And that’s the tip of the iceberg. Tons of jobs in the US - especially those dealing directly with finances - pull your credit too, with the justification that people with bad credit are riskier and more likely to steal from the company.
Being good at corporate or banking finance does not translate to being good at personal finance.
You would be shocked at how many high-earning individuals in the finance industry essentially live paycheck to paycheck because they spend as much (or more) than they make in an effort to maintain "status" among their peers, clients, and neighbors. It's pretty much the norm for that industry.
A credit check is more often used to gauge how susceptible a candidate is to becoming a pawn in some espionage plot. Someone with large outstanding debts is more likely to agree to get paid to steal information or money when approached by an agent working for another company or government than someone who is financially secure.
High income makes you feel like you don’t need to save, because every month lets you buy things that others wait a year to buy.
So it’s not just about the status, you can easily get addicted to spending money. Earning a lot of money and knowing how to save money are vastly different skills.
Or perhaps they had an unexpected medical bill. Despite the talk of the American dream, the US system seems intent on keeping people down when they are down.
It would seem that experience, how you successfully budgeted around a sudden, significant, unexpected expense (possibly combined with loss of income), would be something you'd highlight and use as evidence of your qualifications. Companies want people who can handle the unexpected, especially in finance, since it happens so often.
Hiding it, so that's it's only revealed during a credit check, is the problem.