Is Bad Credit Hurting Your Chance of a Job Offer?
This is an awful situation for a lot of unemployed and underemployed Americas. When people lose their jobs and income, it becomes more likely that they get behind on bills. This can lead to some late payments which show up on credit reports. However, when these same people are out looking for a job, they may find that the pre-employment credit check is one hurdle they cannot overcome. In my opionion, it is easy to understand why an unemployed person would struggle with debt, but employers may not be that forgiving.
With 10% officially unemployed, and the real numbers probably almost double that, this is becoming a very signifigant issue. If this has burned you, or you are just learning about it, please consider this when you continue your job search. You could be wasting a lot of effort by job hunting with bad credit.
What can you do about credit checks hurting your chances of a job offer? We found some tips from job hunting experts. These may not allow you to overcome the hurdle with an employer that has a set policy against hiring people with bad credit. But it may keep you from wasting your energy by looking for the right job at the wrong time.
Know your credit! You have the right to obtain a free credit report every 12 months from the 3 major credit reporting agencies. There is no use trying to guess. You can go to AnnualCreditReport.com to apply for your free report. You may spot errors on your report, and these can be corrected to help improve your scores.
Don’t Ignore Creditors! I know that when your situation is bad, it is easy to just avoid the phone for fear of collection calls. But experts tell us the best advice is to pick up the phone and explain the situation. Some creditors may work out something with you. They all won’t be that easy to deal with, but at least you can tell them you are aware of your late payments, and you wish they would not call you anymore.
Be Honest with Employers. Don’t try to lie about your credit situation. I know people who got into trouble with late payments because of unemployment or medical bills. They started off by explaining the situation to the employer, what steps they intended to take to fix the problems, and since they were honest about it, they got hired anyway. All employers are not heartless. This won’t always work because some companies, and even public employers, just have policies against hiring people with credit issues. But it won’t help to lie about it, and then get found out when the company runs a credit check before they make a hiring decision.
Look for Another Job. If your dream job requires a credit check, you just may have to put a hold on that while you get your financial situation cleaned up. Consider freelancing or contract work to make income while you work towards your goals. Lots of us have had setbacks lately, and delayed gratification may just be a fact of life we have to live with.
Work Towards Cleaning Up Your Credit – Even a couple of months of timely payments can raise your socre by 20 or 30 points. You can try to work out payment plans with creditors, and let them know what you are doing to fix your problem. You may also be able to settle for less than you owe. This isn’t as good of a solution as being able to pay off your debts, but it is better than ignoring the phone when it rings.
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Your article is well meaning but Completely Naïve!
Maybe one in a million employers would listen to a bad credit story, but no one ever gets that chance to explain. Such well meaning advice is just not in touch with reality. “We the people” must have legal protections to ever have any chance whatsoever.
In survey after survey, including a recent MSNBC survey, more than 90 percent of Americans say that workplace discrimination based upon someone’s personal credit report is wrong and should be illegal. Yet Congress is being bribed by corporate campaign contributors and strong armed by lobbyists to kill the legislation that would make the practice illegal. That is NOT “democracy by the people and for the people.” How can Congress be allowed to thwart the overwhelming will of the people?
Most Americans don’t even know HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act even exists. What’s more, they don’t know about the corruption and backroom deal making taking place to keep the legislation stalled in the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
Follow the money and expose the truth:
Equifax:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00143867&cycle=2010
Trans Union:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00313700&cycle=2010
Experian:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00379768&cycle=2010
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00379768&cycle=2010
Please support our democracy, the overwhelming will of the people and the rights of highly qualified American workers to compete on a level playing field during this horrible economic disaster. Join our team on Facebook at http://groups.to/h.r.3149/ or shoot us an e-mail with “sign me up” typed in the subject line.
Please help your readers with a real solution by helping to get the word out on our group and HR3149 before more Americans suffer even more than we already are.
This information is bogus. I am a living example of how it is not working. I have been on so many interviews with potential employers telling me they wanted to hire me. I am upfront with them about my circumstances, & then they deny me the job. No, it’s not just the types of jobs either. I just got turned down for a Fund Raising Telemarketing job, for goodness sakes paying less than half of what I used to make..
This discriminatory practice of pulling people’s credit report must stop. There is a Bill sitting stalled on the House floor that most American’s don’t even know exists. It was drafted by Rep. Steve Cohen in July of 2009. It’s called H.R. 3149 Equal Employment For All Act. But due to Lobbyists, PAC, the 3 Big Credit Bureaus, & even SHRM all buying out the politicians, they are determined to stop the passage of the bill. 90% of Americans that do know about the bill’s existence are all for it.
Want to read many more factual articles from around the country, & follow the money, just go to this blog: http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/03/democracy-and-money-why-hr3149-is.html
Come join our group on Facebook, give us your voice as support in getting the word out on our grassroots movement. Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=186365853370
As long as this practice is allowed to continue, more & more people are caught in the Catch 22 of No Job=Bad Credit & Bad Credit=No Job. Your credit report is just that, yours. It is PRIVATE, & no one should have access to it. There are some out there actually claiming it proves your worth, honesty, & credibility. It’s all lies! It has nothing to do with one’s character or moral ethics. In this current economy, especially with over 8 million people being unemployed, they are making the middle class disappear, & that’s only the ones being reported…remember, there are many who have given up & who are not collecting benefits. To check on ones character & moral ethics is why we have employment & educational history, references, & criminal background checks.
This is just another way to plunder millions more into poverty. And for some out there thinking that it’s ok, it doesn’t affect me, you’d better wake up. As more & more people need assistance from public funding, taxes are going to skyrocket in order for the funding to be there for them. So go tell everyone you know about this Bill. Even if it’s not happening to you personally we all know someone, or they know someone else, that it is happening to. Do you realize besides unemployment, that it only takes one large medical bill, a divorce, a student loan, a death, or identity theft to cause you massive problems. All the explaining in the world isn’t do anyone any good. Did you know it is against the law for any employer to pull your credit report without your permission? Did you also know it against the law for them not to put in writing if that was the reason you were denied employment, or a promotion? So what they are doing is sure, they’re asking your permission, but now you feel stuck because you know if you say “No”, they’ll disqualify you immediately. And way too many of them aren’t telling people anything, especially in writing. All they’re saying is “You’re not qualified.” Even the ones who have openly admitted it to me, have not documented it in writing.
Please join the FB group! We need everyone to Stand United As One Voice. We look forward to seeing you there!
I was not defending this practice, and I am sorry if it seems like I was minimizing it. I really do agree that the practice of checking credit before employment makes a bad situation worse.
I appreciate the comments. This is how we get the whole story.
I have actually had an insurance company forgive my situation after I explained it. It may not work, but it is better than telling a lie. Just sayin….
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