So had something happen this week I'd never heard of before. I've been interviewing for a Sr. Manager position for about the past 6 months and it took me forever to find someone I thought could really do the job, both in skill and because of relationships he had inside of our client. Sharp, great background, lots of success, great relationships, great references.
So I'm notified today by HR that he failed the background check -- not because of references, employment history or any criminal record, but because his credit check was negative. I didn't see the report but apparently he had a bunch of past due payments and such.
In my almost 20 years of hiring and firing people I've never had this happen before and had no idea a freaking credit report could cause a "red" BGV. I'm not hiring for a financial position nor am giving him a loan, it's a high tech management job. Has anyone else heard of this happening before? This was an other wise great candidate that it took me a long time to find and I'm kind of PO'ed; I'm sure he's not the only person to go though a rough patch financially since half he people looking for work are currently out of work. We outsource our BGVs to a third party so I didn't see the report but they confirmed there was nothing criminal or against the law, just past due accounts and debt. I was even planning a signing bonus as part of his package which would have no doubt helped or maybe fixed the issue since I was pulling him out of a sales role where he had some future commissions he was walking away from.
Obviously it's a sensitive, private issue so I can't say much else but wondering if anyone else has ever seen this before. It makes no sense to me because I imagine there are a a lot of folks post-Covid who were maybe out of work for a period of time and had difficulties. Just doesn't seem right and having to explain it to the candidate was soul crushing; he wasn't making ends meet in his current job and not only was he perfect for the job but the comp and signing bonus would have solved his financial problems. I could understand it if there were something criminal in there or he had lied on his resume, but it was an honest guy just trying to pull out of a tough situation. Telling him I had to rescind the offer was way worse than any firing I've ever had to do.
So I'm notified today by HR that he failed the background check -- not because of references, employment history or any criminal record, but because his credit check was negative. I didn't see the report but apparently he had a bunch of past due payments and such.
In my almost 20 years of hiring and firing people I've never had this happen before and had no idea a freaking credit report could cause a "red" BGV. I'm not hiring for a financial position nor am giving him a loan, it's a high tech management job. Has anyone else heard of this happening before? This was an other wise great candidate that it took me a long time to find and I'm kind of PO'ed; I'm sure he's not the only person to go though a rough patch financially since half he people looking for work are currently out of work. We outsource our BGVs to a third party so I didn't see the report but they confirmed there was nothing criminal or against the law, just past due accounts and debt. I was even planning a signing bonus as part of his package which would have no doubt helped or maybe fixed the issue since I was pulling him out of a sales role where he had some future commissions he was walking away from.
Obviously it's a sensitive, private issue so I can't say much else but wondering if anyone else has ever seen this before. It makes no sense to me because I imagine there are a a lot of folks post-Covid who were maybe out of work for a period of time and had difficulties. Just doesn't seem right and having to explain it to the candidate was soul crushing; he wasn't making ends meet in his current job and not only was he perfect for the job but the comp and signing bonus would have solved his financial problems. I could understand it if there were something criminal in there or he had lied on his resume, but it was an honest guy just trying to pull out of a tough situation. Telling him I had to rescind the offer was way worse than any firing I've ever had to do.
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