Decision Maker- National Referral Mechanism - Public Safety Group (PSG)

Anyone get interview results yet?

On reserve list, what is your score?

Going through my pre-employment checks now. They've done all their checks, now the longest wait is the security clearance. They've raised a CTC application in my name as my sponsor. I completed my online application form on 20 April, and it is still 'In progress'. I'm in contact with other people who are still waiting on this too. It can take as long as 11 weeks. I'm going on my 8th week now. As soon as this changes to 'Complete', my new line manager will contact me with my start date. Until then, it's just the waiting.

Hey, If I may ask, how are you counting the 11 weeks? Is that from the point you send the pre-employment checks or the security clearance form? That is a LONG time 😩
Does one have to go through the security clearance each time one applies for a CS position?

Hey.
The 11 weeks are just for the Security Vetting Clearance. After you pass the interview and accept a provisional offer, here's how it goes, more or less:
1) They will start your pre-employment checks (that includes a basic security clearance they carry out themselves, followed by the submission of all the documents they request).
2) Once they are happy with all that, they will contact NSVS (National Security Vetting Service) I guess?!... And they will start an application for CTC on your behalf—the Home Office will act as your sponsor for this application.
3) You will receive a link to register on NSVS portal and submit the online form (it's a very long form asking a lot of personal questions). You should submit this as soon as possible because from the date you submit, a veryyyyy longggg countdown begins... I waited over 10 weeks.
4) After you have completed this form, you begin waiting on their decision. In the meantime you can access the same NSVS portal you used to fill in the form, and you can check the progress of your application. At the time of submitting your form, the status will be "In progress". You keep watch and wait for it to change to 'Completed'. This can take as long as 11 weeks, maybe more maybe less.
5) At that time, once it's changed to 'Completed' your Clearance letter (in the form of a PDF) will be sent to you and to the Onboarding/recruitment team, who will continue your application. This is when you wait for a call to discuss a start date and your contract. - I'm at this stage, finallyyyyyy.

To answer your question, not all roles require Security Clearance. The ones that do, it will be clear in the job advert that it will be required. And once you have a clearance letter, it has an expiry date. It can be 5 years, 10 years. For that amount of time, you can regard yourself as possessing a security clearance at the level you were granted it. They do state that this can be checked by any future employer at any moment they wish as it is their right, though. So, I don't think you will have to apply for it again, until this expires.

Hey MJHawke

Thanks so much for your detailed response... super informative and helpful Well done for getting to the final stage, you must be well relieved.. Hopefully it all goes straight sailing for you from here. I am currently at week 2 for my clearance for a different position... so the patience game is only starting I guess, might need to stop refreshing for a while..

If I may just ask you a couple of further questions, as you seem so well informed...
If you apply for several positions at once, will they start a new Security Clearance process if the other one hasn't yet been completed? In other words, can you have several 'in process' security clearance applications, or would you just have one?

Is it common to have a 'failed' security clearance? There are a few questions I didn't answer in full as I was unable to, and am worried I'd go through the whole process to be rejected in the end.

Also, if you do not take up the position in the end, do you still 'keep' the Security clearance, is it still valid for further positions you would apply to in this case?

Thanks

I don't believe you would be required to make more than one application for Security Vetting Clearance. In fact, I doubt that you would even be able to. All I know is that at the beginning of pre-employment checks, they mention that they understand that some people would prefer to apply for the clearance by themselves because of privacy reasons. So they ask you if you would be one of those people and give you the opportunity to apply for it by yourself. What I mean by this is, if you already have an on-going application for whatever reason, all you have to do is inform them, and they will ask you to keep them informed of the updates as soon as you have them until you obtain the required clearance.

I don't know about 'failed' applications. My partner applied for CTC last year too, and he didn't have the info on his deceased father's place of birth, so he just didn't fill it in. They didn't ignore it though, they came back requesting the missing information and told him there was no way to continue with the application if the info was not there. He had to contact other family members until he found out and was able to tell them. From that I gather that they might contact you for any missing info and it might delay application. But they won't fail it without first requesting missing info or seeking clarification where needed. Please keep in mind that my knowledge is limited, though. The info you didn't fill in might not be needed... Only they'll know.

If the Clearance was obtained, you will have it until it is expired. That is why they first ask whether you have any level of security clearance before progressing with the application. When you get your letter, it states the level of Clearance, the reference number and the expiry date. So from then on, you will be able to provide other employers with the letter. Having said that, it is unlikely that they will not give you the position since this is the very final step. So if you've reached this stage, you're almost there!

Good luck

Has anyone worked in this role before? Just want an idea of how the role will be like? Is it a good department to work in etc?

I've finally given a start date, after having applied in February. CTC was a long and restless wait, but here I am I start on 4th September in Newcastle.

I haven't met anyone who has worked in this role before, but I've a considerable number of people on Linkedin who do or who have worked it before. What I can say is that most people will stay in it for a while and soon progress to HEO. Some others have been in the role for 3+ years. This really made me excited. It tells me that the people who eventually leave the role, they do so to progress.

Do you know what sort of HEO position they progress to?
Are you referring specifically to Decision Maker in the Public Safety Group or are you including Asylum Decision Maker?

I'm referring specifically to National Referral Mechanism Decision Makers. The ones I saw moved up to Technical Specialist roles, some become Managers/ Team Leaders, and some other get lead roles in data and IT.
If you do a linkedin search with the words (including the quotes and + sign): "national referral mechanism" + "Decision Maker" , you will find the people who either currently have, or have had the role in the past.

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone else passed their pre-employment checks yet? Mine came through towards the end of August but I haven't heard anything yet...

Thanks