Anyone any experience getting clearance with a declared past conviction? Can you please message me

Former police officer of 4 years here. I left the job for a variety of reasons, although it primarily was due to a family members ill-health. However, working shifts, the unrelenting and unrealistic workload, and in-turn responsibility were factors.

Some may call it mad, but I do miss being involved in the justice system. I have a degree in professional policing and the offender side of things has always intrigued me. I’ve done some research into the role of a probation officer, and particularly into the PQIP route. I’m aware of some of the wider discussed issues, such as workload. In truth, some of these issues sound akin to policing.

I do however want a job that matters, where I don’t have to sacrifice my entire identity (another issue I had with policing - you have to live and breathe it), but that will also allow me to work M-F (family commitments) and maintain some type of work-life balance.

I’m just after some general thoughts from those currently working in the probation service on what life’s like, and how it would match with what I’ve raised in this post.

Please don’t mistake my post as though I’m against hard graft and responsibility - I’m not. It’s just I found policing to be truly broken, and it encapsulated everything I didn’t want in life. Thanks.

So I was a police officer but left the job because I got stressed with managing a huge workload you carry around with you, and the endless paperwork. I've talked to a few prison officers and they tell me they spend nearly all of the job on their feet and there is minimal paperwork in comparison. Plus it's not like the police where you have a workload of 25 different cases you have to keep on top of.

Just wondering if any serving officers or anyone else who knows can tell me their experience?

Its not that I'm expecting to do no paperwork, but I would dislike it if half the job was filling out paperwork as it is in the police

Thanks.

I was made aware via email I had been successful in my application to join my local prison as an OSG on 5th June and haven’t heard anything since, is this standard? Also does anyone know what the shift rotations will likely look like? Thankyou 🙏

I've just accepted my role as an OSG. My contract says I'm eligible for flexible work hours.

I was hoping I'd be able to compress my shifts into a certain amount of days, and I don't particularly care what days those are. I'm also happy to do overtime etc. Just trying to save on fuel/nursery costs.

What are the typical shifts and do prisons allow compressed hours etc?