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." To some that might seem like "big brother" is watching just a little to close but in the wake of Enron, numerous other corporate scandals and post-911 employers are learning that they can tell a lot about a job candidate and their probability to be a quality employee by their credit report and credit score.

Speaking of candidates, a local Toledo, Ohio newspaper challenged both Republican and Democrat candidates running for office to "show their cards," by giving up their credit reports and credit scores for the voting public to see.

Was this a privacy violation or the publics right to know? Either way you see it, most of the candidates complied, only time will tell how their ability to handle money, credit and debt will effect the publics perception of how well they handle the city budget.

Do you know what your credit report would say about you if your current or future boss asked?

Here's a quick and easy way to tell.