Could a history of bad credit, debt and financial mismanagement have an effect on your potential employers’ decision to bring you on as a member of the team?
Could a history of bad credit, debt and financial mismanagement have an effect on your potential employers’ decision to bring you on as a member of the team? The answer is increasingly “yes” as more and more employers are taking their applicants credit histories into consideration when extending an offer of employment.
Credit checks have largely been the tools of banking and other businesses in the financial industry as far as being part of the application process. After all, you think “credit report” and you assume “Oh, well, I’m not handling money or finances so I don’t think I have to worry about anything.” Are you sure about that?
A new hiring trend in the past few years shows companies outside of the financial sector are seeing credit checks as a way of measuring personal integrity and honesty. Resumes may give an employer a good assessment of a candidate’s skill set, but a credit report is said to reveal elements about someone’s personality not stated in a cover letter.
A recent story by Boston.com regarding credit checks entering mainstream employment practices cited a statistic produced by staffing and recruitment company, Spherion. The statistic revealed that over the last five years, credit checks have increased 55% among U.S. employers. Definitely not chump change as far as percentages go.
Carl Greenberg, Vice President of Spherion, a staffing and recruitment firm, said, “The credit check has become a general measure of responsibility and organization.”
Companies now order credit reports to see what kind of life a person is living and whether that could translate into a liability for the company. After all, given the expenses with hiring, training and sustaining an employee, hiring choices need to be on the mark especially in the new economy where every dollar counts.
Does this seem terribly invasive and inappropriate? Do companies have the right to do this? Well, employers are prohibited by law from utilizing someone’s credit score during an employment screening process. In fact, the types of credit reports available to an employer will never release a credit score and, in fact, don’t deduct points like a general credit inquiry. This tool is used to show how an individual handles their finances, overall.
Nancy Pulliam Weston, columnist for MSN.Money said, “Some employers are convinced that people who manage their credit well are better workers than those who don’t.”
Although Federal law does require employers to receive a candidate’s written permission before performing a credit report, many companies make such checks more or less mandatory. The logic is that if an applicant doesn’t agree to a credit report screening, they obviously have something to hide.
However, the process can over generalize someone’s information and not bother taking extenuating circumstances into account. The practice could (may have already) disqualify otherwise talented and viable candidates.
Many people with poor credit have found themselves victims of circumstances beyond their control and have found their credit suffering as a result. Someone might be saddled with student loans, medical bills, victim of identity theft, laid off from their company, etc. These are people for whom a paycheck can make or break one financially.
The credit report continues to take a greater role in the hiring process and as it does, employers need to weigh its importance carefully when considering an applicant. The generalization of someone’s worth based on a poor credit score not only deprives someone of a chance to get back on their feet, it might also be costing a company the opportunity to build a skilled and talented workforce.
Credit history may show if people are facing a lot of personal stress, too. If someone is worried about money and barely scraping by, they may not be a very focused or loyal employee; not because they’re a bad person, but because they’re distracted.
I do worry about credit becoming even more a badge of responsibility. I am a victim of identity theft as well as a victim of the ignorance of my own youth and have had issues with my credit for years. As I grow and learn from my mistakes I find it sad that the financially irresponsible me of 6 years ago may still affect the responsible me of today as far as employ-ability. It should be bad enough I can’t qualify for credit cards, not qualifying for employment is just another stab in what I feel is a way to further create poverty and class gaps.
I think it is unfair to look at a potential employee’s credit if they aren’t in the financial or banking industry. I have a few friends that have bad credit and they seem like good employees. One friend in particular has bad credit due to his ex-wife. Does that mean he will be a bad employee?
The way people handle their credit is a good indicator of how focused on life they are. Most people that are successful have good credit. Personally I don’t want someone working for me that can’t be responsible enough to pay their bills on time. Not to self, don’t buy a car you can’t afford, don’t get cable if you can’t afford it, and don’t buy a million dollar house if you are not a millionaire, it’s not that hard.
People should be mindful of their credit, social networking reputation, etc when it comes to looking for a job.
This is a pretty interesting argument. I initially thought that performing a credit check would be an excellent idea to determine the responsibility and organization of a potential employee, but there are so many factors that could play into somebody’s credit score that are out of their control. Tough one…not sure what side I’m on.
With the economy the way it is, I think checking credit is going to pretty much be a moot point in the future, or else companies will really be hard-pressed to find employees.
I used to be really flippant about my credit history but now i might need to start re-thinking that
I don’t like the use of credit checks. That’s your personal business and an employer does not need to know that. If you have good references, haven’t been convicted of any crimes that should be sufficient. Credit checks should only be used if handling money in a position.
I think bad credit says alot about a person, and should absolutely be a part of a thorough background check. It may apply more so to certain positions, but regardless… if you can’t keep track of your income, you probably aren’t very responsible and I probably don’t want you working for me. You’re going to want a raise asap, and you’re going to want them regularly since your cable is being shut off and you’re living off of Top Ramen. I’m not going to want to pay out as quickly or as much as you’re going to want, so let’s just cut out the shananigans and I’ll show you to the door? It was lovely meeting you.
It is sad to see that a credit report could cause someone not to get a job. I could see in the financial industry it being a big deal because you don’t want someone to handle company/others money if they can’t handle their own. In general customer service jobs I don’t think it is necessary to use them. I for one have had my share of bad credit but I am making good on it now. I think there should be a bigger picture that people look at when considering a candidate.
Grass Roots Movement underway…New Group On Facebook is calling all people as One Voice To Unite…
Groups name is called, “Millions Unemployed March Against Pulling Credit For Job Hiring”!
Tell everyone you know, and help get the word out!
Are you unemployed and as a result fell behind on your bills? And to add insult to injury, been denied employment because your credit score has fallen; then this group is for you!
Checking credit as part of the hiring process apparently has become more widespread. Yet the increased scrutiny of credit histories comes while a record 26.4 million Americans have been unemployed for more than six months. Such long-term unemployment can do serious damage to personal credit.
Until this policy is changed; many more Americans face homelessness and going hungry. We all know people that have been hit by these hard economic times. Whether it be yourself, a family member or a friend. We are asking for everyone to join us for this March on Capitol Hill in Wash. DC on June 1, 2010.
Bring your Sign, and Determination for this peaceful Rally to enact a law to stop this policy that employers are implementing against the unemployed.
Amber, I disagree. Businesses need to prevent against reasonable risks otherwise there could be more people out of business. I’m a small business owner. Let’s say I have four employees and am thinking about hiring a fifth. For the sake of argument, let’s suppose I choose someone with bad credit. I don’t spend any less time and money training this person, I invest in them, and then I’m at greater risk of them stealing, quitting unexpectedly, underperforming due to outside stress, or otherwise being unable to conduct their job with the quality of someone who makes personal responsibility a lifestyle choice. My other employees suffer if my business loses money, I can’t give them raises, I may have to do more layoffs, etc. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into running a business and most employees don’t realize that as a business owner, making a hiring choice can be very risky and gut wrenching. Taking away tools like credit reports is more likely to make me just not hire anybody. Then everyone loses. I propose instead that people need to make better choices. I bet most of those people who have bad credit still have a nice big TV in their house, still wear decent clothes, and still live in relative luxury compared to three quarters of the world. If they cut back their expenses and lived below their means (in order to save money) during the years preceding their job loss, they wouldn’t have bad credit to begin with.
People with bad credit are more likely to steal huh? What kinda FICO scores did Bernie Madoff have?