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...There is a good deal of information potential employers can glean from an applicant's credit report, said Steven Williams, director of research at the Society for Human Resource Management.

A credit report includes an individual's credit history – the record of how he has borrowed money and paid in back -- as well as personal information employers use to confirm an applicant's identity such as a social-security number.

"There are several reasons why an employer wants to look at credit history, but the biggest reason has to do with responsibility," said Williams.
"Credit history gives employers sense of how responsible someone is. It shows if you pay your bills on time, if you're not taking out too much debt. It is one indicator of how responsible you are, and the assumption is that if you're responsible when it comes to your own money it will flow over, and you'll be responsible with company's money," he said.

Traditionally, companies checked the credit histories only of those employees with access to the firm's finances or proprietary information.
"Companies want to know if there are outside forces trying to collect money from you before they give you direct access to their cash or information. If a collection agency is trying to get its $10,000 from you, a company might not want to put in front of its cash," said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at the credit information and personal finance Web site credit.com.
The federal government has long used credit histories as a part of its security background checks, to ensure potential employees were not so saddled with debt that they could potentially be blackmailed or bribed....