What kind of jobs do credit checks?

Most jobs I have applied for do a background check and may do a credit check too.

I have worked volunteer jobs where they ran credit checks. It seems to me that’s basically policy. But you will find people who will hire without credit checks (remember those who will hire people fresh out of jail). I know that doesn’t help, but I think what they are looking for is evidence that you have stolen anything, or somehow obtained your money from a questionable source (such as purchasing a car through illegal means such as drug dealing).

So, I’m pretty much screwed in a sense? I figure if my old job won’t even rehire me that can be the reason. That somehow me getting scammed was probably why I can no longer get a job. Seems I got screwed over twice with that one.

The job I’m at now told me they were doing a background check. I don’t know if they are obligated to tell you but they never mentioned a credit check. Have you tried temporary agencies?

Yes I have. No luck on those fronts. I’ve applied every single day to so many places. Even small jobs like pet sitting and housekeeping. No luck seeing as people are doing background checks for those as well.

@Ajulutsikael Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. Do all your friends and family know you need work? Make sure people know so they recommend you if they hear someone is looking to hire. You are in a terrible jam. I once owned a condo and met this guy in the elevator who wanted to rent a place, and I wanted to rent out my place. He happened to work for the same company my husband did. Anyway, he told me upfront his credit would be terrible, he had been laid off twice during the .com, telecom nightmare in 1999/2000. I did not do one check, he was one of the best tenants I have ever had.

If I liked someone I would take a risk on them. Are you going to companies in person to apply? I recommend it of you can. Would you consider retail? Probably some of the smaller store don’t check.

What is your line of work?

I’ve applied to all sorts of jobs. I applied to my old job which was retail and they won’t hire me at all. My latest job was secretarial and all the jobs I go in for tell me to apply online. I don’t have much on family and friends for help. Most of my friends worked with me at my first job and they have recommended me, in fact I worked there before they did. I don’t understand why a company I worked for for 6 years and left on good terms with won’t hire me back even though they are looking for people.

If they run a credit check the application will gave a place for you to sign to give them permission to run it. They can’t run a credit check without your permission.

I have never, ever understood this procedure. It isn’t just counter-productive, I think that it is a violation of a person’s human rights/rights to privacy. I understand if a company needs to run a background check to see if you have stolen money/embezzled funds or done something that was a crime especiallly if the job entails the exchange or recording of money or some other secure position.

However, why on earth do companies need to know if you have good credit or not? Isn’t that between you and your bank? Will it make a difference if I have bad credit to my job? More than that, how is a person expected to pay bills if they cannot be hired because of bad credit? And then there is bad credit and bad credit. And do credit records reflect the difference between not paying your $500 balance on your Visa on time and having a foreclosure on a home? Or being suddenly widowed because your husband died in Iraq? Or do employers actually just see “credit rating” and begin to make judgments accordingly? I am guessing that they do.

Perhaps I am missing something. But why has there not been more of an outcry in the US especially with the economic meltdown…? Why haven’t there been some lawsuits overturning this practice? I am guessing there are few people in the USA that have “sterling” credit. My sister who has a super-high credit rating was turned down for a small loan. She was mortified. “How high a ranking must we have to credit now…perfect?”

Yes, perfect….we all must have perfect credit or else.

Well, not everyone. Sarah Ferguson seems to still live large despite her great debts. And no doubt if she walked into any place on Fifth Avenue, she could still walk out with a mountain of clothes if she just signed for them. No credit check there.

So, perhaps it’s just the little guy that is always held accountable?

That’s a bit unfair isn’t it?

@DarlingRhadamanthus I totally agree with this. I know that Ron Paul is against companies looking into a person’s private records, so if I was able to vote I’d vote for him for that reason. I was really considering writing a letter to Obama concerning this. When I went to a lawyer to talk about filing bankruptcy he said that most people are lenient because of the crisis, but I don’t know.

I get as far as interviews and the interview always goes well. Then they day they’ll do a background check and I never hear from them again. I never have committed a crime so I don’t get it. I’m just hoping that it’s solely because there is huge competition.

This is sounding like there is something showing up on your background check. Everyone I know that has gotten to that point in the interview process is hired. You could have something on your background that is actually not yours, perhaps someone else with your same name or even a screw up on your social security number. You have nothing to lose by calling one of the companies back that said they were doing a check and saying “can you tell me what was on my background check.” You can go on line and pay for one on yourself, but with your money situation, I doubt you can afford to do this. @Judi is correct about you having to sign for a credit check before they can do it.

If this was a scam, it’s illegal.

File an incident report with the police department. Every incident report has a file number.

Then go to the credit companies and place a statement saying what happened and put the file number and location of the police department.

Also try going to the human resource department of your last two jobs. Explain your situation, show them a copy of the police report, and ask them to consider re-hiring you because it was not your fault.

Be sure to take that police report with you to every interview and include a copy of it on every job application. that requires a credit check.

@DarlingRhadamanthus I think the rationale is responsible people with integrity don’t have really screwed up credit. Of course that generalization is not always true, and paying a bill may not indicate how hard someone will work at his job. I am betting there might be some sort of statistic that people with higher credit are more reliable, less likely to be thieves, or something. Or, there is no correlation at all and employers have just decided it makes sense, but there is no truth to it at all. I have no idea, but it has to be one of those reasons. Maybe the companies that do credit checks sell their service to these other companies, and in the sales schpiel that have this sort of information?

