BellaOnline Forums Career Job Search Lost out on a great position because of my Credit

Just wanted to give those looking for work a heads up about companies wanting to do a credit check and if your credit isn't good, then you could loose out on the job.

I've never declared bankrupcy but due to not working for the last year have had some late payments and now a lower credit score .... I was the top choice for a great company but lost out because of my credit rating.

How to improve your credit rating

I have absolutely no bad debt at all. No car payments, no credit cards....nothing. The only debt I have are my student loans, which is considered good debt.

The average American is in a substantial amount of debt. Almost 50% of every American spends more than what they make each year. And the average household carries at least $8,000 or more of credit card debt, and about $18,000 or more of total debt per household. Bankruptcies have doubled in the past decade. None of these include the average mortgage debt that people have, and we all know what situation most of middle America is in with the whole mortgage and housing crisis.

Still, I think and strongly feel that it's complete BS that any company is allowed to check any body's credit. It's clearly a private matter. In most cases, how one spends their money has little to nothing to do with whether or not they can perform that particular job well. It's a safe bet to say that most of the employers that are running these credit checks are more than likely in just as much debt, if not more.

I declare SHENANIGANS!!!

There should be a law passed that company's should only be able to run criminal and drug tests only!

I am in complete agreement Force. A bad credit rating says nothing about your work performance but I wonder if they do it because they are afraid new employees who are in debt may steal from them or if the company has an expense account for the employee that he may not handle it well if they cannot handle their own expense accounts at home.

You would think they would want to hire people with bad debt because they are the ones who will come to work everyday to try and erase that debt.

You also might think that there may be some discrimination issues for companies who do not hire because of a good credit rating.



I don't know how it works in Canada but I wonder if someone in the US knew they didn't get a job because of a credit rating if they talked to a lawyer and see if they could sue the company. It only takes one person to cause a ruckus like this and maybe companies will change their hiring procedures for fear of being sued.

Dateline or 20/20 (can't remember which) did a piece on this a while back. The companies are okay to do this legally because there are studies indicating people with significant debt and/or bad credit are more likely to embezzle funds or be dishonest with the company. I wish it weren't the case because it creates a real fiasco for someone trying to get back on her feet to be denied jobs because of poor credit, which may exist because she was making enough money to begin. Gah...such a vicious cycle.

This is my first post, so bear with me.

I have had this same thing happen to me. I applied at a department store yesterday, spoke to the store manager, she wanted to hire me, but the company policy was to run the applicants credit. Of course, it wasn't good enough!

I am a licensed real estate broker who handles thousands of dollars at a time and I can't even get a part time job in a department store? You have got to be kidding me! I have a spotless background check, which one would think they would care more about that, but oh well.

My search continues....