ally
Well Known Member
This is a great post.
I have a foot on both sides with this one.
In terms of driving, i'm not missing it at all! It's a little frustrating at times but i'm getting plenty of fresh air, walking more is good for me and in total honesty now i know i'm capable of doing something so stupid i'm not sure i want a car! Also I've discovered Uber which is absolutely fantastic (Google it if you don't know what i'm talking about). I've booked my course and am looking forward to it but i'm only doing it to educate myself and meet other people in similar circumstances, the ban reduction just isn't a driver for me.
As you'll see from my posts though i am searching for a new job and this is proving incredibly difficult. I was fortunate enough to hold a relatively senior position prior to taking redundancy. After the redundancy 'that night' happened and I've since applied for jobs that i really should have walked into only to not even be asked for interview. I'm only disclosing when asked, where i'm asked on an application form and disclose i see far more rejections and i'm now absolutely petrified that i'll be left on the scrap heap and lose everything that's really important in my life.
In the cold light of day i should have been more aware the ongoing impact but it just doesn't seem fair to me now i'm in this situation. If you do wrong and get caught, like me, i should be punished, i understand that but it feels like I've been punished multiple times for the same thing! I went to court and plead guilty, i was fined and banned - that's 2 punishments. Names ended up in the paper - another. Will need a medical to get my license back - another. Insurance's go up - another. Can't find work - another.
TBH even knowing all of this before hand i don't think would have changed that night, i'd lost my mind and wasn't thinking at a very difficult time. I just feel more could be done to help rehabilitate people after this type of offense. At the end of the day the Police consider this a Road Traffic Offence and perhaps having to disclose it for 5 years after the event is a tad harsh. My understanding is that with recent changes to the ROA that if i'd given someone a hiding and went to prison for 6 months i'd only have to disclose that for 2.5 years!
What is everyone else's experience when it comes to finding work after something like this?
Hi I would like to tell you briefly what happened to me I apologise if you have read my experience on other threads I will keep it brief. On 19th Dec 2014 I was arrested blew 97 high risk in court 14th Jan, Awful Christmas and New Year as you can imagine. The police rang my work on 7th Jan telling them what had happened a week before I was due in court. I was sacked from my job I teach special needs children. I got a two year ban six week curfew and a fine. I worked (past tense) 20 miles away from home I could have got there using public transport but the police put an end to that.
I signed on as you have too and saw a job advertised at a place 5 minutes walk from my house and I applied and got an interview. A few nights before my interview I had an over whelming feeling to write a letter explaining what had happened and how it has made me feel and the impact it has had on me and my family. I wrote the letter from the heart. I went into detail about me keeping my arrest to myself for three weeks as I had ruined my own Christmas and thought it selfish to spoil anyone elses. The sleepless nights but most of all possibly ruining m career and throwing away all I have worked so hard for. Basically I asked for a chance. After my interview I handed my letter to the lady at HR walked to the local park and cried my eyes out relieved and proud of myself for being honest. I have laid my cards out on the table if I get the job, they know what I have done... I have been honest and up front. I got in first with a full explanation before my CRB came back with two sentences.
5pm the day of my interview I received a phone call I had got the job!!!!! I started in March and loving ever second of it. I have been given a second chance and I think it was down to my letter I got in first. You can not hide from CRB checks they are there but you can tell your future employer your own version of what happened.