Does Bad Credit Affect Getting a Job?

When you search for a job for yourself, you try to present yourself as the best possible candidate. The most important factor comes as credit score while portraying yourself in a shape of a polished person. If you have poor credit right, you must know how your score can affect your job in the future.

Today’s job market is extremely competitive. Many employers have their pick of qualified candidates because they want the best employees to work for them to their businesses to next level. Employers in most of the states conduct credit check especially in industries where financial skills are paramount.

Why Do Employers Run Credit Checks?

Employers may check your credit for a variety of reasons. Some of them are as follows:

• They may want to cross-check your historic claims.
• To check your financial honesty, trustworthiness and reliability.
• A good credit score indicates financial smartness.
• Some undisclosed reasons by employer.

Are Credit Checks on Employees Legal?

The primary reason is that employer has a legal right to conduct a credit check. There are eight U.S. states where there are legitimate restrictions on credit checks by employers. These are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. You must familiarize yourself with the laws in your state.

How to Get a Job With Bad Credit ?

There are a few steps you can take to get an assured job even with bad credit.

• Check Free Credit Reports: Above all, try to raise your score. Ask for the free copies to confirm if all the stats mentioned in the reports are correct. If the information is incorrect, request the bureaus  to remove the incorrect information. It may make a sound contribution in your favor.
• Focus on Your Strengths: During an interview, you primary goal must be to steer the conversation quickly onto the topic of working for the company and what are your strengths to boost the ROI of the business.

Also, according to Careers Expert Dona DeZube, “If you are turned down for a job because of credit problems, the employer has to give you a copy of the report and explain your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”

Steps for Raising Your Credit Score

What can you do right now to improve your credit score and boost your chances of getting hired?

• Start by contesting incorrect entries in your credit reports.
• Then, learn to make timely bill payments. You can do this by setting up automatic payments or reminders if you need to.
• Get previous late payments excluded from your record wherever possible.
• Try and keep your credit card utilization to a minimum of 30%.

It takes time to build good credit, but if you are focused and determined, you can definitely improve your score to become a competitive job candidate.

The threat of bad credit standing in the way of employment is overstated nowadays, but in certain situations, it can become the biggest hurdle to impress an employer. Nevertheless, there are still possible steps that a candidate can take to give a better shot at employment. Do whatever you can you can to raise your credit, and have an explanation prepared  regarding bad credit for your job interview.

Hopefully, a potential employer who can judge your professional potential will willingly overlook your financial shortcomings and give you the job.