| While an employment credit inquiry cannot provide a | | | | free from all three bureaus in order to ensure all |
| FICO score, it can tell an employer several things | | | | information provided is accurate and up to date. If you |
| about your personal habits, debt load and general | | | | do find a mistake, it is the credit bureau's responsibility |
| character. An employment credit report shows the | | | | by law to investigate these errors and update your |
| following items: | | | | report. If you have been out of work for several |
| Past Employers (usually your last one or two long | | | | months and your credit report has taken a hit, always |
| term employers) | | | | be up front and honest with the potential employer. It is |
| Collections (accounts such as credit cards that had | | | | better for them to know what they are going to see |
| balances sold to collection agencies) | | | | before they view your history, than to be surprised by |
| Credit Availability (amount of usable credit | | | | it. The employer may also take into account more of |
| remaining) | | | | the full history of your report as opposed to the recent |
| Revolving Accounts (accounts such as credit | | | | blemishes. |
| cards with varying balances) | | | | You may ask: what causes employers to raise an |
| Installment Accounts (accounts with set amounts | | | | eyebrow at your credit report? Some people |
| to pay down such as car loans or student loans) | | | | automatically think of things such as bankruptcies and |
| Mortgage Accounts (home mortgages, second | | | | home foreclosures, but this is not always the case. In |
| mortgages and home equity loans) | | | | fact, employers must be cautious as to what criteria |
| Past Inquiries (list of companies that pulled your | | | | they use to eliminate a potential applicant from a job |
| credit history or credit score in recent months) | | | | position based on a poor credit report. While Employer |
| Note: Some companies can check limited information | | | | credit checks are legal, they can be considered |
| such as your FICO score without your permission, | | | | discriminatory if they disproportionately exclude |
| usually for pre-approval offer. | | | | minorities, women or people over 40 or are not |
| Credit availability shows how much of your total | | | | essential to a hiring decision. |
| revolving credit you are using at the time of the inquiry. | | | | That being said, an employer may assess your |
| As a general rule of thumb, the lower this percentage | | | | personal characteristics by your tendency to pay your |
| is, the better it looks to your employer. Employers can | | | | bills on time; if you are often 30 or more days late on |
| also see if payments on any of your accounts have | | | | several payments. They may also look at your overall |
| been up to and over 120 days late and if they have | | | | load of debt and credit you have available to you. |
| been sent to collection. It will show a payment history, | | | | Employers may view someone who has an abundant |
| which will show your overall tendency to pay accounts | | | | amount of debt as a higher risk of stealing to make |
| on time or if you are habitually late. Your employment | | | | ends meet. However, something such as cable bill sent |
| credit report will also show how long you have had | | | | to collections or a few missed payments over a long |
| your accounts open. Employers typically see several | | | | period of time most likely will be overlooked if the rest |
| new accounts in the past year as a red flag. | | | | of the report shows an overall responsible handling of |
| One thing to keep in mind is that an employment credit | | | | debt. |
| report will not affect your FICO square. These inquires | | | | So, next time you sign that applicant authorization form |
| are considered "soft inquiries" and will not show up on | | | | for the dreadful pre-employment check, remember |
| the past inquiry section of the report. Therefore, rest | | | | you have nothing to worry about. You, the informed |
| assured that if you are applying for several jobs that | | | | applicant, know this credit inquiry will not affect your |
| run credit histories, this will not have an adverse affect | | | | score and you have already gathered your report |
| on your score. | | | | information for free, corrected errors, and informed |
| The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to | | | | your employer of any possible negative findings. |
| keep informed. Head over to to view your report for | | | | |