Career Angel

Life is simply not fair. Today I was reading an article [spin]that appeared in a major publication. The article contained a surprising figure: At least 43 percent of employers use credit reports as one part of the applicant screening process.

I can understand the logic for this to a certain extent. In some cases, the employer may need for the employee to pay business expenses out of their own accounts and pay those employees later for the out-of-pocket expenses. An employee with bad credit might encounter difficulties on a business trip where their card gets declined. In other cases, it just might be a bad idea to hire someone who is not responsible enough to pay their bills on time. That is understandable on a theoretical level.

What I don’t understand is how companies can continue this practice in today’s terrible economic climate. There must be millions of great potential employees out there whose credit scores have suffered due to circumstances over which they had no control. Maybe you are among them. Maybe it wasn’t your fault that you could not pay your bills on time when you were out of work.

It seems to me that the money and time employers spend poking around in people’s personal business would be better spent — for example — having a conversation with the potential employees or maybe even giving their former supervisors a call. It just seems totally unfair that this figure calculated by the credit bureaus is so important.

Here is the worst part: According to a recent study, at least 25 percent of credit reports contain errors. Since everyone has three credit reports, that means that one in every two people have a mistake in their credit report. In that case, it really is not your fault, and it is completely unjust that someone could be prevented from making a living.

Another cause of poor credit beyond a person’s control is ID theft. Don’t even get me started on that one. Read some of my past articles to get my take on it. Someone’s credit rating can be absolutely ruined by these criminals, and a ruined credit rating can cost them job opportunities.

Of course it is not just that employers screen people out based on conditions that may be beyond their control, but that is the way it is. To deal with reality, then, it is incumbent on each of us.

What is the best way to keep track of credit ratings? Well, there is an easy way and a hard way. The easy way is to subscribe to a service that sends you regular e-mails detailing any activity in your reports. If you go this route, make sure that your service monitors all three major credit bureaus. An error reported by Equifax may not be reported by Experian or Trans-Union.

The second way is to take advantage of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This entitles Americans to a free copy of each of their credit reports annually. The disadvantages are that you only get one update per year and that you have to actually contact the bureaus yourself.

In any case, pay attention. It could help your career.

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Most of us are nearly numb from the overexposure to the definite shortage of traditional job opportunities under the current conditions. It is beyond unpleasant for those who have yet to face up to the necessity of making the switch to alternate methods of income, until pressed to do so by external forces. Conversely, there are always others who have at least made mental actions for these conditions by pursuing alternate paths, even in the face of the certainty of outcome that many others prefer to see before taking on such pursuits

Many in that second category, sometimes referred to as dreamers, often meet resistance in their enthusiasm for their optimistic endeavors within the opinions of others, including members of their immediate circle. For example, your team partner, the engineer, who has worked together with you on many projects does not understand your desire to further understand affiliate marketing, the legal side of private cash gifting, or your web site promotion in your off-hours. Or, your closest friend sees your new activity as flights of fancy or as threats to your ‘career’.

Is it them or is it you? Is there a definite yes or no as to who stands on the right or the wrong side?

There is really no reason to pursue the disconnect between you, pursuing opportunity as the entrepreneur, the creator, the dreamer, and those who have no view beyond their own point of view or into yours or mine. It’s simply a matter of choice, rather than of right or wrong. One true ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ would be in not recognizing when the presence of complacency stands as your partner in the midst of a currently challenging condition. There might also be organizational or career stagnation. You should then recognize the need to step through the gap from your past and move into your future. Pursuit of a new direction when the opportunity presents itself, anticipating the actual need, is a definite case of ‘right’, be it from the direction of the relatively routine, such as web site promotion, to the more obscure and promising, including legal cash gifts or affiliate marketing.

From a psychological perspective, each one of us, in general, falls into one of two groups as it comes to the theory of motivation; either by (1) finding motivation through a fear of loss, or, (2) finding motivation based upon the opportunity for gain. In the first example, one would initiate a new venture from the position of being driven by a threat of a career-ending company merger. While, conversely, in the second example, a new direction is initiated due mainly to the feeling of a need for another challenge in a different direction. It has also been shown that once we choose between these two bases of motivation, our patterns in subsequent decisions are also made from the habit, as in establishing a preference, of one perspective or the other.

Therefore, the probability of success in a new venture is strongly dependent upon whether or not opportunity or fear is the motivator. And in a manner similar to a hiring preference, the advantage goes to the partner one who seeks opportunity than one who chooses to focus on the fear of loss. Simply put, the one who creates the greater opportunity is looking forward, while the one who fears loss is looking backward.

I’m currently privileged to be playing the role of Coach for a Job Club at the moment and the greatest thrill I receive is when one of the participants comes to realise that just because someone says NO to them that it doesn’t mean they are a bad person or don’t have skills or anything like that at all. It just wasn’t right NOW. By the end of a session I can see and feel the shift of energy in the person that is a lot more buoyant, positive and self affirming.

Now that’s when magic can start to happen in your job hunt.