Bad Credit Can Cost You a Job or a Promotion

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If you’re out of work, nobody has to tell you how tough it can be to find a job. Now there is another obstacle to overcome before you land your next gig: cleaning up your credit. Employers are increasingly checking people’s credit reports before deciding whether to hire someone or who to promote.

In fact, the Society for Human Resources Management reports that 60 percent of employers do credit checks on applicants, up from 13 percent in 1996. Needless to say, the growing number of credit checks couldn’t come at a worse time for those seeking employment. The tough economy has put millions of people in dire financial straights. As more Americans have missed credit card payments, been late on their mortgages or failed to keep up with hefty medical bills, their credit has suffered.
As I point out in my new book, ‘Perfect Credit: 7 Steps to a Great Credit Rating,’ even tens of millions of consumers who’ve managed to pay their bills on time during the Great Recession have seen their credit scores decline — simply because banks have cut their credit limits. Fair Isaac, the creator of the FICO credit score, recently reported that about one in five Americans have bad credit scores of 599 or lower. (FICO scores range from 300 to 850.)

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