Applying for a new job? A employment credit report could determine your fate, depending on the position and where it’s based
If you’re applying for a new job an employment credit report could determine your fate, depending on the position and where it’s based. Here’s how an employment credit report work and what to expect.
A survey from the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) found 95 percent of companies do some type of background check on job candidates and an employment credit report can play a crucial role in it. Of those, 16 percent conduct credit or financial checks on all job candidates, and almost one-third do credit checks on some candidates, an employment credit report being the major part of it.
An employment credit report checks explained
• What will a prospective employer look for?
• What positions do they typically apply to?
• What’s the process?
• What are the limits?
• Check your credit before you apply
What will a prospective employer look for?
If you’ve filed for bankruptcy or have high levels of debt, those might influence your employment credit report and chances to be hired for a particular position, says Rod Griffin, publication education director at Experian, one of the three main national credit reporting bureaus.
Information such as credit balances and bankruptcies are “relevant to financial and security checks,” Griffin says. Employers may fear that “if you are in financial distress, you may be susceptible to bribery.”
At the same time, “your employment credit reports is just one factor of many that might be considered” when you’re applying for a new job, he says.
David Reischer, founder of LegalAdvice.com, says he runs credit checks through employment credit report and criminal background checks on all prospective employees.
What positions do credit checks typically apply to?
Credit checks tend to be most common when companies are hiring top managers or employees who work with money, such as accountants and store clerks, Griffin says.
David Sawyer, president of the background screening company Safer Places Inc., says “You almost never see someone turned down just on their employment credit report.” Although if someone is applying for a chief financial officer position and has bad credit, it’s unlikely they’ll be hired for that position.
