Employers Check credit before Hiring so make sure yours is excellent!
We mentioned in a previous blog “What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You! that many employers check credit before hiring potential candidates but I think the subject is important enough to look in to it a little further. In the existing economy, many people applying for jobs have been hard hit financially, resulting in defaulting on bill payments or even having foreclosures and bankruptcies on their credit reports. So you might ask if it is really fair for employers to base their hiring decisions on a credit report, particularly if the negative financial history occurred several years ago. Why not make a decision based on a thorough interviewing system instead?
Employers Check credit reports to protect themselves.
Of course there are two sides to every story and I guess if you look at it from an employer’s point of view you could say that they are just protecting their company from potential problems. The results of an employee embezzling funds or failing to keep accurate expense accounts could be disastrous for a small business. Another reason employers check credit is that a poor credit history could indicate that the person is not responsible and therefore may not be able to handle the responsibilities of the position they wish to fill.
I came across an interesting article recently in USA Today titled “Is using credit reports to screen job applicants fair? http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/story/2012-02-23/hiring-with-credit-reports/53373144/1 This article shows that some state lawmakers are also concerned about the fact that many employers base their hiring decisions on financial history in credit reports. Read the article and you’ll find that seven states have recently restricted the practice and another state is considering similar measures.
I think it makes sense that employers check credit if the applicant’s position entails handling cash and also if the company is affiliated in any way with a government contract. In any event, the law 
states that you must be informed if employers check credit before they acquire a copy of your credit report. Keep in mind that each time your credit report is accessed, your score will go down!
Employers Check Credit and so do Bankers, Insurance companies, etc.
I think it is safe to say that many consumers today understand the importance of maintaining a good credit score because this impacts the ability to purchase large items such as a car and a house. Not only that, a good credit score affects the interest charged for these purchases, as well as for all types of insurance. A poor score can literally cost you tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.
Now we need to realize that employers check credit, too, and we must be proactive and make sure that our credit report contains no errors. Remember — 75% of all credit reports contain errors! And if you don’t insist they be removed, no one else will do it for you.
If you haven’t checked your credit report recently, it is vital that you do so before you apply for a job. If there are negative items on the report the best thing to do is to take steps to get them removed as soon as possible. Of course, you can try to do this yourself but, unless you are familiar with your credit rights, as well as the manner in which the credit bureaus work, you will find it a tiresome and long process. To get your problems taken care of with the least amount of hassle, you should consider using the services of a professional credit repair company.
What we learn from all of this is that our financial history follows us wherever we go and can cause us serious problems in our business and personal life if we neglect to check our credit reports regularly and fix any problems. www.AnnualCreditReport.com is where you can obtain one free report from each credit bureau each year. You will not get the score unless you pay a small fee, however, the key is to make sure that the report does not contain errors. If you are serious about getting the job of your choice – or even that promotion – make sure that your financial history is in order because employers check credit!
Most creditors are willing to work with you if you show that you are serious about repaying them what you owe. However, if you don’t respond to their attempts to communicate with you, they will believe you are not prepared to learn how to handle debt and will take steps to retrieve the money through the legal system. The first step is usually to turn your debt over to a Collections Company that will attempt to contact you via telephone calls. Collections Companies are governed by the
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