I've heard that during the initial interview, an airline will run a background check on you...I'm assuming this includes all the usual stuff (criminal history, driving record, and credit score, etc..) So, being young and up to my eyeballs in student loan debt, along with a period of unemployment thanks to the economy, my credit score has slipped quite a bit.

So to the question, I guess I'm wondering if an applicant will be tossed due to a rough credit score.

FWIW, I am starting to get back on my feet to where I can make reg payments on my credit cards to where hopefully they'll be paid off by the time I would get an interview anyways...

I'm not sure about the exact practices, plus are there are some laws related to use of credit info in hiring.

But I would imagine that having a lot of student loans, and possibly some late payments would not be a big deal in this economy.

I think they would be concerned about bankruptcy, or if you defaulted on loans for a lot of bling crap that you don't really need.

My guess is they don't weigh to heavily on candidates credit scores. After all they know that we are not wise investors being that we spent what we did for flight training and then applied to work for them knowing that there would be very little return on investment.

If you were going to a company that issues a company credit card with your name on it, I could see it being an issue. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.

But I have yet to hear of a major SLF carrying airline, let alone a regional that does this.

I'm almost certain that many major airlines do this (and possibly some regionals). It's a cheap and quick way to get a lot of insight into what someone is all about.

I was talking about the ACTAUL issuance of a company card with the pilot's name on it, NOT the credit check itself.

So let me get this straight. You're concerned about an interview within the airline industry, which has seen companies in and out of bankruptcy for the last xyz number of years and what they will think of a less-than-perfect credit score?

Prioritize man.

Personally, I don't do credit checks as a condition of employment. How, when, how much and how often I pay my bills is between me and my creditors...not my employer. Yes, that "disqualifies" me from some jobs, but as someone that's had someone use my social security number inappropriately in the past, it's also a lot less headaches.

-mini

As always, pilots are held to a much higher personal standard than corporations or managers. Fair? No. But that's the way it is, deal with it.

Being that you are a recent graduate and are the loans were actually used to secure your higher education, most employers are pretty lenient when it comes to your credit score. It is not weighed as heavily as other criteria that you've mentioned.


atp

How about a flip to the question? Can a good credit score add more points to a candidate than a bad one would take away?