Can a bankruptcy keep you from getting a job?

Anyone care to drop some knowledge? i know it’s a disqualification for certain government positions…so I’m wondering are most merchant marines employed by the government here in the US? and if so can bad credit disqualify you from employment as a Deck or Engineering Officer?

To my knowledge, no marine employer does credit checks on employees. Rack up the debt and escape to the sea!

On the contrary, many employers these days will run a credit check on you. I’m looking right now at an application package (from MSRC) that contains a form that must be signed authorizing the check. Like it or not, this has become routine.

A lot depends on how old your bankruptcy is, and what your credit report looks like now.

[quote=Capt_Anonymous;12809]On the contrary, many employers these days will run a credit check on you. I’m looking right now at an application package (from MSRC) that contains a form that must be signed authorizing the check. Like it or not, this has become routine.

A lot depends on how old your bankruptcy is, and what your credit report looks like now.[/quote]

I have to agree with C_A on this one…I ran into the same thing on several apps…Also my current employer ran my credit, as part of the hiring process…

Thanks for the update on this. I have been interviewing mariners and placing them on board based on their work history, never thought to check their credit. Its a sad changing world.

Two thumbs up to you, friend!

We should be careful not to make the assumption that “Checking Credit + BK = No Job.” That [U]absolutely could be true[/U] but I think we need to hear from several people with bk’s that have been denied employment before we can establish that. Also, there is also a big difference between “in bk” and a “discharged bk.”

On the other hand I can’t explain why a company would spend the $ to run a check if they didn’t care about the results. For sure integrity matters, like saying one thing on the app but having the report say another. Often times companies will use “standardized” apps. Just because the app requests you authorize the check doesn’t mean they will run the report. But they may, AAGH…

Capt_Anonymous is correct when he says how old the bk is and how your credit looks now is important.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll be getting some other posts that may give us better guidance.

I think being honest and upfront on the application and during the interview determines the outcome. There are people who are deadbeats and just don’t pat their debts and there are good people who have had unaviodable difficulties.

If I was in the position of hiring manager I think I’d pay more attention to how dilligently and reliably someone earns their money than how they spend it. But that’s just me.

Nemo

People get denied for employment every day based on credit. Usually, it’s for a position like counting money at a casino, or working a corporate job where your knowledge of company business could be sold. I have not heard of that in the maritime field, but I can imagine some situations where that might be appropriate. For the most part, there is no reason to check credit for boat crews. Chouest does background checks on all new hires because of military contracts, and I would guess that secret clearances on some vessels require credit checks among even talking to your neighbors, but that is done by the military contractors, not the boat company. Some have been denied clearances and just got put to work somewhere else in the company.

[quote=Capt. Nemo;12819]I think being honest and upfront on the application and during the interview determines the outcome. There are people who are deadbeats and just don’t pat their debts and there are good people who have had unaviodable difficulties.

If I was in the position of hiring manager I think I’d pay more attention to how dilligently and reliably someone earns their money than how they spend it. But that’s just me.

Nemo[/quote]

Capt Nemo, I couldn’t agree more…

Sometimes bad things happen, to good people…If my trucking company hadn’t of sold when it did, I could have very easiliy been one of them…:smiley:

To add to what Anchorman has said,
At Chouest if you work on one of Government boats and in a position that requires a security clearance, a bankruptcy disqualifies you ( if your not responsible for yourself they don’t want to tell you their secrets ). You can still work on anything else the company owns though.

Also, companies don’t want to deal with folks that may have financial judgements brought against them that will require the company to garnish the employees pay and send it to some third party -for the employer, better to not get involved in the hoopla.

[QUOTE=Capt. Nemo;12819]I think being honest and upfront on the application and during the interview determines the outcome. There are people who are deadbeats and just don’t pat their debts and there are good people who have had unaviodable difficulties.

If I was in the position of hiring manager I think I’d pay more attention to how dilligently and reliably someone earns their money than how they spend it. But that’s just me.

Nemo[/QUOTE]

Before anything else, I would like to introduce my self first. My name is Cris and currently living in Hawaii with my wife and a father of 4 wonderful kids. I am very glad to see this forum because I have some concerns about the employment with MSC. I used to work in a cruise ship as a cook last 2006 here in Hawaii and I see it very interesting to be on a ship, but that time I never knew that MSC ever existed until I met my wife. She was a Deck Apprentice with SIU and it turns out that her brother works with MSC and her father is a retired BosunMate also with MSC. To make the story short, I am interested to join the fleet, but at the same time I am having concerns with the employment process because of my unsettled debts. I am currently paying it off already for me to apply with the company. My concern is, is there any chance that I can get hired even though my debts are not yet totally paid off?And how long does the hiring process takes?And do you have any advice when it comes to my concerns???

