Using a credit check to determine eligibility for a programming job?
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
Brycej wrote:
So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer?
I guess it depends on who you are working for, I have had far far worse intrusions because of who I work for.
Brycej wrote:
What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them?
I guess that becomes a deal with what is done with the information. I have had the divorce, two of them in fact. The first I took all the combined debt except for two very specific debts (which made the statement of why those two stand out, but that is another story) and it nearly bancrupted me. In fact at the time of the divorce I had a school loan in default and a dozen hungry lawyers & debt collectors scrambling for blood. I slapped them up the head with the "threat" of bancrupcy. "if" they would all playball and help me work out aggressive, but reasonable payments, no bancrupcy. "if" any of them did not want to work, we take it the hard way. We worked it out, no problem. Second divorce, I split it 50/50, which she refused to pay anything with a shared debt attached trying to drive my credit into the toilet (or lower). I faught it, aggressively (for once in that relationship). I spent two months in the hospital while starting my 2nd divorce, complete with reduced pay for short term disability and medical bills (luckily insurance paid "most" -- but 2 months is a long time for hospitalization, and recovery after outside of the hospital required care for a while too and insurances do not like home-care). I have continued health issues due to damaged internal organs from the cause of that hospitalization. I am fully upfront and honest with my employer, they knew the issues then, they know the issues now, so checking my credit had no big surprises. They ask what I am doing to repair it, and like any other interview question, hiding it is not a solution, so your answer counts a great deal. In my case there could never have been hiding it, if they want to know what I had for breakfast, they can and will. Being upfront and honest about how I am taking care of things means they do not have to, which saves me having to deal with such exams from one end or the other, or quitting (none of which is very appealing). And I am still doing the job. There is a lot of
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
Using a credit report to help in determining employability is not an unusual practice. The argument is that it sheds light on how responsible a person you are. Many companies do it. ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
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Using a credit report to help in determining employability is not an unusual practice. The argument is that it sheds light on how responsible a person you are. Many companies do it. ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
Does America not have Human Rights legislation to stop such abuse of power. In my opinion, it is wholly unacceptable to be so intrusive without good reason. Such good reasons should be restricted to those working with vulnerable people such as children and those who are unwell through medical or mental traumas. Positive vetting for Government and Military Employees should be restricted to that which is necessary to establish trustworthyness for the particular job they are required to perform. Thoughts please !
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
Do you look like a robber?
Maxwell Chen
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
Brycej wrote:
Has anyone ever had this presented to them before?
It's usually done for the banking industry. Jeremy Falcon
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Does America not have Human Rights legislation to stop such abuse of power. In my opinion, it is wholly unacceptable to be so intrusive without good reason. Such good reasons should be restricted to those working with vulnerable people such as children and those who are unwell through medical or mental traumas. Positive vetting for Government and Military Employees should be restricted to that which is necessary to establish trustworthyness for the particular job they are required to perform. Thoughts please !
I FULLY agree that this is an egregious abuse of power! I'm both amazed, and ashamed at its use. For the record, I had worked at this company before (for 11 years) so I'm hardly an "unknown quantity"... it's just their new policy. It should also be known that no crimial check was made, and that the job has nothing to do with anything financial or related with any funds of any kind.
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Brycej wrote:
Has anyone ever had this presented to them before?
It's usually done for the banking industry. Jeremy Falcon
This job has nothing to do with anything financial. It was a job writing software for the digital media division... not even any finance software involved. Just seems rather invasive to me... a trend that seems to be condoned everywhere in the US these days.
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
I have been work with software for the credit area on the past 15 years. A lot of companies do that, although, by brazilian laws, a company can only do this if you authorize them. In practice, if you don't authorize them, they won't hire you. About insurance companies, my company works for a lot of them, and let me say you, it's merely a risk measure to try to lower down their prices. I recall being shown a number recently (again, in brazilian market) that 30% of the frauds were caused by people with *very* bad credit history. Probably, those are the people who fraud everything they can. The frauds here are something in the range of 10%~30% of the final price of your insurance, so a simple credit query on bureau can reduce up to 9% of the price of an insurance.
Brycej wrote:
When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices?
Yes and no. When more and more companies adopt such practices, fraud tend to concentrate on those companies who decided not to use credit history. As time passes, their prices get so high that they end up with only two solutions: stop working with that line of products or follow the market practices. I don't see dead pixels anymore... Yes, even I am blogging now!
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Do you look like a robber?
