How My IVA Cost Me A Job Offer

[Rick71]

Here’s a tale for you. It’s more to let off steam than anything else, as there was nothing I could do about it and, ultimately, there are worse things in the world to get wound up about. I’m a year into my IVA, and this is, to date, the only time it’s had a negative effect on my life.

A friend of mine works for a company called Williams Lea, who are consultants for various industries, including the banking industry. The clients he works for are RBS, the global investment section, rather than the personal banking section. RBS are the sole creditor on my IVA.

He got in touch a couple of months back, and told me that they were looking for new people in their department, and rather than go through the usual recruiting process, they were looking for people who might provide a fresh approach. The job entails putting together pitch packages using Excel, Word and Powerpoint for investors to use when pitching to clients. Lots of number-crunching etc, and as I have an eye for detail he thought it might be up my street. He knows about my IVA and told me that, whilst there is a strict vetting process for candidates, he had made a couple of discreet enquiries and was fairly sure that my having an IVA shouldn’t be an issue, even though their client was effectively my creditor.

I spoke to my IP and he told me that, whilst having an IVA barred me from being a Company Director and other such positions, he didn’t think that such a relatively lowly position would be affected, even if it was with a company working alongside RBS, as it was with an entirely different section of the company that were completely separate from the personal banking division.

I got an interview, impressed them, and was clear about my having an IVA. The two men who interviewed me said they didn’t think it would be a problem, but would check on that specific issue with their HR department as they would be carrying out the standard vetting process. They felt comfortable enough about the situation to offer me the job there and then. I was very pleased about this – quite apart from anything else, the salary was £800 a month more than my current one, which of course would increase my monthly IVA payment and therefore the dividend to my creditor, and still leave me significantly better off each month. And, in a nice bit of schadenfreude, with RBS being the clients of my employers, the huge leap in income increasing that dividend would be coming from them. It would have been a real shot in the arm, both for me and for my IVA, with the possibility of finishing it early by paying the debt off in full if I was shrewd with extra voluntary payments. Despite being wary of the slight question mark over whether or not my IVA might have a bearing on matters, I allowed myself to be very chuffed.

You can guess what happened next. The following morning, I got a very apologetic phone call from one of the guys who’d interviewed me, telling me that the HR department had said that an IVA was an “instant fail”, and that he unfortunately had to withdraw the offer.

Evidently, what with RBS being at the epicentre of the global economic meltdown, they have been rebuilding their internal structure from the ground up, and have ramped up every aspect of their HR procedures in order to ensure that the rogue elements that led to the financial crisis are never allowed to seep into the organisation again. This extends to all companies that work alongside them too. So, despite assurances to the contrary, my IVA instantly put me out of the running.

You can imagine how annoying this was. I asked if there was any possibility of consideration being given if I provided a reference from my IP, and he told me that it may help the situation. My IP kindly put a reference together very quickly and emailed it to both me and my potential employer.

All to no avail.

Essentially, what it boiled down to was that an IVA implies (to them, at any rate) irresponsibility with money, a trait they want to avoid at any cost. It’s easy to make assumptions about IVAs, the sort of people who have them and how they came to have them, and make snap judgements that simply aren’t justified. That was what the HR department seemed to be doing, and they weren’t interested in hearing any background at all. If they had been, they would have had plenty of evidence of my financial responsibility, and that my entering into an IVA was, in actual fact, a responsible move entirely of my own volition, rather than a situation I had been forced, or “strongly advised” into.

I can see how easy it is to make such judgements, but refrain from doing so myself. After all, my IP told me during my last 6 month review that I’m one of his easier clients, as with many of them he wonders “why they even bothered with an IVA at all”, such was their fecklessness. As I have just the one creditor and am diligent to the point of anal retentiveness with my finances, he told me he had no such problems with me. Reading a lot of the posts on this forum, it’s clear to me that such judgements don’t apply to its members either – everyone seems very clued up and determined to see out their IVAs properly and responsibly. A far cry from the assumptions about “the sort of people who have IVAs” that had my job offer withdrawn. I have no doubt that those people exist, but I don’t really see evidence of it on this forum.

Amongst the many things that annoyed me about it, it was the fact that RBS, of all organisations – one of the main organisations responsible for the recession in which we find ourselves, and, arguably, largely responsible for the situation that led to me entering into an IVA in the first place – were sitting in judgement of me, labelling me as financially irresponsible and too great a risk to have anywhere near them. The sodding nerve!

