What Is Wrong With MeI hope someone can give me some insight…..
I am unemployed and have been for 2 ½ years. I have received calls from agencies that have found my resume on the Internet and stated they have possible jobs for me and after I send them my resume, I don’t hear from them again or they don’t have one for me. My fear is my credit is keeping me from getting these jobs. Because of my unemployment is the reason my credit is not good. How can one do something about their credit if they can’t get a good job to build good credit? I just don’t know what to do! Help! My field is IT/COBOL programming. I am having the same experience. I have been unemployed for 3 yrs, 10 months. After 2 yrs, I lost my home. For the past 15 months I have been forced to live with friends; I am in the 4th someone-else's-home now. A year ago, I received a call about a job with Countrywide, a financial institution. A recruiter found my resume online, wanted me to email her a copy. I sent my resume with a cover letter, heard nothing. A few months later, they contacted me and arranged a telephone interview for a vice president position!! Much higher than I aspire!! I had the interview, heard nothing. Another month or 2, they called about a different job, lower than VP but still management, one that was an excellent match for my background. I had in-person interviews with 4 people. At the time of the in-person interviews I completed the background check form which included consenting to a credit check. Have never heard back. After repeated contact from them initially, initiated by them, it appeared that they wanted to hire me for something! The only negative was my credit. I believe that the law requires employers to notify applicants when their credit "costs" them the job; however, they are not complying. You're right, when you are in survival mode, paying for anything beyond bare necessities is not an option. I want to own my own home again! If someone would hire me, pay me a decent wage, I can make the negative credit go away. I also believe that there are many employers who perform background/credit checks without first obtaining authorization. Expect to hear from other posters who will swoop in and "attack" to provide the "justifications" for employers using credit checks to make employment decisions; however, I have said it before and firmly maintain my position that having poor credit due to unemployment and hardship-- circumstances beyond one's control-- is not an indication that a person lacks integrity, has bad character, is predisposed to stealing or criminal behavior, or susceptible to bribery!!!!! First, I want to thank you responding to my blog. Not to be negative, it is comforting to know that a person is not alone in this situation. Second, what we need is a solution... a way to combat ourselves out of this situation. It's one thing when there are people that DON't want to work and just find ways to scam people, but it is another when you want to work...want to get out of debt....and want a decent life. I can understand why people give up in life, but please be asured I do not and will not give up...I'm just tired of being discouraged and hurt. If I may ask, where do you live? I live in Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks.
There's nothing wrong with you, GPMW. From what I've heard and seen, a lot of agencies will get your resume to pad their databases. This way, they can tell a company, "Hire us as your placement agency! Look at all these candidates we have!" Just make sure you keep up on your skills. And don't give up.
I am in the same predicament financially, and having a hard time trying to keep body and soul together and find ways to get back in school. Have you tried to go freelance? My Mother went through what you did and had two of five kids at home. It was hard for her since she had to pay for my dads funeral and medical expenses. Kids grew up and moved out. She traveled all over the U.S. to work with many other companys and was hired on with a company in Los Alamos, NM .She did co-balt, programing and various tech positions for the company. She is retired and travels with my step father working bed and breakfasts with a nice nest egg. Just a story of encouragement. You don't have to do the bed and breakfasts. You should have seen the obscene number of zeros in her total of bills.
Hi! I'm in Austin, TX. I was in Fort Worth, then Dallas, now Austin. Have not had any luck in any of them beyond a few interviews. I've applied for jobs outside TX with no response. I did make the "best qualified" list for a job with the Fed. Dept. of Education in Denver, but was not interviewed. I have no ties--family, children or spouse to prevent me from relocating, but I believe most employers prefer to hire local candidates. Many say so in their job postings. I just don't want to move anywhere that is hotter than TX! I don't keep well in this heat and humidity. You know, I have agonized over how to overcome the hurdles and climb out of the abyss. I guess I just don't have the imagination and inventiveness to find a solution. It is obscenely discouraging. All we need is the opportunity to prove our value to ONE employer. Yes, repeated rejection is painful and affects us profoundly. We are told not to take it personally, but IT IS PERSONAL. For many of us what we do is part and parcel of who we are. I will probably receive some flak from sharing this story, but OH WELL. It is absolutely true with no exageration, my source was/is impeccable. I was still in Fort Worth when Katrina hit. Evacuees came to TX in droves. I think we all agree that they suffered unspeakable loss. Initially, my heart went out to them; that was until a friend and former colleague of mine, who was involved in the housing and assistance effort, told me that representatives from Nokia went to one of the shelters to offer 15 people unskilled jobs at $17/hour. He said that nobody, not a single person, went to speak with the reps. None of them were interested in the jobs. At that time I was approaching 2 years unemployed. I would have been the first person in line for one of the jobs. The opportunities, however, were only being offered to help the Katrina evacuees get back on their feet. We desperately want to work, yet can't get hired, but some people won't take jobs handed to them on a diamond-studded platinum platter. (I am not generalizing and saying that all of the evacuees don't/didn't want to work, just everyone at that particular shelter.)
I would have been the first in line too...maybe lied....
Trust me, the thought crossed my mind. However, my honesty and integrity are the only ammunition I have to fight the poor credit issue. We represent an enormous number of people who are denied opportunities, employment and in other areas, because employers believe that poor credit is indicative of dishonesty. I will not provide them with any justification for that fallacy, although I do understand how desperation can push one over the edge.
Yes, employers now run credit checks. But what they don't want to comprehend is that many people now have bad credit because of unemployment, not because of irresponsible spending habits. Couple that with your field of IT/COBOL programming in that many companies only want to hire foreigners at a lower wage. Ouch! What else can you do in the computer field, or any other field for that matter? I've had the bad situation of not being able to find work because I was overqualified for anything less than what I had before. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding a new job because you're in the right place at the right time. Have you tried working thru a temp agency? I know they can be as bad as full-time employment agencies, but you've run out of options. Have you looked at possibly teaching programming? Some community colleges and tech schools hire adjuncts. It's difficult, I know. Hope you find something!
I hear that just because you have bad credit doesn't mean you are apt to steal etc. They wanted to try to link credit score to insurance availability here in MA. - how elitist and head up somewhere is that? People have circumstances beyond their control that have them fall on hard times where is the compassion and understanding???? | |
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