Dear Kate & Dale: I was laid off when I was four months pregnant and showing. No one would hire me, and I was out of work for more than a year. I was recently offered a job, contingent on my background check. Though I am a law-abiding citizen, the problem is a credit check. While trying to secure employment, I ran into financial difficulty. What should I tell them and when? – Brianna

Kate: A background check could include investigating any of these, in order of frequency (as reported in a 2003 study by the Society of Human Resource Managers): reference checks, criminal history, work history, education verification, motor-vehicle records, credit checking, military-discharge report or even character checks. To further put credit checking in context, James Lee, an executive with ChoicePoint Inc., a company that does millions of background checks a year, says that fewer than 30 percent of its customers ask to include the credit portion when doing checking.

Dale: So let’s back up and consider the odds. Employers often ask you to sign a release for a background check, then never do it. They just want legal permission in case they become suspicious later, or to intimidate those who might be tempted to lie. I’ve never seen statistics on this, but let’s say about half of them never check. And if fewer than 30 percent of those who order a background check do the credit report, then that means that six times out of seven they’ll never see your credit status.

Kate: Still, I like a pre-emptive strike. That is, ask what kind of check they will be doing and address the issue when you feel it’s likely they’ll include a credit check.

Dale: Agreed. If they say they’re checking credit, you can explain, simply and casually, your history. Urge them to look at your credit record before unemployment, and urge them to do all the other pieces of the background check. That will put your financial problem in perspective. When it shows up in the report, instead of their worrying that you’re irresponsible, they’ll just think, “She told me about this,” and conclude that you are an open, honest person who had a bit of bad luck.

Best of the month

Dale: It’s time for our review of great career resources. For this month, I’ve been taking a fresh look at Salary.com. There’s good reading in several sections, including one on “dream jobs,” but as you’d expect, most of the action is around pay. You can buy a salary report, customized, for $30. However, for free, you can learn quite a lot. I just inquired about pay for an executive assistant in Denver. The median is $43,922.

Kate: My suggestion for this time is a new edition of “The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century,” from the prolific team of Paul and Sarah Edwards. The book is 672 pages of business possibilities – tax preparer, travel consultant, etc. While it will not tell you everything you need to start a business, this is a resource for people with no idea of their options.