Much has been made in the news media regarding companies’ reluctance to consider unemployed job seekers for their open positions. However, there have also been stories circulating about the fact that companies are also using credit checks more when determining which candidates to consider and which to not.
So, that got us thinking—why don’t we conduct a poll of Top Echelon Network recruiters and see what’s what? So that’s exactly what we did. We presented the question below to the close to 1,000 recruiters who are Preferred Members of the Network:
Are your clients using candidate credit checks more frequently or less frequently?
Results:
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:
- More frequently — 4.2%
- Less frequently — 8.3%
- About the same — 30.6%
- I don’t know if my clients use credit checks — 27.8%
- My clients don’t use credit checks. — 29.2%
Summary:
The results of this poll seem to debunk the notion that companies are using credit checks more extensively when determining which candidates to consider seriously. After all, only 7.6% of respondents indicated that their clients were using credit checks more frequently (whether it’s “much more” or a “little more.”)
In fact, the biggest percentage of respondents (37.7%) indicated that their client companies don’t use credit checks at all. Of the companies that are using credit checks, 26.4% of them are using them about the same amount as they were before… at least according to the recruiters who work for them. Another 26.4% aren’t sure one way or another if their client companies are utilizing credit checks.
Analysis and Conclusion:
So while the issue of not considering unemployed applicants remains a hot one in the employment world, the issue of whether or not companies are factoring credit checks into their recruiting and hiring process may be more of a non-issue than anything else.
But what’s been your experience? Are your clients using credit checks more… less… or at all? As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated.