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Sparkle (2)
No.
For today, a person’s employment status does not affect his or her credit report. That said, certain information ON credit reports affects an offer of employment.
Last week on the Today Show I heard this question asked during a segment about credit reports. The purpose of the segment had more to do with credit reports in general, so little time was spent on its relationship to employment. I’d like to use this blog to emphasize some points.
A “first” interview, be it in person or over the phone, will usually answer one question; is this person a potential match for the job? In other words, very rarely will a job offer be extended to you during the first interview. First interviews get you to second interviews…or not.
So play this out… You need a job, you finally get a call to schedule an interview, and now you sit in the reception area just minutes away from the interview. You can’t wait to get in front of someone-ANYONE- so you can convince the person you are the right person for the job, but before you meet the person who will interview you, a stack of paperwork is handed to you to read, fill out and sign FIRST. ACK!!
Yes, the paper work is tedious and somewhat redundant, but this is usually when you will sign your name several times AND give your permission to perform one, some or all of the following; a credit report, back ground and criminal history report and a drug screen. Careful not to let your eagerness to get the interview rolling prevent you from thoroughly reading through each document. You need to understand what will be expected of you throughout the entire interview process.
I emphasize this because discussions about credit reports, back ground checks, criminal history and drug screens are not huge topics of conversation during any part of the face to face interview process. The reason…well, because fine upstanding members of society typically pay their bills, have not murdered anyone, do not use an alias name and most definitely do not snort a couple lines of cocaine for breakfast. I am being rather extreme here, but you get my point. Bottom line you need to know if any of the above information will be factors in the hiring decision. More on this later…
Incidentally, these checks are costly and rarely occur in the beginning stages of the interview process. The checks typically occur around the time your resume and file are on a hiring manager’s desk, because your name is one of a select few who are seriously being considered for the job. This brings me to a word you should become familiar with during the interview process; CONTINGENT. Be on the look -out for this word in any of the paper work you read, because today many offers of employment are CONTINGENT on your passing a credit, background and a possible a drug screen.
I was privy to a person’s face book post and knew he had been unemployed for over one year. So many of us were excited when he got an interview with a large, reputable company. He provided timely updates on several interviews he had over a period of about one week and a half and eventually received a job offer from the company. We were ecstatic for him! The following week we learned he did not get the job.
EXPLANATION: Everything happened just like he shared and sure enough he received the job offer. However, the offer was CONTINGENT on the results of other things; i.e., credit reports, back ground checks, criminal history and drug screens. In his case, bless his heart, he had “blemishes” in certain areas so the job offer was rescinded. Yes, a company will take back an offer of employment.
Not all employers exercise these practices. You can count on all four checks from most financial institutions. I mean it makes sense for credit checks to weigh more heavily in the financial industry. As a former financial center manager, we did all the above. On several occasions, offers of employment were rescinded. In other words, thanks but no thanks.
So, should you accept defeat now and resolve you’ll never get further up the food chain than where you are right now? I vehemently say, “Absolutely NOT”! Never give up. There are proactive things you can do to help combat blemishes, derogatory information because really, who is blemish free from years of a sick economy?
I’ll share in my next blog.