Maxwell Chen
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I have been work with software for the credit area on the past 15 years. A lot of companies do that, although, by brazilian laws, a company can only do this if you authorize them. In practice, if you don't authorize them, they won't hire you. About insurance companies, my company works for a lot of them, and let me say you, it's merely a risk measure to try to lower down their prices. I recall being shown a number recently (again, in brazilian market) that 30% of the frauds were caused by people with *very* bad credit history. Probably, those are the people who fraud everything they can. The frauds here are something in the range of 10%~30% of the final price of your insurance, so a simple credit query on bureau can reduce up to 9% of the price of an insurance.
Brycej wrote:
When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices?
Yes and no. When more and more companies adopt such practices, fraud tend to concentrate on those companies who decided not to use credit history. As time passes, their prices get so high that they end up with only two solutions: stop working with that line of products or follow the market practices. I don't see dead pixels anymore... Yes, even I am blogging now!
Fraud is a huge problem but with the right checks and balances it can be minimized. What I mean is that during an employees activities, unusual events should be traceable, monitored and as appropriate - stopped. Anyhow, small "fish" are not the problem - the big problem are those career criminals. Employment protection - does such a thing not exist in Brazil ?
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I FULLY agree that this is an egregious abuse of power! I'm both amazed, and ashamed at its use. For the record, I had worked at this company before (for 11 years) so I'm hardly an "unknown quantity"... it's just their new policy. It should also be known that no crimial check was made, and that the job has nothing to do with anything financial or related with any funds of any kind.
Why did you leave that company and why would you want to go back to work for them. Personally, returning to a previous employer can be fraught with difficulties and not likely to be beneficial in terms of the attitude that Managers and others may have towards you.
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Why did you leave that company and why would you want to go back to work for them. Personally, returning to a previous employer can be fraught with difficulties and not likely to be beneficial in terms of the attitude that Managers and others may have towards you.
I retired in 1999, no hard feelings... and in fact, the reason I was considering returning was because other friends of mine whom still work there have encouraged me to apply. When I joined the first time, I was employee 226... now, the company has over 60,000 employees so it's not like it's even the same company anymore.
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I retired in 1999, no hard feelings... and in fact, the reason I was considering returning was because other friends of mine whom still work there have encouraged me to apply. When I joined the first time, I was employee 226... now, the company has over 60,000 employees so it's not like it's even the same company anymore.
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Does America not have Human Rights legislation to stop such abuse of power. In my opinion, it is wholly unacceptable to be so intrusive without good reason. Such good reasons should be restricted to those working with vulnerable people such as children and those who are unwell through medical or mental traumas. Positive vetting for Government and Military Employees should be restricted to that which is necessary to establish trustworthyness for the particular job they are required to perform. Thoughts please !
I had to go through an extensive background check to get my job. Of course, I work at a company that DOES background checks, cleans up fraud, etc., so it was probably a good idea. I look at it this way. I consented to a background check. I wasn't forced to do so - indeed I could have just walked away to one of the other 6 opportunities that I had on the table at that point. However, I stuck with it. I have a very clean background and criminal record, so a background check is a plus for me.
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
not an odd practice at all... if your applying for a job at a financial institution/bank/etc..., you may be in deep debt, and may try to defraud the bank or its clients. i wrote an application for a client that did employment background checks, and credit check is one of the items...
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This job has nothing to do with anything financial. It was a job writing software for the digital media division... not even any finance software involved. Just seems rather invasive to me... a trend that seems to be condoned everywhere in the US these days.
Brycej wrote:
Just seems rather invasive to me...
Just wait, it'll get worse for the future generations. Jeremy Falcon
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Has anyone ever had this presented to them before? As part of a recent interview at a large Redmond, Washington based software company interview, I was asked to allow them to review my credit history. It was stated to me (both verbally and in writing) that the outcome of this would be used to aide in the determination of my eligibility. So, I wonder... am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer? What happens to good programmers that have fallen on bad times for various reasons (divorce, ill health, etc)... is it truly a good practice to discredit them? When my auto insurance company decided to adopt this practice, I left them for another company that reviews drivers based on their merits... is our only defense against such practice simply to not apply to companies that adopt such practices? It seemed a rather odd practice so I thought I'd ask... Thanks, -Brycej
Brycej wrote:
a large Redmond, Washington
Microsoft?
Brycej wrote:
I was asked to allow them to review my credit history.
For what position? Customer sales, where you might be handling other people's credit card numbers? I think that would be a legitimate request then.
Brycej wrote:
am I alone in finding this practice a bit intrusive, a violation of privacy, and unrelated to the job of being a programmer?
Ah, ok. I agree with you. But again, what are you doing for the programming job? Working with sensitive customer data? In general, I would say that this is an invasion of privacy, similar to asking about medical history. However, I think there are situations where the employer needs as much information as possible to make a hopefully correct and fair decision, that also protects the information of its customers and determines whether you are misrepresenting yourself. Marc Pensieve Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson
