Poor Credit Could Cost You a Good Job

                                                                                         

Most people who live in the United States have some sort of credit history. Nearly everyone with whom you do business - utility companies, credit card companies, banks and credit unions report the success or failure doing business with you to the major credit bureaus. This information appears on your credit report, a detailed financial history of your life. It is important to make sure that the information contained on your credit report is both good and accurate, and not just so that you can get good terms on a loan the next time you need one. You may also need a healthy credit report to make sure you can obtain a good job.

Times have changed in the job market. A couple of decades ago, a prospective employer would call the applicant's last employer and ask a few questions about the former employee's time there. What kind of worker was he/she? Did he/she work well with others? Complete tasks on time? Engage in any criminal behavior? Such questions were routine and were used to screen out the "bad eggs" before they could be hired again. Today, those sorts of interviews rarely happen anymore, as companies fear lawsuits by former employees. The most a company is likely to get out of a former employer is acknowledgement that the person in question worked there and the dates of employment. With so little to go on, companies are resorting to other sources of information and the most common one is a check of an applicant's credit report.

A credit check will not reveal whether or not a prospective employee completed tasks on time, but an employee who pays his or her bills on time and in full is more likely to complete tasks on the job than one that does not. Furthermore, an employee with financial problems might be considered a risk for certain types of sensitive positions. The military uses credit screening to keep some soldiers from working in some positions that require a security clearance, for instance.

If you have financial troubles and you think you may be looking for a job soon, you should make an effort now to clear up any problems on your credit report. Check it and see if you have any outstanding bills or delinquencies. If you do, make an effort to pay off as many of the bills as possible. While you are checking your report, look out for any errors that might exist. As many as one in four credit reports contain errors, and rarely do such mistakes improve a credit score.

In today's job market, your credit report is almost as important as your resume. Make sure that yours speaks well of you.

About the author:
©Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of http://www.Retro-Marketing.com, a site devoted to affiliate marketing, and http://www.End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation, credit counseling, payday loans and personal bankruptcy.

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