I had no choice but to let it go. It still rankles (another friend was also successful in his interview and is now working for Williams Lea), but there’s nothing I can do about it. From the prospect of a huge salary hike and the very positive implications for my IVA, back to just about managing each month. All based on what I consider to me a hugely assumptive decision that doesn’t allow for any consideration whatsoever for the circumstances of the individual.

Sorry – gone on a bit there. I just thought I’d get it all down amongst people who understand. Thanks for reading!

Does anyone else have a similar story to tell? Has your IVA prevented you from doing/having something you thought it wouldn’t have any bearing on?

[Shining]

Hi and I'm truly sorry to read that their decision has affected your career. I've no story to tell personally but do wish companies would verse themselves more comprehensively on all debt solutions when selecting employees as ok an IVA is a debt solution but who is to say you're in an IVA from being financially irresponsible?

[MerlinL14]

Hi Rick and sorry to read about your bad luck with getting the new career. It was a good read though and does outline some very valid points about the banking industry. I believe it would make good column length in a financial magazine!

[Til]

Sympathies Rick on what must be a very disappointing and frustrating let down for you. The irony is that had they taken your background into consideration and allowed you the job, RBS would have received a much higher return and possibly even 100% as you say! In essence they have cut off their nose to spite their face! Here's hoping that another opportunity might turn up on your path soon and one that will not be spoilt by those who look at us in IVA's and tar us all with the one brush. Everyone's history and what brought them into an IVA is different and should be assessed as so - one person may have acted irresponsibly whereas another may be simply circumstances and unforeseeable fate - either way in your case I am sure it is RBS's loss x

[Rick71]

Thanks for your responses, everyone.

Merlin – Perhaps I should pitch it to a financial publication and get it syndicated, with the fees paying off my balance in full?! That would be handy!

I remember when I was in the process of setting up my IVA, and on taking the telephone call from my IP after submitting the initial paperwork, the person I spoke to remarked on how easy it would be to set it up. There were four pages, with eight boxes on each page, in which to write details of all my creditors and the amount owed to each of them. I had filled in two – one for my overdraft and one for my loan, both of which were with RBS, making them my sole creditor. He told me he usually had to wade through pages of credit card debt, store card debt, payday loan debt... all sorts, a real headache to negotiate through. There are any number of reasons why someone might have such debts, but it’s not for me or anyone else to make snap judgements about their character because of them.

It seems to me that the image that comes to mind for those who have no real knowledge of IVAs (or other debt solutions, for that matter) is that of a lazy, unemployed, feckless, unreliable and possibly shady sort who can’t be trusted to manage their own affairs. A hugely unfair assumption. It doesn’t apply to me, and it doesn’t seem to apply to anyone else who posts here either.

Rant over. Would anyone like a cup of tea?

[MerlinL14]

2 sugars, full fat milk [:D]

[Broke of London]

I worked for a bank and left the financial sector because I knew my iva would count against me (it is also pretty boring to be honest so you had a narro escape!!)

My bank felt that people who had not made sound financial decisions in their own life were not fit to make financial decisions for others and that employing people in IVAs would lead to serious commercial and reputational damage.

Basically, employing people who are insolvent doesn't pass the Daily Mail test in thier view. And while I think each case should be judged on its individual merit to avoid being discriminatory, I do see their point. My circumstances would not lead anyone to believe I was capable of making good financial decisions; but others have different backgrounds and should not be penalised in the same way.

Everything happens for a reason and there is a better job waiting for you out there...and they will appreciate your talents!!!

[Rick71]

I like your Daily Mail analogy!

Another maddening thing about it was that I could also see their point, once I’d thought the whole thing through from an odious corporate perspective. I had to have a long hot shower after that, I can tell you – I felt so dirty!

From their perspective, I owed them money and I couldn’t pay it back, so I’d entered into an agreement to protect me from them coming after me. I can see how that would look bad. On top of that, given their prominent role in creating the recession and the internal changes that forced upon them, the last person they would want to have anywhere in or around their organisation is someone who, on first appearances at least, would appear to have ‘form’ for financial irresponsibility. So in that respect, as much as it stuck in my throat, I could see their point. Their lack of interest in my circumstances, though, was discriminatory, and typical of the assumptions that having an IVA creates in some people.

Still, you’re right. Perhaps my talents will be recognised sooner or later. My background and training is in drama, and I’m in a comedy sketch group. We’ll soon be pitching our work, so it’s an interesting time..!