Employment - Credit Check

Absolutely not. What employers are looking for is stability. If a person is unemployed, and he is in debt up to his ears for purchases like vacations, expensive electronics, or other non-necessities, the employer might look askance at that person.

Credit checks also warn an employer of a potential embezzler.


Gollum wrote:



The question--as Phoneix said-- is what is the money being spent on.

The 19th century debtors prison was an attempt by creditors backed by the legal system to get money that was owed to them.

A credit check by a potential employeer in 2004 is an effort to make sure that the applicant is financially stable and reliable.

Phoenix and Noddy -

Thank you.

I question though if emploers are distinguishing whether the job applicant's credit problems result from purchases of non-necessities. Unemployed people need to buy necessities. Besides does the employer have access to what type of purchase resulted in the credit problem?

Unemployed people tend not to be financially stable -- that is why they are seeking employment.

gollum- Sure. There would be a big difference if a person has a judgement against them from Best Buys, as opposed to Walgreens!

Gollum--

Several years, in January, ago I sent a payment into a utility company and forgot to enclose my check. As soon as I found out that the check was still in my checkbook, I called them to explain and waited on hold for nearly 15 minutes.

When my turn came with the Customer Service Representative, I commented that they seemed very busy. She explained that January and February are always hellish months at a utility company. Evidently in November and December people decide not to pay their utility bills, thus freeing up money for Christmas.

Then come January and February, their utility bills are two and three months overdue and the utility company sends out notice that service will be suspended unless payment arrangements are made promptly.

I can see that a person without a job could easily get behind in utility bills--but to deliberately not pay the bill and use the money "to give the kids a "good" Christmas" is very irresponsible.

Short-sighted thinking about which bills to pay sends a sign to the employer that this potential employee could be short-sighted on the job.

Every so often I deal with a Sometimes Handyman to do chores around the house that Mr. Noddy is no longer able to handle. The Sometimes Handyman is cheap--and he does good work. He's also frustratingly unreliable. He promises to show up on Monday--and I don't see him until Friday.

He's also chronically in debt. I once paid him before he finished a job so that his phone wouldn't be shut off--and the job wasn't finished for nearly a month.

He doesn't understand why I won't advance money any more.

People are all of a piece--work habits and credit habits are related.