Do Not Let Your Dream Job Slip Away Because of Your Lousy Credit Report

According to a recent survey conducted by applicant.com, it has been revealed that a good majority of employers nowadays take credit report of their prospective employees into account while shortlisting the candidates for the job.

Credit check has become a must in the selection process of employees, especially in jobs that relate to accountancy, budgeting, et al. Hence, it is important that you make sure that your credit report is impressive, in order for you to crack a decent job.

Candidates with Poor Credit History Considered as Risky Investments

Applicants with poor records are deemed to be negligent and irresponsible in terms of handling the funds and meeting the budgetingrequirements of the company.

It might be shocking but true that candidates have been rejected after given the offer letter only because they had a bad credit history.
Employers take the employees with lower credit score as potential risk to the company in the long run.

This is a highly controversial statement as people often argue that a sneak peek into the credit report may give some idea about the responsibility level of an individual but it fails to give an overall picture of their skills and circumstances.

Plus, it also becomes a loop as candidates with poor credit history are unable to land up with a decent job, resulting in more debts and expenses to pay off and no way to earn money. This is the reason why some US States have even banned the checking of employees’ credit reports by the employers. But still, employers in most states are free to access it.

As per the recent survey of Society for Human Resource Management, about 35% of the employers use credit check as a tool to assess the value of the employees, whereas in 1996 only 19% used to perform the credit check. This marks the increasing trend of performing credit check before hiring or promoting the individuals.  

Providing a Written Permission for Credit Check to Future Employers

The decision of making the credit check depends on the employer, and depends a great deal on the  job position for which you have applied.

As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA), the employers need to get a written permission authorizing them to perform the background check of their potential employees. It is worth noting that when you grant the permission of running a background check by signing on the job application, it simply implies that you have also given the company the permission to review your credit reports.

It all depends upon the employers as how they handle your information and reason out while rejecting the application.

Law demands all employers to detail out all the deciding factors for rejecting the candidate, especially if it is related to your credit check. But the law is full of loopholes. In order to save their skin, many times employers very intelligently and politely tell you that the other candidates were more qualified or experienced. If you have filed for bankruptcy in the past, the employers cannot reject you on the cause of bankruptcy.

This is because it shows that though in past you were unable to make due payments but you tried your level best to manage the situation by other means. But the employers are smart enough to manipulate the situation and reject the candidate on the basis of poor credit record.

The employers are not always fussy as they ignore your minor financial holes. If the payment was due for 10th and you made the payment of 15th – such minor delays are often overlooked by the employers.

The employers run a credit check for finding out major issues with the credit report. If you are applying for the banking or finance related job, the employer is sure to look out your report for evictions, repossessions, foreclosure, et al. Employers’ worries are calmed if they employ a candidate with no financial issues.

Whether we like it or not, employers these days are more likely to check your credit report into account before hiring you. Thus, it is in your best interest to keep the credit report as clean as possible.