Credit Scores Can Cost Job Opportunities
Watch out! Your credit score has found another way to negatively impact your life. Credit scores are supposed to indicate how good you are with money, and employers are becoming more interested in that. They find that pulling a credit score on a potential employee is a quick and easy way to find out more about his/her background.
In the past, credit scores were only used in the employment arena when top level executives were being evaluated or promoted. Their scores were reviewed to make sure these execs had good money and debt management. However, the practice has become much more common and widespread these days.
Like the resume and references, the credit score is another tool at employers’ disposal when evaluating potential employees. Employers are constantly searching for more ways to evaluate and compare potential hires because the number of available jobs has shrunk, and thus, there are a lot more applicants for these employers to consider.
According to Bankrate.com, “More and more employers are using credit reports to screen employees. The use of credit checks has increased 55 percent since 2000, according to a 2006 national survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Spherion Corp., a leading recruiting and hiring firm.”
Certain employers, of course, rely on your credit score more than others. Expect closer scrutiny of your score when applying for banking, government, and police jobs, to name a few. When a firm intends to hire you to be in charge of others’ money, they like to make sure that you know how to manage your own.
Some people wonder if an employer is actually legally allowed to pull their credit score. They are as long as you give them written consent to do so. Apparently, employers are including it as one of the methods used to perform ‘background checks,’ which most employers require you to authorize upon application for a job.
So, if you have a bad score, what are you to do? Well, it really pays to be honest and up-front about a poor score from the beginning. This way, you can give your side of the story and explain why the score is bad. That way, the employer has heard your explanation, and, now, the score won’t stand alone.
Just one more reason knowing your credit score and maintaining it are extremely important, especially in today’s economy. In such a competitive job market, the last thing you want is a bad credit score keeping you down.
Emily Jenkins is a senior, Business Administration major at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, she currently resides in Carrboro, North Carolina. After graduation, she intends to complete a year-long internship program with non-profit organizations in D.C. She plans to someday attend law school.
Emily Jenkins currently provides educational content for nonprofit organizations. Many of her articles are published by Vision Credit Education, Inc. as a public service. You may find out more about how credit can cost you your job.
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