I never said that companies could not ask. I said that I am offended by it and it's presumptions of guilty till proven innocent and that I personally would not work for a company that pries into peoples lives. Just because I may have a traffic ticket should not affect my job as a circuit designer nor should a credit rating. Sure I could think of several lame excuses for it but one could find an lame excuse for just about anything.
The "knife" in question is a mini combo bottle opener / wine knife. Bottomline, it is metal and so are my keys but it did not set off the security gate alarm though it was in my pocket. I carry it everywhere and simply forgot about it. It couldn't hurt anyone unless you tried to drown them in beer. BUT I did forget it ... oh well I guess I'm not perfect like Oldfriend .. wish he would show me how to do that walk on water trick.
Clamper let me ask you a question....... Say you are working for a company and they need to hire someone to work with you on a project. They see a resume - credentials are identical to yours, the second resume is similar.....so they interview to make the decision.......both are equally qualified for the job.........They check credit ratings.....one guy has pretty good credit, a few minor things.......the other guy has a crappy credit rating - late payments, missed payments........and company cancelled credit cards. Which guy seems more responsible? Which one do you want sitting beside you everyday, with possible access to personal information on you?
I'm just trying to point out that it isn't necessarily bad that the company is asking some questions about possible employees.........