Employment
Bad credit can hurt chances of landing a job
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL --
You know that companies check the usual
stuff when you apply for a job - your resume, references, opinions of former employers
and sometimes background checks and drug tests. But did you know that they could
check your credit report, too? And if your credit report harbors some unsightly
blemishes, they can harm your chances of getting the job.
"Rightly or wrongly, a credit history gives a lot
of people impressions of the person's character," says James Tisdale, director of
business development for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc.™, a credit
counseling agency based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "You're just looking at a piece
of paper, but some employers believe that the information on this piece of paper
can give information about the person's ability to be responsible."
Not
all companies check their job applicants' credit
reports - the main ones are financial companies, or companies whose employees have
access to cash, assets or confidential financial information.
"Companies [check credit] especially for people
whose jobs are in sensitive areas, who have direct access to cash or people's accounts,"
Tisdale says. "There's some concern that they want people who are not in a financially
bad situation for those positions."
Similarly, employers check reports of applicants
for positions that require access to a company credit card. Companies may also check
credit reports before granting a promotion to an executive-level position. Usually,
applicants for entry-level positions, or jobs that require little or no access to
cash, don't have their credit checked.
Before a company can have access to your credit
report, they have to receive written permission from you. Also, the reports that
employers see are different from usual credit reports - they don't reveal credit
card account numbers, your credit-risk rating or your age. Your credit rating will
not be hurt by an employer's inquiry - these show up on your report as special types
of inquiries that don't impact your credit score because they don't indicate attempts
at new credit.
Check your credit report before an employer does
to make sure it doesn't contain any inaccuracies. If you have credit blemishes you
fear will hurt your chances at a new job or promotion, fix them - by communicating
with creditors - and wait. The effects of negative information fade with time.
