JobScribble

If you had a job interview and the employer is considering you for employment, your credit report could be reviewed before an offer is made.  Reports are often done on prospective employees who handle money and/or have an expense account.  However, more and more employers are checking credit reports, running criminal checks and verifying the information on job applications for all employees and potential employees.  Employers usually have other companies perform background and credit checks instead of having their human resources staff perform this function. 

An article in Forbes indicates that employers check your credit report to determine your character and if you are responsible.  Employers also need to determine if you might be hard up for money.  Having a poor credit record makes you susceptible to “take a bribe, fudge expense report or even embezzle funds”. 
Employers must have you sign a release giving them permission to check your credit report.  If you don’t know what your report looks like, you can order one for free.  To learn more go to Freecreditreport.com (be careful there are other places that claim to provide free credit reports).  To learn more about your free credit report, go to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Ftc.gov/freereports.   Your report should contain your credit history from the three major credit reporting companies. You can get one free report annually.  It is a good idea to check your report from each of the three credit reporting agencies to make sure there are no errors.  It takes time to correct errors so order your free credit report before you start job searching.

If you have or had trouble paying your bills, call your credit card companies, loan companies, etc. and see if you can work something out with them to get your debt paid off and clean up your credit record.  Here are some tips on credit repair and disputing things on your credit report from the Federal Trade Commission.  The National Education Association also has some more tips on cleaning up your credit record.

If you have bad credit, Forbes article recommends discussing it with the employer before they bring it up.   Did you loose your job or have unexpected expenses that may have caused a slight lapse in paying your bills on time?  These are understandable reasons for being behind in paying your bills.  Briefly explain what your plans are to get caught up.  

If you are not hired or if you are fired based on information in your credit report, your employer is required to disclose this.  For more information on employers' responsibilities go to the Federal Trade Commission.

Source:  Forbes, Checking Your Credit Before Employers Do, Tara Weiss