How do you pass a credit check for a job? My credit sucks, so does that mean I shouldn't even bother applying? That's so unfair!
How do you pass a credit check for a job? My credit sucks, so does that mean I shouldn't even bother applying? That's so unfair!
You sure it's unfair?
Do you know for certain that they check your credit anyway?
Do a search on here for how to improve you credit score. And also just apply for jobs anyway. I've never had a credit check and I've been hired for many jobs.
Most jobs will do a credit check these days. According to the latest study, people with bad credit are more likely to steal from the workplace. If you're applying for a cashier/bank position, bad credit usually means no job. However, keep applying places...just because they request the right to pull your credit doesn't mean they will.
This job I was going to apply for said you had to pass a credit check. That just seems odd to me.




i applied for a job that had a credit check. i didn't get it, but i also have spotty work experience so it was probably a combo of the two. my friend who has terrible credit works at the place i applied to. so i would say it wouldn't hurt to at least try.
Well you have to agree to let them check your credit in order to apply. If they check it, it's not exactly like a pass/fail .... but they can determine that you may not be a good candidate.
And for the record, my company made me sign a waiver that I'll allow them to check my credit, and they never actually did it.....which I am 100% positive of, since I helped HR with their filing once, and I peeked at my confidential file, which included all their notes during my interview process and everything, it had my drug test results, etc. No credit info.
Personally, I would just apply for it if you want it. You have nothing to lose.
(just click to donate FREE food to those in need...REALLY!)
well it's too late now.. it was a one day only job fair. oh well.
Hope you can catch the next one.![]()
^Thanks! I hope so.
Yep. This was all new to me, too. It makes sense but still sucks for the good, hard-working people wo would never dream of stealing that have bad credit (like me)
Very odd, indeed, but it's real. I just spent over two months applying for jobs to be turned down by all of them. Major corporations like Target and other big retailers are the worst. This is just the way of the world now.
Good luck to you.....I finally found a job at a clothing store but they are a small privately owned business, I didn't even fill out an application. They just hired me on the spot. I got lucky.
I was getting absolutely nowhere with everything else.
^that's great! I know you were having a hard time finding a day job.. now hopefully me next!





^^^ actually a lot of 'straight job' employers equate a bad credit rating with a lack of personal responsibility. Yes the potential motivation to steal from the company is a factor. But so is the employers' conclusion / assumption that people with bad credit ratings don't exercise sound judgement / common sense / good work ethic.




That's bull-ish. Sounds like another excuse to take as little effort as possible to get the best person for the job. Runs right up there with those "personality" tests many companies use by Unicru. I bet you there's many people with no morals that will steal with passable to great credit.
It may change with the bad credit associated with all of the recent lay-offs, etc.





^^^ arguably, it won't change for positions of responsibility or positions involving the 'public trust' i.e. jobs involving other people's money, other people's bodies, other people's children etc.
Of course this only makes matters worse for people who have lost their former jobs due to layoffs, and who have ruined their credit in the aftermath !
If they want a credit check for a job, I immediately ask for more.
If they want a drug test for a job, I immediately ask for more.
Supply and demand you know.
The phrase "as little effort as possible to get the best person for the job" sounds like an HR dream -- if doing a background/credit check was sold to me as that and I had to process hundreds of applications a day, I'd jump on it too.
OP -- definitely try finding smaller jobs. Through craigslist, etc. My first job after dancing was one I found off of a Portland livejournal community!
The job I applied for that did the most tests was a bank job. They ran my credit, made me fill out a psych test, blah, blah, blah. It took forever. Then I find out the damn job only pays $8/hr! Why did I go through all that!??! I wouldn't have had I know what it paid.
^yeah that sucks.. on a similar note I'm amazed at some of the job listings I come across where the duties include like 100 different tasks and all kinds of qualifications, for 9 bucks an hour..![]()
Ugh, I know, right? Don't even get me started on the ringer Target puts you through for $6.90 an hour.
Unicru can suck my imaginary penis.
So....the question is....people with bad credit can't work? Ok, so how do they expect us to pay the shit off and clean up our credit if no one is willing to hire us? Vicious cycle catch-22 indeed. It just makes me livid.





^^^ again from the point of view of bank credit committees, they DON'T expect people with low / no incomes and delinquent debts to ever pay off those debts. The banks' past history with 'subprime' borrowers and Chapter 7 bankruptcy losses is pretty clear. What the banks DO expect is to avoid taking additional losses in the future, by denying access to additional credit.
As to employers' reluctance to hire people with bad credit ratings, believe it or not this is mostly an outgrowth of government mandates. First, the rising minimum wage has resulted in the elimination of many low paying jobs ... which now provides a larger 'pool' of unemployed people seeking low paying jobs for the employers to choose from. Second, courts have recently ruled in favor of employees in nearly every case re all sorts of lawsuits, DOL complaints, OSHA complaints, union organizing complaints etc. ... prompting employers to avoid hiring employees who (in their minds) might be prone to bringing such lawsuits and complaints. It's not too much of a leap for employers to link the existance of financial distress (thus bad credit rating) with an increased likelihood of lawsuits and complaints being raised (in hopes of receiving a settlement that would reduce the employee's financial distress).
It makes sense but it still sucks. If I wouldn't have been hired at my job now (which like I said is a private small business) I'd still be on the feverish hunt for a job, filling out endless Unicru surveys all to get turn-down postcards in the mail.
My advice to anyone else who is in the similar situation I was......
If you need a job a.s.a.p., stop applying at major corporations and start hitting up privately owned businesses. When I think about all the time I wasted filling out apps and questionnaires (almost 3 months!!) all to get nowhere, and fall even more behind financially from being unemployed for 3 months....it makes me sick. If I'd only known what I know now, I would have never even wasted my time with places like Target, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, major chain grocery stores, etc.
I am fortunate to have health benefits because I am married. I really like where I am working now and plan on staying forever. Alot of people don't, though, and seek employment at these major corporations for stability and benefits. That's the one downfall with small businesses, most don't have benefits.
I guess the only thing to do then would be grab that job at the local mom-and-pop coffee stand, save up, clean your credit up then pursue something else that will provide you with the benefits you need.
Melonie, I was wondering.....are all those inquiries into my credit from the all the employers that looked into it going to show up on my report? If so, are they gonna lower my score? or are they "soft" inquiries or whatever? I was thinking about it the other day, there's probably 20 inquiries maybe more. Is it gonna look bad on my credit that all this employers looked into it and obviously turned me down?





^^^ supposedly ... and I say supposedly for a reason since nobody really knows the 'secret formulas' used by the credit agencies ... inquiries made without the intent of seeking additional credit should NOT affect your credit score.





What's fucked up is that people with bad credit more than likely need those jobs more than someone with good credit. I effing hate the internet age and its invasion of privacy. It's been a serious thorn in my side ever since I got out of college.





well, by the same token, people with bad credit usually need new loans more than people with good credit too. That doesn't mean they are likely to get one !What's fucked up is that people with bad credit more than likely need those jobs more than someone with good credit
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