Job Interview Questions

Cindy54
Cindy54 Member Posts: 452
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
Hi Ladies. I have a question that I don't think I have seen here before. If any of you have had to switch jobs or careers, did they do background checks on you and if they did, did it include a credit report check?

I am asking because quite honestly my credit is terrible. The last three years have not been kind to me. Between caring for Mom and my own health issues I ended up in bankruptcy and my credit is still not right or good. I lost out on some retail jobs. Had interviews and was informed that the policy was that I was a high risk when it came to handling money because of my credit history.

While I am not proud of this credit issue, I am proud of the fact that I managed to hang onto a job through everything, go to school, pay for Mom's funeral, and keep a roof over both our heads and now mine. I may have had to let bills slide or pay them late and yes I have medical bills that are in collection, but sometimes I feel that if the interviewer knew the whole story they would not be so quick to dismiss me. But of course you can't bring up health issues because that will never get you hired. So what to do. I would hate to think that I have struggled through all this, even going to get my 2 year degree for nothing. I just would like the opportunity to show someone what I can do.

I had tried very hard the beginning of this year to land a job, any kind, to get some medical insurance. But since nothing happened, I made up my mind to just enjoy this summer while I still had unemployment, and look for a job once it was closer to my graduation. Today I interviewed for a part time job at the ACL lab here. It would be a perfect time to try something new, something I have been trained to do, and would add some extra money for me. But when it was over I thought about the background check.

Guess I should believe that God had plans for me in all of this and let Him worry. But to be honest, that is hard to do at times. Mainly because I have no family left to fall back on.

If anyone has any ideas or experience on this, please let me know. Thank ladies. Cindy

Comments

  • mopar
    mopar Member Posts: 1,972 Member
    #2
    BE HONEST
    Cindy:

    I sure wish they wouldn't do a credit check for employment. I can understand why, but I'm borderline on them having the right to do that. I am a firm believer in keeping most of my private life private where work is concerned. But as long as they dig into your private life, maybe if you take a few moments to 'clarify' your credit status, the interviewer may respect that you are being up front and honest. Tell them WHY you got into a situation. Seems to me it will show your integrity and dedication to work through problems and do your best in difficult situations. Maybe all this would happen in a perfect world, I don't know.

    And you're right, God always has a plan for us. We are going through difficult times right now financially also. So, I know that keeping the faith is sometimes easier said than done. So, I'm sending lots of hugs and prayers your way that the Lord will open a door for you, give you peace, and keep you strong. Please update us when you can!

    Have a wonderful July 4th!

    Monika
  • lnyeholt
    lnyeholt Member Posts: 59
    #3
    mopar said:

    BE HONEST
    Cindy:

    I sure wish they wouldn't do a credit check for employment. I can understand why, but I'm borderline on them having the right to do that. I am a firm believer in keeping most of my private life private where work is concerned. But as long as they dig into your private life, maybe if you take a few moments to 'clarify' your credit status, the interviewer may respect that you are being up front and honest. Tell them WHY you got into a situation. Seems to me it will show your integrity and dedication to work through problems and do your best in difficult situations. Maybe all this would happen in a perfect world, I don't know.

    And you're right, God always has a plan for us. We are going through difficult times right now financially also. So, I know that keeping the faith is sometimes easier said than done. So, I'm sending lots of hugs and prayers your way that the Lord will open a door for you, give you peace, and keep you strong. Please update us when you can!

    Have a wonderful July 4th!

    Monika

    Letter of Explantion
    I agree with Cindy. Unfortunately, when submitting an aoplication you don't always have the opportunity to speak with someone prior to review.

    When applying for a job you might include a letter of explanation that outlines some of the things you mentioned in this post. You don't need to include every little detail: for example, mentioning the care of your mother and the expense of her funeral in conjunction with a reference to medical expenses your are attempting to repay, would probably be sufficient. If you can do some investigation prior to submitting a job application you would only need to do this for jobs that you know will check credit history. Also, I believe when you apply to a company that does credit checks there is a release you sign that allows the employer to access your credit records. If so, that would be an indication to include the letter of explanation with your application.

    Good luck! It's not an easy market to find employment in lately. Hopefully, you will find someone understanding to employ you soon!


    Lyn
  • Cindy54
    Cindy54 Member Posts: 452
    #4
    lnyeholt said:

    Letter of Explantion
    I agree with Cindy. Unfortunately, when submitting an aoplication you don't always have the opportunity to speak with someone prior to review.

    When applying for a job you might include a letter of explanation that outlines some of the things you mentioned in this post. You don't need to include every little detail: for example, mentioning the care of your mother and the expense of her funeral in conjunction with a reference to medical expenses your are attempting to repay, would probably be sufficient. If you can do some investigation prior to submitting a job application you would only need to do this for jobs that you know will check credit history. Also, I believe when you apply to a company that does credit checks there is a release you sign that allows the employer to access your credit records. If so, that would be an indication to include the letter of explanation with your application.

    Good luck! It's not an easy market to find employment in lately. Hopefully, you will find someone understanding to employ you soon!


    Lyn

    UPDATE
    Thank you Monika and Lyn for the replies. I am still mulling over what to do for future interviews. And to let you all know, I did not get the job. The interviewer called me late on Tuesday and said she offered it to someone else. She did say "when you finish your schooling and get some experience, don't forget us." This job was a newly created position that was training you as you went. So I thought it would have been a great opportunity for me. I guess it was not the right one. So for now I will take a breather and just give myself a break. I did ddraft a letter that I will take with me on future interviews in the even the issue of credit comes up.I figure it can't realy hurt me any more than them going in and looking at my credit report, at least they will have an idea of why it looks as it does. I will only offer this if the issue of credit comes up though.I still think the job for me is out there, I will just wait awhile before I try again. Thanks ladies for the support...Cindy
  • Susan523
    Susan523 Member Posts: 231 Member
    #5
    Cindy54 said:

    UPDATE
    Thank you Monika and Lyn for the replies. I am still mulling over what to do for future interviews. And to let you all know, I did not get the job. The interviewer called me late on Tuesday and said she offered it to someone else. She did say "when you finish your schooling and get some experience, don't forget us." This job was a newly created position that was training you as you went. So I thought it would have been a great opportunity for me. I guess it was not the right one. So for now I will take a breather and just give myself a break. I did ddraft a letter that I will take with me on future interviews in the even the issue of credit comes up.I figure it can't realy hurt me any more than them going in and looking at my credit report, at least they will have an idea of why it looks as it does. I will only offer this if the issue of credit comes up though.I still think the job for me is out there, I will just wait awhile before I try again. Thanks ladies for the support...Cindy

    An idea
    Hello, Cindy,

    I, too, had rotten credit. This was years ago, and when my husband & I went to purchase our 1st home, it was a bundle of trouble. BUT! I learned something very valuable from our loan officer.

    Did you know that you can write to each of your creditors, and give them an explanation of why your credit went bad, and ask them to forgive you??? I actually did this with about 7
    creditors, and I cleared every single one of them! Now my husband & I have a perfect credit
    score in the 800's.

    So get a copy of your credit report, and start writing letters. And if you apply for any jobs that do credit checks, you can give them an explanation along with a note saying "I'm in the process of hopefully clearing this up".

    Good Luck!!
    ~Susan xoxo
  • Lisa13Q
    Lisa13Q Member Posts: 677
    #6
    Hi Cindy
    I used to work in HR and unless there was a work related issue (i.e. being in charge of money) we NEVER looked at previoud credit. We looked at previous employment and references. I would NOT volunteer credit information unless asked. I would go in and get the job of your choosing and try not to worry...God does have a plan...Hope this helps..

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