4 Tips for Getting a Job With Bad Credit

By Thea Nyberg

Maria W. * had just interviewed for her dream job at a PR agency. The meeting was positive and she was hoping for a job offer when she got the call. "I was informed that they had decided to go with their second-choice candidate," says Maria. "I had failed their credit check."

With 9.7 percent (Bureau of Labor Statistics) of American workers currently out of a job and their bills mounting, Maria's story is becoming all too common. Dennis Nason, CEO of the recruiting firm Nason & Nason, says that long-term unemployment has created a snowball effect. "The longer one is out of work, the more [you] rely on credit and the tougher it is to make payments," he says. "If you are late the rates go up, banks cut credit and your score plummets even lower, making it tougher to find a job."