You've networked your way into a job interview. Your background is perfect and your references are impeccable. An offer may be coming. Then the hiring manager says they just need to do one more thing: run a credit check.
Depending on the kind of position you're looking for, a high credit-card balance and a few late payments -- which may have happened because you've been out of work -- now threaten your chances of receiving a job offer.
Forty-two percent of employers, including the U.S. government, run credit checks on job candidates, according to a 2006 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Most often credit checks are due diligence on potential employees who would have some contact with money, from CFO to clerk.
