was nothing to do with dishonesty, it was unprofessional behaviour on duty to member of the public (unsavoury comments made). It was a moment of stupidity that has cost me my job and I'll be honest with potential employers, I will explain it the same way I just have.

I don't get it... 8 years perfect service yet you chose to resign over a few comments? Really?

Undervalued wrote: »

The problem is I suspect you will have quite a job to convince a prospective employer of that. I would assume (or more relevant, most employers would assume) that the comments must have been very unsavoury indeed to have pretty much guaranteed your dismissal. You must see that is going to make any potential employer very wary of employing you if you...

^^^ This... One hundred times over.

For anyone interested here are the Home Office guidelines and definitions for dealing with police conduct issues:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330235/MisconductPerformAttendanceJuly14.pdf

I'd suggest that the behaviour would need to be substantial to merit a severity classification of 'gross misconduct'.

With 'lesser' behaviour, 'words of advice', retraining, warnings etc would be the most likely outcomes.

Here are some examples:

http://content.met.police.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3D%22584%2F750%2FHearings+-+Results+Data+final+publication+April-June+14.pdf%22&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1283791250287&ssbinary=true

http://content.met.police.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3D%22669%2F59%2FMisconduct+Findings+Jul+2014+-+Sept+2014+%283%29.pdf%22&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1283829848714&ssbinary=true

Having worked in a similar environment for decades I can honestly say I have never seen a dismissal for one isolated 'unsavoury' comment. There tend to be opportunities to place context, state of mind, stressful environment etc as mitigation. Outcomes tend to be re-training, mentoring or even a final written warning.... Proportionality is the key.

As all of this information is in the public domain (as required by FoIA) it won't take much for an employer to do a credibility check on the explanation.

pmlindyloo

I hope you don't mind but having read through your previous threads I can see that you have been through a very rough time.

I would like to make a suggestion.

Why not give yourself some breathing space and 'put on hold' your 'perfect career'?

You wrote about your weight gain and drinking. Are you in a good place now, mentally and physically?

I would like to suggest that you tackle this aspect of your life first and get back into some kind of life where you are not so stressed about your situation. I can understand that, in part, you feel a bit of a failure and this is leading to your 'running' before you can 'walk'.

Get yourself into shape - start running (physically I mean!), go swimming, anything to feel fit and healthy. This usually will give you that lift that you need. There is a lot of truth in the saying - a healthy body, a healthy mind. Join some clubs/get some hobbies/ do some night classes - none of these need to cost a fortune - anything to meet people and get back some normality. If you can't achieve this on your own then get some help from your doctor.

Being out of work can be a very depressing situation. Add to that your 'history' and it may be very difficult to make decisions - hence your 'day dreaming' (no offence meant)

Get a job, any job, just to get you out of this spiral.

Then you can move forward and aspire to your dreams. You are not too old to start again. One step at a time.