Job Discussion Forums

flaco · Joined: 27 Dec 2003 Posts: 30 Location: Brooklyn

hi,

i've read lots of posts on this site and i have a question maybe somebody can help answer...

i'm a 26-year-old music teacher with university/high-school/private teaching experience and i'm hoping to get into teaching ESL with one of the "big 3" in japan. however, i have a serious amount of credit card debt (which i have been steadily paying off). i fell behind on some payments this summer due to an arm injury which kept me from working for awhile and these past due balances are reflected on my credit report.

what are these companies looking for when checking applicants' credit? (i was told that they do a credit check...) will my debt and previous past due balances make it difficult to get hired?

any advice is much appreciated. thanks.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

It is highly unlikely to be a problem. I don't know the policies of the companies, actually I didn't know the companies did this, but when I came over I had quite a few irregularities in my credit history.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

This is the first time I've heard of any eikaiwa doing a credit check on an applicant. Who said they do this?

quai · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Posts: 12 Location: Japan

wouldn't even worry about it. You are applying for a job - not a house loan!

having recently gone through the application process for some of the big 3 - there was no such business of credit checks - and it there was I would have been outta there... cause that is none of their business!

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

If credit checks were the norm, myself and, i suspect, pretty much everyone else on this forum would never have landed their first job in Japan.

Unless of course they are checking not for credit but debt so that they know they can push you around and you will still cling to the job Wink

Wouldn't put it past them

foster · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 485 Location: Honkers, SARS

Good point Smooj! Had they checked my credit history, and found the back log of un paid student loans...the reason I went to Japan was to pay them off...well, yeah, I would have NEVER got a job...and Yeah, they could have pushed me around for longer than the 2 years it took me to pay it all off. Shocked

flaco · Joined: 27 Dec 2003 Posts: 30 Location: Brooklyn

thanks for the responses. i guess i should get ready to be pushed around a little... Smile

flaco · Joined: 27 Dec 2003 Posts: 30 Location: Brooklyn

oh, um... in response to your question, glenski -- the AEON recruiter here in new york told me they do a credit check when "screening" applicants.

flaco · Joined: 27 Dec 2003 Posts: 30 Location: Brooklyn

oh, um... in response to your question, glenski -- the AEON recruiter here in new york told me they do a credit check when "screening" applicants.

flaco · Joined: 27 Dec 2003 Posts: 30 Location: Brooklyn

thanks for the responses. i guess i should get ready to be pushed around a little... Smile

Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

Your credit rating is none of their business.

I haven't been here long, but I've been here long enough to know that if you don't stand up for yourself, they'll keep on taking advantage of you. I'd ask that recruiter what bearing your credit has on your ability to teach English (or more accurately, to make a profit for AEON).

Get the hell out of there. You can do much better.