The Student Room Group

Criminal Records

Will it always be hard for people with criminal records to get a job? becasue if so how will they ever get anywhere I'm 18 and when I was 16 I spent 18months of a 3 year sentence in a young offenders prison for armed robbery, right now Im being home tutored studying business at college, Im finding it so difficult to find a job as most of the place I have been to ask about convictions and its and offence to lie and I dont want to get sent to prison again. My mum says after a certain time my record will be whiped out and I wont have to inform employers about my conviction... is this true or am I stuffed for life.

Thanks
Reply 1
As you were 16 you were a young offender and in most cases at 18 your conviction should be wiped and you should have a clean slate.
Reply 2
Join the armed forces, I know plenty of people who've had plenty of convictions still being recruited. You can also see it as truly paying back for your misdeeds if you like and you can learn plenty of vocations whilst in the armed forces...
Reply 3
Skeppy
Will it always be hard for people with criminal records to get a job? becasue if so how will they ever get anywhere I'm 18 and when I was 16 I spent 18months of a 3 year sentence in a young offenders prison for armed robbery, right now Im being home tutored studying business at college, Im finding it so difficult to find a job as most of the place I have been to ask about convictions and its and offence to lie and I dont want to get sent to prison again. My mum says after a certain time my record will be whiped out and I wont have to inform employers about my conviction... is this true or am I stuffed for life.

Thanks

Shouldn't have robbed a place with a weapon, eh?
Reply 4
ashy
Shouldn't have robbed a place with a weapon, eh?
I guess not
Reply 5
Yeh that's a point, i have like a 'caution' for shoplifting when i was 15, i cant really remember but im sure the police said it would be 'wiped off' in three years time but what does that really even mean? Whenever i applied for jobs or uni i never put it down and it's never got in the way as i have all my offers anyway! Obviously yours is a different case but does anyone know what this all means for me?
Reply 6
dream-away
Yeh that's a point, i have like a 'caution' for shoplifting when i was 15, i cant really remember but im sure the police said it would be 'wiped off' in three years time but what does that really even mean? Whenever i applied for jobs or uni i never put it down and it's never got in the way as i have all my offers anyway! Obviously yours is a different case but does anyone know what this all means for me?

yes minor offenses do get wiped after a few years I had a reprimand for possession of an offensive weapon when I was like 13 maybe 14 and that went after awhile.
Reply 7
You need to find out about 'spent convictions'. Its not hard, I've got some old speeding fines that were spent ages ago and I needed to find out if I needed to put them on my Fast Stream application form. Just do a couple of Google searches, you'll get there eventually. There is probably something somewhere on www.direct.gov.uk I'd bet.
Do some more research, search google and you'll find an answer. I would hope that something as serious as armed robbery wouldn't be wiped off your record simply because you've turned 18, but sadly it's fairly likely it would be.
I dont know regarding age but there is a five year rule for adults where if you haven't done any more illegal stuff then yeh its all wiped clean from your employment record. however reoffend and it will keep coming back etc also depends how long. sometimes if it big and you went away for more then ten years then it would be 10 years before your wiped clean. i suggest you try going for volunteer jobs to prove that your all good
Reply 10
You might want to inquire to the date in which your conviction is listed 'spent' Normally minor offences are wiped at 18. However I'm unsure about more serious offences.

At the end of the day its about context. If you can show by your conduct that it is in the past then this is favourable. Qualifications, Volunteer and paid work, good character and work references will work for you.

You may find however that with a crowded and competitive job market at the moment that your disclosure of a criminal conviction may see you set aside in the first vetting stage (eg, looking through CV's and decided whos worthy of an interview) Because of the volume of applications bigger employers have a habit of doing this. This you cannot help now, so concentrate on your skills and experience. Write in the criminal convictions section your offence and the context (eg: bad time in my life, insecure, etc if true) and how you have turned your life around.
Reply 11
i dnt think what your mum says is true, isn't that usually only if you have a police record not a criminal one.
ashy
Shouldn't have robbed a place with a weapon, eh?


lol!

Minor offences get wiped when you're 18....makes me wish I'd committed more crimes!
Reply 13
ermm.. how do you know if you have a criminal record? that probably seems like a really stupid question.. but i know someone who had their name written down by the police .. they took the address and phone number.. this was a couple of years ago and they never did anything with the info.. ie calling or sending a letter to the house... is that gonna show up on an enhanced crb?

sorry if the answer is obvious...
Reply 14
Im shocked at some of the responses here.

As per the ROA, as the sentence imposed was 3 years (despite what you served) the offence will NEVER become spent. You will ALWAYS have the declare it. That is not just for jobs that are exempt from the ROA but all jobs. Maybe you should look at self employed?

Regarding the person above me, this would not be a criminal record, however depending on what the situation was this may be released on an enhanced CRB disclosure as intelligence.

In regards to wiping records, that never ever happens according to 2006 ACPO guidlines. Some offences can be stepped down after which they won't routinely be revealed on CRB disclosure (although they can if deemed relevant), however they will never be deleted.
Reply 15
If it is serious, doesn't it stay on your CRB? It's only minors that might get wiped off... although even then I'm not too sure.
Reply 16
Nothing gets wiped off. In effect, if it is not an offence against the person you may have a chance it will not show up after 5 years, but that is up to the chief (or acting) police officer at the time.
It might be an idea to go to countries where Police Checks are not undertaken. Two key countries are Dubai and Thailand. You can get a VISA at either with a record. If you marry a foreign national you can also surrender your british citizenship and take the nationality of your partner and then go anywhere in the world without a record.
I was convicted of a very minor sex offence and married an Indian. I now live and work in Duabi and had no problems with a VISA. I am now an indian national - not a british one. When I need a police check for VISA in other parts of the world I simply go to the Indian authorities not the british ones. The Indian police have obviously never heard of me! TOTAL CLEAN SLATE!
Can't believe people here are calling it a 'minor' offence. Armed robbery is a lot more serious than say shoplifting. What was OP armed with anyway? A knife? Gun? Rusty metal pole? Scissors? And just where did OP rob? Some old person's home? A bank? Corner shop? Was anyone injured?

Without knowing the details most employers wouldn't want to chance giving OP an interview to explain the circumstances. I'd be wondering if OP will get violent during the job/interview and repeatedly smash my face in with a sledgehammer.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 19
Original post by firaWhoops
Can't believe people here are calling it a 'minor' offence. Armed robbery is a lot more serious than say shoplifting. What was OP armed with anyway? A knife? Gun? Rusty metal pole? Scissors? And just where did OP rob? Some old person's home? A bank? Corner shop? Was anyone injured?

Without knowing the details most employers wouldn't want to chance giving OP an interview to explain the circumstances. I'd be wondering if OP will get violent during the job/interview and repeatedly smash my face in with a sledgehammer.


Totally agreed.

OP doesn't deserve employment when law abiding citizens are struggling to gain employment.