Applying for a job at a bank I owe(d) money to

Mqq

I am sick of my current job and quite fancy working in a bank. I have just been looking at the recruitment pages of many banks and a number have vacancies in my area. However, some of them I either owe money to, or used to. I did get into some pretty bad trouble and had a number of defaults. Some of the ones that I paid of were 'full and final settlement' payments. Do you think they would hold all this against me, and refuse me employment?

On the plus side, the experience I had being in debt has really tought me financial responsibilty.

bottleofred

Hi Mqq,

I'm not sure that they do a credit check on you when you apply for a job in a bank, but some of the other forum members will definately know. If you are so worried about it, why don't you apply for a job in a bank that you've never owed money to and see what happens. As I said, someone with more knowledge than me will be along soon

custardy

most bank jobs ive seen list passing a credit check as part of the recruitment process

WRINKLES

Banks all do a credit check and more on anyone looking for employment with them , They have long memories .

laisbojar83

Hi Mqq,

Banks not only do credit checks but also CRB checks. I think if you have any `marks` on your credit report.. from dafaults to CCJ`s, its very unlikely they will offer you a position, even if such were not with the bank you want to work for.
I am sure someone else will come and correct me if I am wrong or give you more details.
Wish you all the best and good luck on your job search.
xxx
L.

longforthesun

Hi I was in this position just over a year ago.

Most bank are only interested in CCJ and Bankruptcy. The Bank I work for only take staff on through an agency. I filled in their forms and it did ask about any adverse credit. I told them I had a number of defaults but was in an arrangment to pay these off I never actually said who I had the defaults with as it never asked and at the end of the day they were ding a credit check so would be able to see.

There was no issues. They actually did 2 checks on me for some reason (i never asked why) but I got the job and have never looked back. They also did a CRB check but if you haven't got a criminal record you will be fine. I would say go for it.

blondieliz

Morning,

I currently work in a bank and I have worked for 2 others previously. All banks will do a credit check and it varies as to what they feel as appropriate. At the moment, if you have any defaults they have to be settled and if they aren't, you have to be prepared to pay them back before you can start If you have CCJ's then you wouldn't be employed and obviously the same for bankrupcy.

The best thing to do is be open and upfront. If someone comes to us, passes interview but when we ask, says that the creit is fine and then we find that they haven't been honest, then we will decline. However, if someone is honest and open, then we tend to work with them to find a resolution.

If you want, PM me, tell me the specifics and i'll try and guide you if youl like?

Also, the majority of banks will run 'fit and proper' checks that mean you are credit searched once every year to check that nothing has changed.

I still find the whole system crazy TBH. Like I say, I work in a bank and have always been REALLY careful to keep minimum payments etc so the credit score shows ok.

Think very hard before you go for a job in a bank, trust me, it's not for the faint hearted at the moment. Also, if you are a DFW convert, your eyes will really be opened.

Mqq

blondieliz wrote: »

Also, if you are a DFW convert, your eyes will really be opened.

Thanks for your reply. Can I ask you to elaborate on this please?

As long as I treated with respect by my work colleagues (which I am happy to reciprocate) then I am sure I can florish there. I am not treated with respect in my current job.

stclair

The bank would credit score your before and during employment.

My understanding is that they only look for CCJs, BR or IVAs.

If you owe money to the bank you are applying for I doubt they would employ you unless all your payments are upto date etc.

pipsi_2

I applied for a job with a bank a few years ago (can't remember which one, can vaguely remember that all of the interviews were at the offices of some law firm), i flew through the intereview stage and got full marks on the entrance exams, they offered me the job pending a credit check and then rang me a couple of days later to say i had failed the credit check, i then orderd my credit report to find that the only bad thing on there was a really old default which was actually done in error, i tried to contact them to explain that the default actually had nothing to do with me but by that time the training programme had started so it would have been too late to start with them anyway. Looking back i would have hated the job, it was fairly good money on some sort of graduate scheme but it was based in an office in one of their calls centres (but not actually working on the phones), i think being stuck in an office all day would have driven me round the bend after two weeks.

Not long after that when i was doing some temping work i did a few weeks covering holidays for a receptionist at Barclays in one if their regional offices. Because i was working through an agency i didn't get credit checked but apparently the girl i was covering for (also employed by the agency) was going to be taken on by Barclays, she failed the credit check so had to stay on as an agency worker.

blondieliz

Hi MQQ - sorry it's taken time for me to come back to you.

I mean that your eyes will be opened in many ways. Rest assured, all colleagues that I have ever worked with have always been respectful.

I have worked on both sides of banking, both the lending side (credit cards and loans) and the investments and savings side (where I am currently). Both sides have opened my eyes equally. When I used to work for Egg, I was astounded to see how much debt people actually had - and the culture that was encoraged at the time (get people to take as much additional borrowing as possible). Now that was just before the credit crunch and I left there just as it was hitting.

It was a good place to work - the people were lovely, but honestly it was scary the amount of credit people had and I honestly don't think that we have seen the end of the debt crisis in this country by a long shot. Although all of us DFW have seen the light, there are so many thousands of people who haven't. I don't know what the lending practices are like now, but we used to reward agents for selling things like PPI and loan transfers. It's scary really that at the time, it was seen as the right thing to be doing, and it wasn't really until after I left and woke up to the real world that I realised how the practices that went on would impact the customers.

I can't honestly say that the banking world has learnt lessons - yes, they have to make money too and things are certainly better, but the practices still go on - they are just packaged much nicer and the FSA are watching everything.

Working in investments on the other hand has shown me that for every person with big debt problems, there are also just as many people who are swimming with cash. I used to find it so hard to see these people with such huge sums of cash and not be jealous.

I can honestly say that now I love my job. I work somewhere where we really do offer good customer service and where in our office, the customer really does come first. My colleagues are great and there are no high pressure "sales" targets to hit.

The biggest point of advice that I would give you is if you are going to work in a department where you are dealing with lending products (Credit cards, loans, overdrafts, collections etc), remember that you would spend a lot of your time talking / dealing with people in our situation - ordinary folk who may have gotten in to trouble. It can be very hard if you are speaking to someone who is really angry with the bank - to that person YOU are the bank and it's YOUR fault that they have been charged. Although you will probably agree whole heartedly with the customer, you will still have to maintain 'the company line', which can really suck.

Sorry for the ramble x