Today, most employers do run credit checks on prospective new employees. Especially, if the job requires the handling of money. The reasoning is trust. If a person is desperate for money, being in a money-handling position may be a great temptation to steal, in order to pay bills or whatever.

Not saying that you would ever do this, but you and I both know that some people will do anything, if they think they can get away with it.

It’s a safety net for the employer.

@JLeslie…I just know from experience. I got divorced years ago and was essentially a “non-entity”, I had no credit record which was just as bad as “bad credit.” (This is what I mean.) Then, I had a child to raise on my own and found myself having to scramble here and there to stand on my own two feet. My husband had a great attorney, I had no one. I will spare you the gory details, but it did not end well. My settlement? 2000 dollars for ten years of marriage, our family car (he went out and bought a brand new one for himself) and nothing else…no house, no assets, nothing. He was making a six figure salary. Things were “touch and go” but I was working really, really hard at an underpaid job and attempting to come to grips with my life, taking care of my child and sometimes, bills were late (not unpaid) but late. This is what I am talking about…it took years to get things smoothed out.

I don’t know that with today’s standards, I would even be employed in the US if I were faced with the same situation. Back then, as a young mom, they didn’t do credit checks for jobs. And I know there are lots of women in the same boat. I hear stories of men who are “taken to the cleaners” but no one ever hears about the women who are left without representation because they cannot afford it or can’t afford the high-priced lawyers that their spouses will employ. Most women are not “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” who are faced with wrangling about weekly spa trips at the divorce court tables. They are just trying to make ends meet and get enough to make sure they can have a decent transition into a new life.

I think that this whole “credit check” thing in the US for a job should be contested and/or a class action lawsuit brought to bear against these companies. If you think about it, why are there no jobs in America? The greed of the very corporations who decide whether or not you are “credit worthy” to work.

So many Americans are hard-working and want to find a way to get out of whatever trouble they are in and sometimes juggling which bill to pay (when you have lost your job) is part of what has to be done. There is no option.

All I can say is this….when you look at your child’s face who is anticipating a meal every day and you are not on any benefits/welfare or any handouts and you look in your cupboard and it is fairly bare, yet you are working a full-time job and attempting to stave off the wolf at the door…it is a humbling but soul-wrenching experience. That’s why I don’t judge anyone on their credit backgrounds and/or their money challenges.

My story (eventually) turned out fine, my child is successful…but those were lean and difficult days that I would never want repeated. And that’s because the economy in those days (8o’s) were bad but not even close to what is going on in America today.

My prayers go out to everyone who is struggling. I’ve been there.

PS And if you are on welfare or food stamps..didn’t mean to dis that. I just didn’t even have the benefit of that help because I fell into that “gray area”...making too much money for aid, not enough to make ends meet. The cost of my little apartment/utilities took almost ¾’s of my paycheck. And it was not in a “nice neighborhood” or anything like that.

Wishing better days and renewed hope for everyone..and a world where no child or mother goes hungry or lives in fear.

@DarlingRhadamanthus I actually agree the credit check should not be a factor in hiring someone. Like I said in my example, my tenant had terrible credit (I never ran a check he told me, if you remember) and that actually is about paying on time, and he always paid on time. One time, I had not cashed his check and we were well into the middle of the month, and he called me to make sure nothing had gone wrong with the check. Especially with a job, the company is paying you. I think stealing something off a shelf or out of a cash register is a different type of stealing than not paying bills. Sometimes people don’t pay bills, but had every intention to pay, and want to pay, or something like a divorce affects their credit.

But, then, the guy who does steal, who actually takes things from their companies, probably they have bad credit to.

It’s the same as deciding whether President Clinton being a skirt chasing cheater is able to be a good President or not. Some think integrity is integrity, cheating is cheating, lying is lying, trust is trust. I don’t think that. I think people can be bad in one part of their lives and good in others.

@JLeslie,...Oh J…I was agreeing with you actually..I just went off thinking about the degrees of “integrity” as well. And I do agree with you about Clinton. (Of course, if he was my husband, I might have a different view on him, too! LOL!)

Most all who steal probably have bad credit…but not all who have bad credit, steal. Is this sort of what you were saying?

(Hmm…do you think Bernie Madoff had good credit? Probably. So there goes our theory…!)

I think that basically it comes down to a deep disparity in the system. And that will take lot more of a shake-up than shaking down the little guy who is late paying his electric bill.

@DarlingRhadamanthus I just wanted to make sure I had communicated well my thoughts, and that I do not judge people based on credit. Who knows what type of credit Maddoff had. I can’t tell you how many times we had clients with lots of money not be able toopen a Bloomingdale’s charge when I worked there.

I think Hillary thinkS her husband was a great President and a sucky husband in that one big significant way.

I am saying most all who steal probably have bad credit…but not all who have bad credit, steal. Do you think that is probably so?

If I get an interview does this mean that they probably already did a background check?

@Ajulutsikael You have to sign a doc for them to do a check. Did you give them permission. If you have a lot of credit checks your credit score goes down. Sucks right?! Not a lot, but credit checks can have a negative impact so they need your permission.

Since all my applications were done online they also send the documentation online for me to sign or initial.

I think FICO scores credit checks for employment differently than checks for retail. If the employer does it correctly it should not negatively impact your credit.

@Judi That’s good to know.

@Judi That is very good to know. I’m just hoping that all of this is done before my interview. This way I can have hope to get hired if it’s just a lot of stiff competition.