Credit Checks?

Sensoria17 · Aug 21, 2009

I'd like to know, too. My credit score is good but I owe A LOT of money. I guess it wasn't so bad as to prevent me from getting hired as a caregiver where you have to be bonded and insured. This leads me to another question. How do you know if they've actually checked your credit? Does it show up on your credit report like other credit inquiries?

PedsRN08 · Aug 21, 2009

I thought that was so wierd too! i just started applying for jobs since im moving to a new town and that came up as one of the documents i had to sign! a credit check?! really?! I have no issues but i dont see why my employer would need to run a credit check. Why is that?

zoee · Aug 21, 2009

Same thing happened to me today after filling out an online application for a staff nurse position. The form could not be submitted unless I signed off on a credit check. I called the hospital recruiter who explained it was for positions that dealt with finances, and was part of the online process, not for staff nurse positions. But I did ok the inquiry, so they have the options of checking. And every time someone checks your credit score, that process makes it go lower. Catch-22

wacberry · Aug 21, 2009

The "credit check" goes way back to when I first started nursing years ago. I think the employer figured if you had bad credit you needed money. That would make you a higher risk for theft of drugs, etc. I don't think as many employers do them now. But there are still a number who do!

PICNICRN, BSN, RN · Aug 21, 2009

This has been going on for quite some time now- not just for nursing. It goes to character... do you pay your bills?? Have you filed chapter 7?? Defaulted on student loans?? Maybe that is not the type of person the employer wants representing their company. It's not new, I think that with the current economy, and people who have never been late on a bill in their lives now falling on hard times, more people are starting to notice the credit check page and worry.

Altra, BSN, RN · Aug 21, 2009

This is not new at all, and not specific to nursing jobs. I've had a prospective employer do a credit check for every job I've held since 1990, both in healthcare and in other industries.

The credit check is a relatively efficient, inexpensive way for employers to corroborate other information you have provided during the application process -- previous employers, addresses where you have resided, etc.

This was completely not the purpose of the originally developed standardized credit reporting system ... but that is a whole other topic.

caliotter3 · Aug 21, 2009

An employer did a credit check on me and it did show up as an inquiry on my credit report. What I did not like about the results is that my manager at the time took an inordinate interest in my personal business that was in no way appropriate to the job position. It made me very incomfortable to be fielding his intrusive questions.