Security Clearance without a sponsor

KfromDerby

Hi, I have recently been made redundant but approached by a couple of agencies for lucrative contracting roles in Central Govt. My experience of working in this sector previously, and my availability which is the most critical factor for contracting jobs, makes me a natural fit, however, many of these require security clearance which is often sponsored by the employer.

A recruitment agency recently advised that they can undertake this without any sponsor but a cost of £700 and £1400 for this to be fast tracked! 

Please someone advise if there any other independent agents I can use? I’m guessing the agency will be a middleman taking a large chunk of this fee, so just want to know if there is a way of doing this independently or directly? 

As I said I have previously worked for Central Govt and undergone such checks but this lapsed some 10 years ago!

Thank you in advance.

MattMattMattUK

KfromDerby said:

Hi, I have recently been made redundant but approached by a couple of agencies for lucrative contracting roles in Central Govt. My experience of working in this sector previously, and my availability which is the most critical factor for contracting jobs, makes me a natural fit, however, many of these require security clearance which is often sponsored by the employer.

A recruitment agency recently advised that they can undertake this without any sponsor but a cost of £700 and £1400 for this to be fast tracked! 

Please someone advise if there any other independent agents I can use? I’m guessing the agency will be a middleman taking a large chunk of this fee, so just want to know if there is a way of doing this independently or directly? 

As I said I have previously worked for Central Govt and undergone such checks but this lapsed some 10 years ago!

Thank you in advance.

It sounds very much like a scam to me, or at least a very unscrupulous agency. 

Apply for the jobs, the government agency will do the whole process as part of onboarding you as a contractor, as you have previously held security clearance it would take a few weeks at most unless there are any anomalies or you have lived abroad in the last ten years, 

Emmia

Government is also reducing the numbers of people employed and contracting, so unless your skills are very specialised... I think this all sounds a bit scam like.

In any case checks aren't done by multiple companies, so if that's the cost, that's the cost

KfromDerby

Thank you both for your response. The recruitment agency is one which is very highly recommended in my area of work and one which we have used when I was recruiting for staff in the private sector, nonetheless I will proceed with caution. 

Grumpy_chap

KfromDerby said:

A recruitment agency recently advised that they can undertake this without any sponsor but a cost of £700 and £1400 for this to be fast tracked! 

The individual should not need to bear a cost to obtain security clearance.  All such costs should fall to the employer / prospective employer.

Sounds like a scam to me.

https://www.gov.uk/agency-workers-your-rights/fees

DullGreyGuy

Grumpy_chap said:

KfromDerby said:

A recruitment agency recently advised that they can undertake this without any sponsor but a cost of £700 and £1400 for this to be fast tracked! 

The individual should not need to bear a cost to obtain security clearance.  All such costs should fall to the employer / prospective employer.

Sounds like a scam to me.

https://www.gov.uk/agency-workers-your-rights/fees

As a contractor they probably won't be an agency worker. 

Certainly some agencies do pass on certain costs, a former large and well respected agency required that I pay for IR35 and DBS checks which are standard things in outside IR35 contracts in FS world.

The reality is that if a potential hiring manager for a contractor has two applicants that they really like, one is available tomorrow as they already have all the paperwork like recent DBS or SC etc and the other one doesnt have this so may be a couple of months before they start then one may become the preferred candidate simply because of timescales.

If a future client is prepared to wait then they probably will pay the bill but you may never find out because they choose the guy that can start earlier.