Thank you:-)

It is ironic, down right disgusting actually, the standards and rules we, the average Joes and Josephines(PC) are held to when our elected and non elected leaders can have bankruptcies, DWI’S,felonies, income tax issues, etc. etc. in their past, distant and not so distant, and even present day. I don’t think most of them are qualified to be a food handler much less making the laws we must live by.
Enough, let me climb off my soapbox before I fall and hurt myself, then because of my new more expensive and crappier insurance, I can’t pay the hospital bills, have to go belly up, and loose my job because i am no longer a 700 FICO.

Was that a yes or a no?

[QUOTE=arseniocris;44031]Before anything else, I would like to introduce my self first. My name is Cris and currently living in Hawaii with my wife and a father of 4 wonderful kids. I am very glad to see this forum because I have some concerns about the employment with MSC. I used to work in a cruise ship as a cook last 2006 here in Hawaii and I see it very interesting to be on a ship, but that time I never knew that MSC ever existed until I met my wife. She was a Deck Apprentice with SIU and it turns out that her brother works with MSC and her father is a retired BosunMate also with MSC. To make the story short, I am interested to join the fleet, but at the same time I am having concerns with the employment process because of my unsettled debts. I am currently paying it off already for me to apply with the company. My concern is, is there any chance that I can get hired even though my debts are not yet totally paid off?And how long does the hiring process takes?And do you have any advice when it comes to my concerns???

Thank you:-)[/QUOTE]

You can apply to MSC with debt. The security clearance could be a show stopper if you are not paying your debt or if you do not have proof of a payment plan. I am in the hiring process now (takes f**kin forever) awaiting my start date. I had to pay off an old electric bill I somehow missed that went to collections in 2004. They would not process my clearance until it was paid off or I showed proof of a payment plan. It was 300 bucks. That being said, all my other debt didn’t matter because I was not behind on any payments. It seems they just want know if are making your payments. Read the literature on the MSC web page or in your application paperwork. It’s all there.

I worked on deck with those Hawaii ships for six years. Thanks for the chow.

[QUOTE=Steamer;44035]Was that a yes or a no?[/QUOTE]

Yes, definitely yes. Most OSV companies could care less if you pay your bills or not as long as you show up to work and do a decent job. Some do very extensive background checks. Having a bad credit score can be a deal breaker at some companies and different career fields. I was an insurance agent at one time and the checked my credit. It had to be a certain score or they would not have hired me. A friend of mine tried to get on at the same insurance company and they did not hire him based on his credit score.

[QUOTE=Discharged Seaman;44037]You can apply to MSC with debt. The security clearance could be a show stopper if you are not paying your debt or if you do not have proof of a payment plan. I am in the hiring process now (takes f**kin forever) awaiting my start date. I had to pay off an old electric bill I somehow missed that went to collections in 2004. They would not process my clearance until it was paid off or I showed proof of a payment plan. It was 300 bucks. That being said, all my other debt didn’t matter because I was not behind on any payments. It seems they just want know if are making your payments. Read the literature on the MSC web page or in your application paperwork. It’s all there.

I worked on deck with those Hawaii ships for six years. Thanks for the chow.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the good reply mate. Now it is all clear and I can start applying again coz b4 I have to back my application out bec. of the security clearance I don’t know what to put. Yea my brother-in-law told me that the security clearance is such a pain in the butt.

Just wondering… If you sail Union (SIU for example) and you have unpaid debts, would you still be able to ship to the grey ships (MSC) and the MSC contracted vessels???

I know the SIU could care less about your credit and the same goes for the shipping companies under union contract (Maersk, Waterman, OSG, etc).

I do know the SIU covers many vessels that are both MSC (USNS Ships) and non-MSC owned but MSC contracted vessels.

Does anybody know the answer?

MSC owned ships manned by unions or union/non-union crews on non-MSC owned ships (read Charters) still are required to do background checks for clearance in my experience. You’ll be moving MSC cargo and be in possesion of MSC small arms sailing into US Navy bases, so they will do clearances on the crews, (although I have seen them be laxadazical about it).