Credit Info before Hire?

[DaveJ]

Hi fellas... it's been awhile since I wrote, hope everything is fine. My question is what exactly do big corporations do with all the personal information they collect from applicants, in particular ss#s and drivers license numbers.

More specifically, what is up with credit checks for job applicants? Someone "hoping" to get a $15/hr job is probably statistically more likely to have made financial mistakes in the past (it's really easy to make a financial mistake making $6.50/hr, where buying something like a cheeseburger can basically throw your accounts into turmoil) or been unable to keep up with bills... they are trying to get a better job so they can be able to pay those bills... so why would a company not hire someone based on their credit rating? (Rhetorical question) It would appear that big corporations that perform credit checks are perpetuating a system that prevents people from being able to get ahead in life. Am I making any sense?

You know, I am certainly not condoning having bad credit and understand that it's practically the same as stealing but on the other hand if every company were exclusionary in this regard it would create a permanent underclass.


Anyway, oh I had an actual question, is there like a cutoff, like a certain "credit score" that jobs require before they will hire a person?

[Deja Q]

1. Dunno. Until 2002 I tried getting a retail job... ironically to assist in

paying back my credit.

Couldn't get a job.

I resisted my gut feeling to go for bankruptcy, as I had $35k in debt. It's 78% paid off, but I'm worried my job might be going out the door in a matter of months, but I'm not going to look too far ahead.

I'd say they want to create an underclass. Or drive people so depressed they "do themselves in".

[RaRa]

2. I used to be a recruiter

and am now trying to get back into it from home. My info is particular though to those jobs where employees travel or have expense accounts. Basically, the company is giving them a credit card to pay for expenses and probably wants to be sure that the employee is responsible in that respect. I haven't worked in the field since 9-11 and guess that alot of companies are looking at things they don't really need to be.