the fix
You know those things the articles say about the benefits of having good credit and the pitfalls of having bad credit? It’s not that I don’t believe them, it’s just that sometimes real-life illustrations make those things vivid and more real.
I was talking with my best friend last night about her job search. She has reason to believe that her company will phase out her job, so she’s looking for a new gig. Through some connections, she was recommended to a company that took her resume and gave her an interview. She initially balked at the prospect that she’d be considered, because the interviewing company is a finance company, and just happened to be one of her creditors. Her account is closed, delinquent, and in collections. But because she had a connection, she gave it a shot and applied for the position. Time continued to pass. At her connection’s suggestion, she called to get a status update of her application. She was told that her credit report had been pulled, and that in addition to the problem of having a delinquent account with the interviewing company, the credit report reviewers noted her other problems with credit in the past. Given a past auto repossession, at least 10 botched credit card accounts, and no current credit usage, I’m sure her score is abysmal. The interviewing company has informed her that they’re not so sure they want a person with a history of bad credit decisions working in a finance position with customers of their company. She hasn’t been definitively told that she is no longer being considered, but obviously someone with the same qualifications and a better credit score has a leg up on my friend.
It’s true - they (employers) really do check your credit. And what’s more, they really do gather conclusions about your trustworthiness and responsibility from what they see. Unfortunately, people who need to fix their credit sometimes need more income to accomplish that goal (like my friend), but what do you do if your credit gets in the way of your upward mobility?
Lesson learned? Fix your credit before it fixes you.
