Disclosure
But having a court conviction on your records may also hinder your choice of career. When applying for a job, it is usual to fill out an application form, for the process of selection. It is now becoming more usual for application forms to end with a question, which asks if you have been convicted of anything in a court.

If the form asks for details about criminal convictions, only then you are not required to disclose any civil matters that may have involved you in the county court, for example.

If you do have a criminal record and do not disclose it, then if your were to accept the job and your employer found out about your conviction, then your employer may be justified in disciplining you or dismissing you. It is likely that they would consider the seriousness of the offence both in making any decision to offer the job and subsequently should you not disclose this and they were to find out about it later.

It can be at the least embarrassing and the most severe financially crippling, if you lose your job after your employer finds out you had a past criminal record which you did not declare on your application form.

Criminal Records
In the U.K., Criminal Records are not accessible, save in certain circumstances covered by statute, i.e. Persons applying for a job involving the care of a child or young person.

But other than those jobs, all people who have been asked must really tell the truth.
Before considering lying on your application form, think about what you did and what you are doing and for whom. Without trying to sound preachy, the merits of lying are obvious. Not very good.

Think about the seriousness of the conviction. Was it serious? was it something or nothing?, was it civil or criminal?, was it violent?, was it blue or white collar crime? Because, you may be surprised at the potential employers reaction.

If you are applying for a Sales job but have been convicted before for driving offences, then an explanation would more than likely suffice. A new employer may empathise with the situation and not give it the importance that you may have given. Things would be considerably different if however, you added that you were drinking at the same time and knocked over a pedestrian.

Legislation
An important difference to highlight is the different ways criminal convictions and criminal records are dealt with. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 criminal convictions can become 'spent' or 'ignored' after a rehabilitation period, and people do not have to disclose them when applying for most jobs, insurance etc. However, the criminal record remains - it will not be deleted once convictions become spent. Therefore criminal records, including records of cautions, may be disclosed during police checks.