National Financial Literacy Month – Video illustrates myth that employers use credit scores
creditscoring.com video shows media, experts, central bank and legislators furthering the myth that employers use credit scores in hiring decisions.
The national consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening.
In 2010, CBS gave us, “From your prospective employers to your prospective landlords, most companies will check your credit score in order to gauge their risk.”
Today, the Early Show host completed the list of the big three network hosts, saying, “this three-digit number can determine whether you get a mortgage or car insurance–sometimes even a job.”
He throws it to the same correspondent who did the dubious deed in 2010.
Things always happen in threes.
The three national consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening. And today, completing a 2010 sweep of the big three networks morning coffee klatches, CBS aired this: “That score is the number one thing merchants look at, you know, employers look at.”
In the print version of the story, CBS business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis has the chance to be more eloquent and to make the point clear, saying, “From your prospective employers to your prospective landlords, most companies will check your credit score in order to gauge their risk.”
Fate is cruel. Cross-promotiong like a good employee, on the air, the correspondent refers to MoneyWatch, a CBS web site. But a MoneyWatch article states the opposite of the information in yesterday’s broadcast. It says: “So for those of you who believe, suspect or insist that a bad credit score will cost you a job, take comfort: That simply is not true.”
Watch “The Early Show” host Harry Smith take it in while Jarvis does the deed:
And with that, The Tiffany Network earned a place in history, and in the next exciting video.
The hilarious part: The segment is titled, “Biggest Credit Card Myths Debunked.”
The consumer reporting agencies all state that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening.
However, last month on NBC, “TODAY” host Matt Lauer introduced a segment with this line: “This morning on TODAY’S MONEY, five ways to improve your credit score. It impacts all areas of your life from getting loans to how much you pay for insurance, even whether or not you might get a job.”
The interviewee, “TODAY” financial editor Jean Chatzky, does not disagree with Lauer’s statement.
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Earlier this year on ABC‘s “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos said that your credit score is the key to getting a good job. CBS did the dubious deed three years ago.
Despite consumer reporting agencies’ emphatic statements that they do not provide credit scores for employment screening, ABC News writes:
But your credit score can also prevent you from getting that new job. Many recent applicants — from the newly divorced to recent grads saddled with student loans – are finding that their credit scores are keeping them from getting hired.
The television network’s statement is part of a request for stories about the topic from readers.