My husband recently applied for a supervisor position at a large corporation. He was asked to fill out paperwork for a background check, physical, urine, etc...

They made him a "conditional offer". I am concerned because we have had some credit problems over the last year and a half -- we have collection agencies chasing us -- although we are making every effort to pay this debt down -- it's still there... How much weight does this carry? I am concerned he may not get the position because we owe like $60k in credit cards...

Your help would be appreciated.

While very late in posting, I thought it pertinent to mention to everyone that employers can use consumer reports for hiring or evaluating employees for promotion, but they must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/credempl.htm).

With regard to the above scenario, the importance of the candidate's Credit History varies according to employers' policies as well as the relative importance of the position in question. For a position with higher levels of authority and fiduciary responsibility, a credit history becomes a valuable vetting tool.