5 States Challenge Employer Credit Checks

[debtmonster]

My former boss was in a similar position where he didn't agree with his superiors and has now been shut out of his industry for it, even though he did nothing wrong. I'm sorry it happened to you too. It's NOT fair.

How exactly do you get shut out? If you send out 1,000 resumes, how do 1,000 companies all know about the problem you had? Those 1,000 people would all have to know this one person that you had the issue with in order to get shut out...

OR

The industry you're working in seems to be very, very small.

Let's say you were a C++ or Visual Basic Programmer. There are probably a good 100,000 positions that you could apply for to get one of those jobs. How would all of those people be able to find out that you're not to be hired? There's simply way too many people to blackball you. There would have to be some kind of major technology to exist to pull that off, excluding a simple background check.

If there's something out there, I'd like to know about it because I know I have to be on the "hot list" some where. I just want to know the logistics of how that works.

Thanks.

[WorkingItOut]

I am just a computer programmer who works for very small companies. What do you think my chances are?

I've never worked in any management positions in my entire life.

I have no idea. I imagine your industry is much larger and more fluid than mine, so it may not be an issue. I'm talking about a rather small industry where people all go to the same conferences every year and know the same people.

Plus, you're not in management. The bigger you are in a company or an industry, the more people know you and the less likely you are to get away with stuff. Worker bees don't tend to draw attention. LOL!

[WorkingItOut]

How exactly do you get shut out? If you send out 1,000 resumes, how do 1,000 companies all know about the problem you had? Those 1,000 people would all have to know this one person that you had the issue with in order to get shut out...

OR

The industry you're working in seems to be very, very small.

Exactly. My industry is very small. There are not 1000 companies to work for. There are maybe 200 that cater to the small niche he was in.

Let's say you were a C++ or Visual Basic Programmer. There are probably a good 100,000 positions that you could apply for to get one of those jobs. How would all of those people be able to find out that you're not to be hired? There's simply way too many people to blackball you. There would have to be some kind of major technology to exist to pull that off, excluding a simple background check.

If there's something out there, I'd like to know about it because I know I have to be on the "hot list" some where. I just want to know the logistics of how that works.

Thanks.

DebtMonster, you do not need to worry about this. There is no "list" or "database" of people to blackball. What I'm talking about is simply GOSSIP. Plain and simple. Clearly in an industry such as yours, people do not know every single programmer out there. My comments are not about you and your industry. My comments are about SOME industries. When you are in a small industry, it doesn't take long for people to get to know all the major players in the industry. Everyone goes to the same conferences every year. Everyone subscribes to the same professional email listservs. People just know each other. And people like to talk. That's all there is to it. I think you can stop worrying about it.

[debtmonster]

Plus, you're not in management. The bigger you are in a company or an industry, the more people know you and the less likely you are to get away with stuff. Worker bees don't tend to draw attention. LOL!

Oh... yeah, then I guess I would be classified as a "peon" or "worker bee" then... or as they say, "Just the tech guy." I am usually considered a dime a dozen.

I never attend conferences or seminars of any kind. I would think most people here are in my shoes. I would guess that many people on here probably have (or had) jobs paying under $30-50k. We could all burn many bridges for a while until it started to catch up to us.

In my case, not being current with massive amounts of experience in programming languages caught up to me. Every time I tried to learn a job language at a company, they would have me doing other things instead. I was at one company wanting to learn Cold Fusion and right after I took training for it, they laid us all off. That was my ticket to the next high paying gig.

[debtmonster]

DebtMonster, you do not need to worry about this. There is no "list" or "database" of people to blackball. What I'm talking about is simply GOSSIP. Plain and simple. Clearly in an industry such as yours, people do not know every single programmer out there. My comments are not about you and your industry. My comments are about SOME industries. When you are in a small industry, it doesn't take long for people to get to know all the major players in the industry. Everyone goes to the same conferences every year. Everyone subscribes to the same professional email listservs. People just know each other. And people like to talk. That's all there is to it. I think you can stop worrying about it.

Whew! That's a relief then! Thanks!

If I ever do decide to get another day job, that's good to know. In the future I was hoping to get a part-time job or something just for some extra money to go on top of the home business thing.

[lolasaurus]

In the professional world, networking is very important after a certain point; you don't get into upper management without a network of people helping you do so.

If you've pissed them all off, or pissed off someone they trust, that's how you get blackballed. Believe it or not, it's a small world, and words DOES get around.

edit - and I fail at quoting.

[lolasaurus]

Oh... yeah, then I guess I would be classified as a "peon" or "worker bee" then... or as they say, "Just the tech guy." I am usually considered a dime a dozen.

