Can a credit score kill a job offer?
Potential employers can pull your credit report, with your permission. Declining can raise red flags.
This post comes from Lisa Gerstner at partner site Kiplinger.
Despite what you may have heard or read, employers do not have access to job candidates' credit scores. That should come as a relief to strapped job seekers with maxed-out credit cards or other score-busting blemishes.
But your prospects for getting hired aren't immune from a poor credit history. In most states, employers are able to check a potential or current employee's credit report, which lists information such as balances on your loans and credit accounts, late payments and debt collections. Post continues below.
About 13% of employers check credit reports for all candidates, and 47% check for those applying to selected positions, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Employers are usually most interested in the credit backgrounds of applicants who will handle finances, hold an executive-level position or have access to other employees' confidential information (such as human resources professionals).
The black marks that might give an employer pause are ones that leave the deepest stains on your record: a loan default, a bankruptcy, a debt that's gone to collection.
An employer must obtain your permission to pull your credit report. But declining is "like saying no to a Breathalyzer test," says John Ulzheimer, the president of consumer education for SmartCredit.com. The consequences are sometimes worse than just getting it over with," he says -- namely, the employer could choose another applicant for the job if you are secretive.
Be honest and upfront about any problems. A potential boss may be sympathetic to the financial trauma that a layoff and long bout of unemployment have caused. And keep in mind that your credit record is only one piece of your profile. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, credit history ranked lowest among criteria employers used to vet candidates.
More on Kiplinger and MSN Money:
I learn more from calling references and an interview than anything a credit report could tell me.
I worked in the high tech industry for years having excellent credit. But some times things happen in life to lower your credit score. Like what happend to me. First my honey died, then I got breast
Cancer. At this point I couldn't go to work at all due to depression and fighting a killing desease and the year and a half of treatments. I also had a herniated disk in my back which required surgery. I had insurance at the time but I was left with thousands of dollars of medical bills after they did pay. I couln't possibly pay them being on SSI disabilty. I might add that it took 6 months before I recevied a check for SSI. What I am saying is that **** happens. I think future employers have no business worrying about the credit scores. But they should just check with previous employers.
I am a recruiter with 16 years experience and I completely agree that employers shouldn't check credit. There are too many situations that can cause bad credit that aren't a reflection of the prospective employee's integrity or ability to perform. It kills me when someone's offer is rescinded for this reason.
It would matter if there were jobs worth applying for.
Just pay your bills, you say? Not everybody runs their households like a business. Else, when tough financial times hit, you would sell off your assets(your furniture, trees, TVs, cars, etc), lay people off ( send your kids to an orphanage to get them off your payroll), and move your operation to China(ghetto), so you can "just pay your bills", and your credit is good.....for a 2 bit position.
You go with that.
Just another legal notch in HR's gunbelt for denying you the position, in favor of their perfect candidate.
You have to love the irony of this. Creditors put black marks on one's credit because they want to get paid. But that black mark prevents the debtor from getting a job. Of course, this means that the debtor cannot pay the debt because he doesn't have an income. Speaking of cutting one's own throat!
Brilliant banker dudes! Brilliant! Even though you charge 30% interest on credit cards and $40 late fees, you have found a way to still lose money!
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