{"id":1634,"date":"2016-06-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.simplifimoney.com\/blog\/avoid-getting-fired-you-get-hired\/"},"modified":"2022-10-21T09:37:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T16:37:42","slug":"avoid-getting-fired-you-get-hired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/avoid-getting-fired-you-get-hired\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid Getting Fired Before You Get Hired"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As if the nation\u2019s 14.5 million jobless didn\u2019t have it bad enough already, The New York Times now reports that employers are turning to credit checks to screen hires. The implication? Keep your credit squeaky clean, or suffer the consequences. It has never been more important to be proactive when it comes to personal finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"No<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Talk about scary. According to the Kansas City Star, roughly 5 million out of work Americans have been searching for at least six months. As many as 1.5 million of those hard-luck cases could exhaust their unemployment insurance by year\u2019s end, the Times reports. Raise the barriers for these job seekers via credit checks and they could end up on the street, draining still more spending from a sluggish, consumer-dependent economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kicked to the curb by Uncle Sam?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers quoted in the Times story say they have a right to protect themselves from employees who have a history of poor decision making, the sort who spent with blinders on till they went bust. They\u2019re right, of course. There\u2019s just one problem: bankruptcy doesn\u2019t always equal unemployable. Jim Spiewak II went bust before age 25 and today is a financial advisor and entrepreneur who helps twentysomethings to avoid fiscal disaster via the education site, FinancialYoung.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulators have begun to turn a skeptical eye towards credit-checking employers and some states, such as Hawaii, are placing restrictions on their use in hiring. But these efforts are in the beginning stages. If you\u2019re looking for work right now, assume that you will be subject to a credit check and prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How? Here are three tips for impressing your future boss, even if your credit history is less than impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Get reference letters from your creditors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only seven years of financial perfection can erase a bankruptcy filing from your credit history, but you can rebuild your reputation in the meantime by fostering relationships with your bank and your creditors. Ask them to write you a reference letter describing how you pay on time \u2014 or better yet, early \u2014 and how they\u2019re happy to have you as a customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Keep your debt to available credit low<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good creditors use only what they need, when they need it. That means never charging your card to the limit. If you\u2019ve a checkered credit history, chances are you\u2019ve already made this mistake at least once. But it\u2019s never too late to start over. Pick a card and concentrate all available cash to pay down the balance to well below your limit. Continue till all your debts are paid. Creditors will love that you\u2019re responsible \u2014 a steady source of income for them \u2014 and you\u2019ll be better prepared to handle the financial stress of an emergency should one occur. Also, you\u2019ll have an easier time getting a reference letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Be careful with closing accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it sounds counter-intuitive, don\u2019t close accounts unless they\u2019re toxic. Here, \u201ctoxic\u201d refers to that irredeemable bunch that charges you 30% on the pizza you forgot to pay cash for. Deep six these loan sharks immediately. Keep the more modest card that charges you 9%. Why? Fewer accounts means less available credit, and consumers with less available credit tend to be tagged as a higher credit risk. (See above.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s job market is tighter than it has been in years. But there are employers out there still hiring. They\u2019re just hiring more carefully than before, so scrub up before the interview. In today\u2019s economy, a clean credit report is more important than a clean shave or shined shoes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As if the nation\u2019s 14.5 million jobless didn\u2019t have it bad enough already, The New York Times now reports that employers are turning to credit checks to screen hires. The implication? Keep your credit squeaky clean, or suffer the consequences. It has never been more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Avoid Getting Fired Before You Get Hired | Quicken","_seopress_titles_desc":"As if the nation\u2019s 14.5 million jobless didn\u2019t have it bad enough already, The New York Times now reports that employers are turning to credit checks to screen hires. The implication? Keep your credit squeaky clean, or suffer the consequences. It has never been more important to be proactive when it comes to personal finances.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-credit"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/no-credit-check_0.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4713,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions\/4713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}