I never attend conferences or seminars of any kind. I would think most people here are in my shoes. I would guess that many people on here probably have (or had) jobs paying under $30-50k. We could all burn many bridges for a while until it started to catch up to us.

In my case, not being current with massive amounts of experience in programming languages caught up to me. Every time I tried to learn a job language at a company, they would have me doing other things instead. I was at one company wanting to learn Cold Fusion and right after I took training for it, they laid us all off. That was my ticket to the next high paying gig.

Financial calamity visits itself upon people of all walks of life. I am a management consultant, make a great salary, (and put in the hours for it, let me tell you what!) and I'm still sitting here waiting to file.

For me personally, not that anyone cares but it's therapeutic to talk about it, you live your life probably a little better than you should, but not extravagant or anything like my colleagues do... it's sustainable because you and the wife both work and have a fantastic surplus every month.

Then you find out to your joy that you're going to have a kid... and then find out a few weeks later that she has dire birth defects... only one arm... giant ompahacele... 3 months in the NICU upon birth. Thankfully you've got insurance, but your wife definitely is a stay at home mom now, and even insurance won't cough up the whole thing for an incident like that. So you do your best to get by, you stop driving to work, only take the bus, you only take lunch to work unless the company is paying for it... you cut every cost you can and buckle down for a year and a half to get things paid for.

Then you find out your dishwasher has been leaking into your kitchen walls and floor for a long time and creating a massive amount of mold just out of view. Homeowners insurance won't pay for it cause it's seepage. So instead of having someone else do it, you tear out the kitchen down to the studs yourself in your evenings and weekends - and get that crap out of your house so as to not hurt your baby daughter. You build the new kitchen with your own hands so as to minimize cost - and even so, you end up spending another $8k on everything.

When it's all said and done, the minimum payments catch up to you. Game over, professional salary or not.

[debtmonster]

Financial calamity visits itself upon people of all walks of life. I am a management consultant, make a great salary, (and put in the hours for it, let me tell you what!) and I'm still sitting here waiting to file.

For me personally, not that anyone cares but it's therapeutic to talk about it, you live your life probably a little better than you should, but not extravagant or anything like my colleagues do... it's sustainable because you and the wife both work and have a fantastic surplus every month.

Then you find out to your joy that you're going to have a kid... and then find out a few weeks later that she has dire birth defects... only one arm... giant ompahacele... 3 months in the NICU upon birth. Thankfully you've got insurance, but your wife definitely is a stay at home mom now, and even insurance won't cough up the whole thing for an incident like that. So you do your best to get by, you stop driving to work, only take the bus, you only take lunch to work unless the company is paying for it... you cut every cost you can and buckle down for a year and a half to get things paid for.

Then you find out your dishwasher has been leaking into your kitchen walls and floor for a long time and creating a massive amount of mold just out of view. Homeowners insurance won't pay for it cause it's seepage. So instead of having someone else do it, you tear out the kitchen down to the studs yourself in your evenings and weekends - and get that crap out of your house so as to not hurt your baby daughter. You build the new kitchen with your own hands so as to minimize cost - and even so, you end up spending another $8k on everything.

When it's all said and done, the minimum payments catch up to you. Game over, professional salary or not.

Man, that sounded so well put that could have almost been a movie or at least a perfect example to show on an MSNBC video of a perfect example how easy it is to get caught into a debt trap.

Thanks for sharing.

[BigJohn]

Please let me say for the record that even in this case of termination, I did not burn any bridges. I felt their choice was unfair; however, as an employee, I still realize it was their choice to make. The company and that professional experience is still on my resume which is 100% accurate. I have many wonderful professional references from my prior stewardships of companies.

My only point is that it is extremely distressing to know that this practice could eliminate me from any job race before I even get out of the gate. Plus, put yourself in my shoes - I am an incredibly principled and honest person. To be terminated in such a way, when you are an honest professional, makes you feel dirty. It's as if you've been charged with a crime you didn't commit and have been found guilty with no trial.

I think you should be glad the company laid you off. From what I have read about them from your pstings, I think they might be up to no good and would be really happy if they could get a fall guy.

[Ifonly]

Financial calamity visits itself upon people of all walks of life. I am a management consultant, make a great salary, (and put in the hours for it, let me tell you what!) and I'm still sitting here waiting to file.

For me personally, not that anyone cares but it's therapeutic to talk about it, you live your life probably a little better than you should, but not extravagant or anything like my colleagues do... it's sustainable because you and the wife both work and have a fantastic surplus every month.

