In this Project Management Recruitment Ideas, we look at the security check; these are the more thorough checks that are carried out when applying for project management roles in certain industries – especially financial and insurance. I’ll cover the security checks for working with children (CRB) and the defence/security industries (DV etc) in the next post.
Security Checks for the Financial Industries
Working within the financial sector as a project management professional – especially if you are looking for contract work – requires a stringent vetting process before work can start. The bottom line is prevention of fraud within the financial sectors – and that starts with the people hired to work within these sectors. There’s an excellent post already that covers security checking and contractors and one outcome that has been particularly welcomed:
Powerchex research shows a turn-around in the trend in applicant fraud. It recorded a 18% drop in major discrepancies on CVs and applications submitted between July 2006 and June 2007 when compared to the same period the previous year.
The message is loud and clear; if there are any discrepancies on your CV – including dates, responsibilities, line manager details etc, your offer of work will be withdrawn. The article mentioned above covers this in more detail, however the checks don’t end with scrutiny of the CV. Your own financial standing alongide your employment history will also be checked.
What You Need to Provide
You will be asked to complete a form which will be sent to a checking organisation (Arras People provides this service to all its finance and insurance clients). In it you will need to provide;
- Full 5 year address history
- Full contact details
- References from the last three positions – including contact telephone (they will be called)
- Your full CV
- Your last employment payslip
- Certified copies of your passport, driving licence or passport
- Copy of utility bills or similar for EACH address covering the last five years
- Declaration of any convictions
- Your limited company certifcates (if a contractor)
The process usually takes 2 days to complete on receipt of you providing all the documentation and no costs should be passed to you for these checks. It’s clear that this process demands two things; keep full records and make sure they’re accurate. Otherwise kiss goodbye to a contract within these sectors.
