Job search, credit score issues, and plan construction, need help, please.
Hi guys, I hope you are doing well. I’m here to share a bit of my story in order to get good advice.
I’m 26 years old, Canadian and french and my credit score is extremely bad. TransUnion says 550, and it has been around this level for a while, sometimes going above 600, then coming back down because I was unable to follow my plan due to life circumstances.
First, I was a victim of identity theft in 2020. From my understanding, it caused a $7,000 debt that I only learned about a year ago.
Second, I have Bell bills that were over $2,500. That debt is currently near $1,000 after I called the collection agency and tried to pay it down.
I also have a furniture debt of $4,000, which is also in collections. And I currently have $3,500 in revolving credit card debt, where I am making the minimum payments.
The identity theft debt more than doubled due to interest and is currently at $17,000. With everything I have shared here, my total debt is between $23,000 and $25,000.
Now, to give a bit of context, I was a student working part-time. Then I started to have a better job an internship and I said to myself, “Well, you’ll have a job after the internship, so take an apartment, take furniture, and pay along the way.” Big mistake. At the time, in 2021, my parents were paying the rent.
Then, in 2022, my father had a bankruptcy, and I took responsibility for paying for my brother’s studies abroad, which cost me everything. The only things I could do were pay my rent, eat, and go to work. All my additional income went to supporting my family.
This continued up to 2025, when my father took back control of the financial situation, and I got a really good job starting in 2025. My goal was simple: pay all my debt. I also owed my best friend $15,000. He was the one who supported me so I could survive during this difficult situation.
I said to myself, “Continue paying the minimum, pay your friend in four months, then after that, kill every debt you have. This will take a good year.”
I had paid my friend $10,000 by May 2025. Then I lost the job, not because of my work not at all but because I was replacing someone on maternity leave who was not supposed to come back, and she came back. They gave me three months of salary and ciao.
My friend was paid, but my credit score was not doing well at all, as I had not yet started taking care of the institutional debt, if I can say it that way.
I looked for a job for six months, and in November, I found a great one with a great salary, over $100k. I got an offer from a bank, and I said to myself, “Well, with that salary, I’ll pay off everything in six months. I’ll live with $800 rent, $600 for food and bills, and the rest will go to debt.”
My offer got rescinded due to my credit score. They did not even ask questions. They did not even try to understand the situation. When this happened, I automatically entered into depression, and I left the country to go back to my parents, who are currently struggling financially. What a shame. That’s a very bad situation for me, for my family, overall.
Now, this thing is on my mind every single goddamn day, and it is very hard. I cry every night before going to sleep. I dream about paying my debt.
Here is my plan: from what I heard, according to the law in Quebec, a collection cannot stay on a credit report for more than six years after the first default.
This means that at the end of the summer, it may require contacting TransUnion and Equifax so that the $17,000 debt can be purged.
From there, I will only have $8,500 left to settle, meaning handling the $3,500 in revolving credit, paying the $4,000 for the furniture, and paying the phone bills. For the furniture and phone bills, they will be on my credit report as collections, but they will be paid. From there, I will be able to rebuild my credit properly. The idea and the goal is to never have issues with debt again, never be refused anything because of it, and become financially free.
Now, according to my diplomas, 95% of the jobs that I can do involve a credit check and security screening.
For some jobs that I got during the past six years, it did not show up. It only showed up once, and that destroyed me.
Now, while being abroad, I’m doing interviews for jobs, mainly ones without credit score issues. The salary is low, but hey, we have to start somewhere. I’m waiting to get a job so I can start tackling my issues and move forward with my plan.
However, I was recommended by a friend for a superb position, and I am currently in the interview process. They said at the final round that they perform a security screening and credit check that has to be satisfactory for them. This time, it is not a bank, so it’s not CIRO-regulated, but it is with the government.
Before getting the recommendation, I spoke to my friend about it and told him not to recommend me because I did not want to tarnish his reputation if I get the role and it becomes a problem.
He still made the recommendation. The hiring manager asked for some documentation of my work, which I shared with my friend for him. When he saw my portfolio of work, he called me to start the interview process.
In order to feel better, I have been working on my skills, working on models, and creating well-constructed books of analysis that are at an institutional level. Working helps me not go crazy, and it also helps with job searching, as I have something to show that helps explain the gaps in my CV and is also relevant considering my expertise.
Now, there might be some holes in the story, because the more I share, the more scared I am of being recognized. I have been seriously ashamed because of this, and it has affected my mental health. I don’t have any close friends anymore. I don’t talk that much. I just live in my shame, trying to fix my life.
I currently have nearly $4,000 USD cash in my country. That is enough for a flight ticket, considering my credit, one month of rent deposit, another month for the first payment, food, and getting settled wherever I find a job. From there, I can start earning a salary. That is the buffer I have to ensure that, if I get a job, I can get there and be ready to work within two weeks.
Is there anything I can do? The $8,000 debt is not crazy. The crazy part is the identity theft. But that will stay on my credit report for a minimum of four additional months if it leaves automatically, and it could take a bit more time to communicate with the credit agencies to handle it correctly.
What can I do? What can I do to at least have the chance to defend myself without being screwed? I was thinking that if I get the role, during the background check, I could explain it and propose a conditional offer based on the fact that, after six months, if everything is not fixed, they can fire me.
Because if I get a job, let’s say I start in June or July.
By August, the identity theft situation is handled.
With four months of salary and saving everything, I could settle the situation very rapidly. Then I could start my life from there, support my family, and take the stress off my father.
Is there anyone who has experience solving very, very difficult situations like this?
Please.
Please don’t judge me. We all have a story and difficulties, and mine, together with the timing of those difficulties, completely messed everything up. I’m seriously begging for good guidance.