The Top Two Ways To Increase Your Chances of Landing A Job By 70 Percent That Most People Don't Know

Continued...

One of the quickest ways to derail your career is by having bad credit. And according to a Federal Trade Commission Consumer Alert, "Employers often use a credit report when they hire and evaluate employees for promotion, reassignment or retention."

So, to be sure that you're not a credit causality, here are the top two financial literacy lessons you need to know and use to increase your chances of landing (and keeping) a job that most people don't know or aren't doing:

#1: Pay Your Bills On Time. All The Time

If you repeatedly show up for work late, do you think it would have an impact on how you are viewed as an employee overall?

Even if it's just "every now and then" and even if you have a "good reason" for being late the impression it gives is that you're not reliable or responsible. And that type of reputation could cost you big time.

Late payments can ruin your credit reputation and they’re one of the biggest reasons people get low credit scores. Even one late payment can cause a lot of damage.

Before you start to panic, don't. For the most part your bill has to be at least 30 days past due before a creditor will report your payment as late.

But don't make that an excuse to "pay a little late" because many creditors are just waiting to attach fees onto what you already owe and they’ll use anything, even one time offenses as a reason to make you pay more.

Some creditors not only require your payment to be received by the due date but also by a specific hour or it could be considered late.

What can you do to boost your credit score and skyrocket your chances of getting that job (or promotion)?

If you don’t already, have your minimum payment automatically deducted from your checking account. If that’s not possible, just mail the check at least 7 days before it's due. You can also use the pay-by-phone service or pay your bill online but there might be a service fee.

The bottom line is do whatever you can do to protect your credit score by paying your bills on time. If you do you'll become a candidate worth taking a closer look at.

#2: Have A Casual Relationship With Credit

In general part of being responsible is saying no when you’ve reached your limit. Likewise, part of being financially responsible is stopping when you have all the credit you can afford.
If you already have two or three major credit cards do you really need one from the retail store in the mall?

When you first start to build your credit profile it's understandable that you might get a couple of cards within a short period of time, but once the foundation is laid there is no need to get hot and heavy with credit.

A good way to think of credit is like you would a casual friend. No pressure to call or be together all the time, but enough of a connection that if you ever needed something they'd be there to support you in whatever way they could.

In the case of credit, respect it enough to use it only when you need it; but when it's time to call in a favor allow it to come to your rescue and provide a bit of financial relief.

Credit can be a good friend that will speak well of you to others and that's all any of us could hope to have; a reputation that says we're responsible and someone (or something) to back it up.

This article may be distributed freely on your website, as long as this entire article, including links and this resource box are unchanged. More Details.