Tuesday, December 7, 2010

bad credit... bad employee?

I clicked on my internet explorer at work the other day (as I do everyday) and noticed the following article on the default home page (which I have never changed for some unkown reason).  So, I saw the headline, "How Bad Credit Can Hurt You at Work" and I was curious.  I've heard people say this before, but I've never really given it much thought.  I decided to look at the article and see what it had to say.

Basically the idea of the article is if you have bad credit you'll make a bad employee.  Apparently in these tough economic times, when people are having their homes foreclosed, or are having difficulty making credit card payments - because they are unemployed, or short on cash - we should start looking at their credit to determine if they will be a good employee.  What I don't understand is how does having a bad credit score, or a bad mark on your credit, determine if you will be a good office manager, writer, assistant, chef, doctor, nurse or whatever it is you're trying to be.

I could understand needing to have your credit checked if you're doing something with say MONEY.  And even then, I'm not 100% sure that it's necessary.  If you're applying for a job and they want to check your credit history, and you deal with money and social security numbers, does that mean they think you're goin to steal said money or social security number?  That's a big leap from bad credit to identity theft.

In all honesty, if someone were to check my credit, and it needed to be good to get a job, I'd be screwed.  My credit is terrible, and I know it.  I've been fixing it, a little bit at a time, making payments on things when I can.  But, I don't make much money, so getting everything fixed is difficult.  I have no credit cards right now, no car payment.  But, still my credit is bad.  There's a reason its bad, its my own fault, but there is an explanation for the whole thing.  I won't go into it right now, because that's not the point of this post.  But, there is a reason, as there is for everyone.  To judge someone based on their credit (for a job, not a loan or credit card, cause that makes sense) isn't right or fair.

Having bad credit does not make one a bad prospective employee.  It just makes you bad with money, and that's not even always the case.  If someone can please explain to me why a credit score is important for determining if you need a job, something that makes sense, then I'm all ears.  Because right now it seems wrong and I agree with the lawmakers who are trying to ban employment-related credit checks.

One final thought - how are you supposed to fix your bad credit when potential employers are judging you on that bad credit?  It doesn't make any sense.  You need a job to fix your credit, but someone might want you to have good credit to get a job.  It's that age old problem - we would give you the job if you had the experience, but you can't get the experience if no one gives you a job.

Done rambling.  If you want to check out this article here's the link.  I'm hoping that lawmakers can institute a ban on this nonsense.

http://buildingabrighterfuture.msn.com/?serviceName=article&dataId=24621306&source=msn&GT1=25057

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