Then you find out to your joy that you're going to have a kid... and then find out a few weeks later that she has dire birth defects... only one arm... giant ompahacele... 3 months in the NICU upon birth. Thankfully you've got insurance, but your wife definitely is a stay at home mom now, and even insurance won't cough up the whole thing for an incident like that. So you do your best to get by, you stop driving to work, only take the bus, you only take lunch to work unless the company is paying for it... you cut every cost you can and buckle down for a year and a half to get things paid for.

Then you find out your dishwasher has been leaking into your kitchen walls and floor for a long time and creating a massive amount of mold just out of view. Homeowners insurance won't pay for it cause it's seepage. So instead of having someone else do it, you tear out the kitchen down to the studs yourself in your evenings and weekends - and get that crap out of your house so as to not hurt your baby daughter. You build the new kitchen with your own hands so as to minimize cost - and even so, you end up spending another $8k on everything.

When it's all said and done, the minimum payments catch up to you. Game over, professional salary or not.

I completely understand. My husband and I both made almost six figures so everyone would say, "but why do you have all of this debt?" The problem was this - the high salaries were recent only in the last two years. I remember getting pregnant in 1999 (unexpectedly) two months after buying our first house and my husband made under $50K at the time - the mortgage was over $2K. Series of mini-life tragedies, bouts of unemployment and taking care of my father for 11 years just built a house of cards that once I lost my job in August - it all came tumbling down.

But I read a situation like yours and I become so angry for people victimized by the lack of health care in this country and I know that I am lucky that my circumstances have not included a serious illness. I have my health, my family and my personal spirit - no one can lien that. How is your beautiful little girl now?

[Ifonly]

I think you should be glad the company laid you off. From what I have read about them from your pstings, I think they might be up to no good and would be really happy if they could get a fall guy.

Actually, almost 8 months later, I AM happy. I've been a top accounting executive for over 8 years with 8 years additional mid-level experience and you eventually come to realize that sometimes companies have a problem with the position itself, not the person in it. Some CEO's/owners have a big case of "shoot the messenger". Meanwhile, as a responsible Controller/CFO, you are obligated to paint the picture as it is, not necessarily a rosy one. I keep in touch with a few people and they went without hiring a new controller for over six months. Probably wanted to save the salary - what they don't realize is that there is an art to compiling financials - I didn't go to school and take the CPA exam for no reason

I'm actually enjoying being there for my kids and their daily lives and have decided that I don't want to miss any more. BK should allow us to live on my husband's salary and if I do some small office work around the kid's schedules or some free lance, that is enough. I'm certainly less stressed!

[lolasaurus]

I completely understand. My husband and I both made almost six figures so everyone would say, "but why do you have all of this debt?" The problem was this - the high salaries were recent only in the last two years. I remember getting pregnant in 1999 (unexpectedly) two months after buying our first house and my husband made under $50K at the time - the mortgage was over $2K. Series of mini-life tragedies, bouts of unemployment and taking care of my father for 11 years just built a house of cards that once I lost my job in August - it all came tumbling down.

I can definitely sympathize. But we won't let it get us down, we'll get our fresh start and start again!

But I read a situation like yours and I become so angry for people victimized by the lack of health care in this country and I know that I am lucky that my circumstances have not included a serious illness. I have my health, my family and my personal spirit - no one can lien that. How is your beautiful little girl now?

RE the bold part -- the health care in this country saved my little girl and was worth every penny. If I could afford it, I'd pay twice that; Of all the things I've ever owed it is by far the most legitimate debt.

My little girl is now a year and a half old, and she's perfectly normal aside from the lack of a left arm. I'm so proud of her.

[shabam]

I hope they do the same for auto insurance.

It's ridiculous that they can simply up the rates so much regardless of our driving history. The irony is that every second day I hear about some daddy's car kid totaling their car but I guess since they are financially sound their rates should stay the same. Rather, than can go after and exploit the people who least can afford it and are not in a position to do anything about it.

[debtmonster]

Rather, than can go after and exploit the people who least can afford it and are not in a position to do anything about it.

You can do something about it... drive without it and then they get ZERO!

I did that for 4 years straight when I did not have a job for 4 years.

Just hope you don't get caught. But if you do get caught, the fines will be a lot less than what the car insurance costs.

I do the speed limit now. I haven't gotten a ticket since 1997 or 1998. The last ticket I got was doing 91 in a 70 on I-95.

But you said it exactly right... these people are exploiting others. My credit has absolutely NOTHING to do with my driving. I drive like a complete angel now even though my credit score is 490. I'm one of the safest drivers out there.