5 Tips for Improving a Low Credit Score as a Project Manager 

If you’re a project manager with a low credit score and you feel like there’s no hope that you’ll ever have good credit, you’re not alone in that sentiment. In fact, there are millions of people out there just like you with credit profiles that have been badly damaged and left unfixed for years. Some people make the mistake of trying to wait until an item is naturally removed from their report, which takes about seven years. Of course, waiting for more than half a decade for your credit to fix itself is never an ideal course of action. Plus, having poor credit when you’ve been entrusted with the management of business projects will not look good during an employment screening if you decide to take your skills to another company. With that said, here are five fast ways any project manager can repair their credit to become a more trustworthy and financially fit professional:   

1. Do Your Research Before Negotiating with Creditors 

Negotiating with your creditors can help you reduce the total amount of debt you owe by up to 50% in many cases. However, before you start negotiating with a company it’s a good idea to research their background a bit. Generally, larger bill collection agencies like Allied Interstate (learn more about Allied Interstate here). will be more flexible in taking smaller payments to dissolve your debt because they’re more established. Smaller debt collection agencies or those based overseas may try to pressure you into paying the full amount using shady scare tactics. 

2. Use a Collection of Secured Credit Cards to Pay for Project Expenses  

As a project manager, you’ll inevitably encounter a variety of ongoing expenses that will need to be paid on a weekly or monthly basis. If your credit score is too low to facilitate approval for a conventional credit card, you should deposit some funds into a secured card account to begin building your credit that way. However, your credit utilization ratio is an important factor to consider before you start maxing out your cards to cover business expenses. It’s usually best to use no more than 50% of your overall available credit if you’re trying to elevate your score as quickly as possible.  

3. Dispute Questionable Items 

Disputing items that appear to be incorrect or fraudulent is a step that should be obvious to most project managers, but you’d be surprised how many people overlook mistakes and inaccuracies on their report. Keep in mind that some disputes may take a few weeks for the reporting agencies to process because they have to conduct an investigation, so you’ll need a bit of patience. Still, this method deserves a spot on the list of the fastest credit repair techniques because of the substantial boost that your score will receive when a negative item is removed from your report.  

4. Have a Variety of Open Accounts in Good Standing 

As a general rule of thumb, you should try to have between five and 15 open credit accounts in good standing and actively reporting to the three major credit reporting agencies. This diversified approach will ensure the fastest possible route to credit building because it shows that you’re capable of juggling a fair number of repayments successfully. One way to simplify this process as a project manager is to pay for a single nominal expense with each card and then make the repayment in full before the due date instead of opting to make the minimum allowed repayment.  

5. Use Debt Consolidation Loan to Centralize and Clear Your Debts 

If you can show proof of employment as a project manager, that could be enough to convince a debt consolidation lender to help you clear all your debts away. Of course, then you’d be left with one large debt, but it would show up on your credit report in the form of an open account and as long as you make your payments on time it will stay in good standing and serve to increase your score over time.  

A Good Project Manager Should Have Good Credit 

Ultimately, when you consider the amount of responsibility that project managers are entrusted with, it only makes sense that these professionals should be some of the most financially stable and responsible individuals in the entire company. Still, everyone has to start somewhere and there’s definitely a minority of project managers who still haven’t set out on the path to fixing their personal credit, If you fall under that category, heeding the five tips above should push you in the right direction.