When You Search Jobs, Employers Look at Your Credit Report

Don't assume that when you search jobs and find a promising listing, a good resume and cover letter is all you need to get an interview. With the cost of training forming a major expense of hiring new employees, many companies investigate other sources of information to find out everything about you.
One of the tools they use is a credit report. It reveals everything about your financial history including your current and previous employers and addresses, your bank accounts, charge cards, mortgages, and what else you owe. The following are just some of the red flags they don't want to see on your report.

• Foreclosures/bankruptcies. This may show that you can't manage long-term obligations, such as projects or work responsibilities, and cannot deal with problems except by going through last resorts. This is a particular problem if you're looking for a job in the real estate industry.
  
• Late payments. This indicates that you have a problem with time management, even though you eventually meet your obligations. It makes employers wonder if your work submissions will similarly be tardy.
  
• Too much financial activity. Your reports may show a surge of activity related to opening charge cards as credit card companies close your existing accounts. This shows that you have trouble with budgeting and managing money. You may like to live beyond your means and finance immediate rewards with future profits.
  

You can at least find out what employers will see in your reports by ordering them from AnnualCreditReports.com. You're entitled to one free report per year from each of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If any of the information is wrong, get it corrected immediately by contacting both the merchant who entered the data and the credit bureau reporting it. If any of the above problems are part of your report, be prepared to come up with good explanations for them during the interview.
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