The current unemployment rate is 9.7% and the economy gained 431,000 jobs in the month of May. This is promising although many Americans who are trying to find employment had to take drastic pay cuts or continue to remain unemployed. With the federal minimum wage at $7.25 any job looks promising right now.
The competition is stiff; those who made $100,000 or more are competing for entry or middle level jobs or jobs that are usually slated for college students accepting pay of $50,000 or less. Some Americans are working multiple low-paying jobs to try to make ends meet. Others have just given up looking for work altogether.
If you have bad credit it is a major factor that will determine if you get hired for a job or not. Having bad credit makes it difficult to get a job nowadays. If you know you have bad credit it is best to be upfront and let the potential employer know. Also, let them know the reason why you have bad credit and how you plan to fix your bad credit.
Many employers are no longer looking at just your resume, your interpersonal skills or your attire, if you have good credit and do go on the interview you have a better chance of getting hired than someone with the same qualifications and bad credit.
Previously when looking for a job, credit history was not a factor but recently due to the recession employers are scrutinizing candidates even more using credit as a factor for employment. Many industries are looking at your credit history including government agencies, police, fire department, banking industries. Many candidates do not realize that their bad credit will prevent them from getting a job or in some cases get them fired from a job.
It seems unfair that a company would simply disregard your experience, personality and interview skills simply because you have bad credit. Companies should focus on what you have to offer and not the mistakes you made or circumstances that affected your personal life and credit history. Employers see having a bad credit score as a reason to commit fraud or take bribes. In a few minor instances this may be the case, but overall Americans just want to work and pay their bills.
Since hiring can be discriminatory, one way companies can discriminate is by using credit scores. However, employers cannot refuse hiring you simply because of your credit but that is not always the case. Federal law prohibits this practice but there are really no protections in place to help candidates who have proof of companies who violate this law and usually can't afford to hire a lawyer to help them win their case in court.
Many Americans have complained about this practice and their complaints were heard. Nineteen states 19 states including Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Washington, Ohio, California, and the District of Columbia and South Carolina are considering passing legislation to prevent companies from using credit as a factor in hiring candidates for employment. Only two state legislatures Oregon and Illinois passed the law.
However, a win for consumers is that many credit card companies are banks are not weighing credit scores as much as before because the FICO score can make a mistake and classify a consumer as a bad risk when they are a good risk. Companies are now realizing what consumers knew all along, that the FICO score system is flawed and needs to be revised to accommodate the new credit card laws and current economic situation. Contact your congressman to demand states stop this unfair practice https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
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