Bankruptcy / Finding A New Job

Craig32

Hi Folks,

I have been considering my debt options this past month, swaying between which option would be best for my situation.

After getting my redundancy notice yesterday, I now feel I am best suited to going down the bankruptcy route (I live in Scotland by the way).

I have just over £30k in unsecured debts, and have no assets.

The industry is in a bad way, so it is going to be difficult to find a new job, and I have absolutely no chance in hell of getting the salary I was on. I reckon I will go from seeing £1780 a month down to around £1300 a month.

I need around £800-£900 per month for my rent, living expenses too.

My question would be, outwith the obvious ones like the financial sector, councils etc, am I going to find difficulty in finding jobs if I went bankrupt? What experiences have people had? Ideally I would like to stay in the Oil & Gas Industry, but unsure if I would be blacklisted.

Also, would I be best to go bankrupt now with no job, or try and find a job and then possibly go down this route.

Any responses appreciated.

TheGardener

Craig32 wrote: »

My question would be, outwith the obvious ones like the financial sector, councils etc, am I going to find difficulty in finding jobs if I went bankrupt? What experiences have people had? Ideally I would like to stay in the Oil & Gas Industry, but unsure if I would be blacklisted. .

With the exception of Finance Director - there is no reason you can't work for the council - or any other part of the public sector. The only area that would probably be out of the question would be in certain roles in finance (Chartered accountants, finance managers etc). Also - I don't understand why you would be blacklisted by the gas and oil industry? I haven't ever come across a job where I have been finance checked - BR its not a criminal offence. I believe the Police have an issue with BR but they are laying off rather than hiring at the moment.

Craig32

TheGardener wrote: »

With the exception of Finance Director - there is no reason you can't work for the council - or any other part of the public sector. The only area that would probably be out of the question would be in certain roles in finance (Chartered accountants, finance managers etc). Also - I don't understand why you would be blacklisted by the gas and oil industry? I haven't ever come across a job where I have been finance checked - BR its not a criminal offence. I believe the Police have an issue with BR but they are laying off rather than hiring at the moment.

TheGardener,

That is good to know. I didn't know if companies etc could blacklist you, I guess it was just my mind working overdrive thinking of the worst case scenarios.

lilybankrupt

Not to be a merchant of doom, but when I was job hunting there were loads of places that said they would credit check. A mid level marketing job with Eon for example. Also Royal Mail, and they insist all their suppliers credit check their staff too - a friend of mine works for the company that supplies their weighing scales, so manufacturing, and all their staff have to be checked. So it's worth checking before applying, or applying first before BR.

wildheart83

I went BR in Scotland back in 2010 and previously worked in the Oil & Gas industry. I have now moved on but have found no issues with my BR, and got security cleared at a pretty high level with no problems.
A couple of agencies I was dealing with were asking me to give permission for a credit check, but I gave them a bodyswerve as there are plenty out there who don't, and I found that having Disclosure helps a lot, even if the job doesn't specifically ask for it.

Good luck

TheGardener

Well so far as I am aware - the public sector don't credit check employees with the exception of high ranking financial and director level posts. I would have thought the employment credit checks are looking for fraud convictions more than poor credit ratings so a credit check that turns up a BR doesn't mean you wouldn't get the job.

lilybankrupt

This is what Experian say on their website about employee credit checks...

"The Experian Adverse Financial Check gives you the peace of mind that your candidates have no history of financial mismanagement. This is of vital importance if you are recruiting for a role that involves the handling of money, accounts or sensitive data. Through screening your candidates, a thorough pre employment credit check from Experian is a first line of defence for your business’s integrity, reputation and security."

It makes me really mad that they imply if you have personal financial issues you are somehow a risk to the business :mad:

rastica

To answer your question about whether to go BR when you have a job or not - I will say that you should do it now. My BR happened to coincide with my ending a job and going freelance for a bit, which put me on a lower income. That meant that I was not put on an IPA [EDITED - yes! sorry IPA not IVA! Thanks TheGardener!] (which lasts for 3 years) because I was not deemed to have any excess income on my SOA. I was early discharged at 9 months and essentially 'free' from BR (except for, of course, my credit). So I'm not saying that you should go out of your way to make less money, but if you want to go BR now, and are unemployed, I would still do it for sure. There might be an unintended plus side in not getting an IPA, where you might have gotten one otherwise if you'd had a higher income.

TheGardener

rastica wrote: »

.... That meant that I was not put on an IVA (which lasts for 3 years) because I was not deemed to have any excess income on my SOA. ....

Just a little correction - its an IPA - Income Payment Agreement - in which you pay 'surplus income to the OR during BR, its not an IVA - an IVA is a very different thing altogether

I know credit checks are frustrating but I think what they are actually looking for is fraud markers rather then general creditworthiness. Committing fraud is not something many employers would look kindly on but of course there will always be people who simply don't understand BR - why would they if they haven't been there themselves - difficult but not much we can do