Bad Credit Can Prevent You From Getting a Job

What a catch-22: Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries

Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects.

Out of work since December, Juan Ochoa was delighted when a staffing firm recently responded to his posting on Hotjobs.com with an opening for a data entry clerk. Before he could do much more, though, the firm checked his credit history.

The interest vanished. There were too many collections claims against him, the firm said.

One one level, I can understand the reasoning behind credit checks for employment. If someone makes a mess of their finances, they might make a mess of their job too. But a credit report can’t always tell the full story and it ends up reducing a job candidate to a stereotype. A company might just as easily screen out former football players because they might be “dumb jocks,” or people who like knitting because they might be more likely to get carpal tunnel syndrome.

How is someone supposed to get out of debt if companies won’t hire them because they have debt? But it’s certainly another strong incentive to stay out of debt in the first place…

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