How long should I be employed before applying for a card?

[pdxuser]

All I'm asking for is a secured card from a credit union to start my history. But I don't want to waste a pull until it's reasonable I'll be approved. So how long should I be employed before I bother asking? 6 months? A year? Two years? I asked, and they said they couldn't share specifics like that, but they did say that even with a secured card, I have to have employment history to show that I'm able to continue making payments.

[Miner]

Well for a mortgage, 2 years is usually what you need.  I can't believe that a CC would need a history that long.  6 monhts is probably the minimum, but a year should be safe.  But this is just my opinion.

[pdxuser]

That's basically what I was thinking. Does anyone have any experience applying for a card with less than a year of employment history?

[Anonymous]

I don't know about your credit union, but most credit card issuers don't ask your length of employment, only your income. I think you would be fine with your current employment history and if not, I would go to a different bank that definitely won't ask.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with debtisgood... none of the CC apps asked me for a length of employment, they only wanted to know what my income was. (Of course they also all declined me.)

 The auto dealer however, he wanted to not only know the length of employment, but two current pay stubs and last years W2.  

[pdxuser]

Are you guys sure? Here are the two online applications I can share that don't first require you to enter an account number: MIT Federal Credit Union, which requires "years at this job," and Merrill Lynch, which requests both "number of years with company" and "number of years with previous company." I just figured from this, in addition to my conversation with my local (not MIT) credit union, that some employment history was required. My local credit union even said they'd like to see my tax returns to prove income.

[Anonymous]

My son was approved for a Sears gold MC of 5k cl had just started working in his 2nd day on the job... right out of high school...this was 4 years ago though...then was given a cli a year later to 7250...

[haulingthescoreup]

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pdxuser wrote:

Are you guys sure? Here are the two online applications I can share that don't first require you to enter an account number: MIT Federal Credit Union, which requires "years at this job," and Merrill Lynch, which requests both "number of years with company" and "number of years with previous company." I just figured from this, in addition to my conversation with my local (not MIT) credit union, that some employment history was required. My local credit union even said they'd like to see my tax returns to prove income.

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For the MITFCU, pick up the phone! Credit unions are generally very good-natured about letting you in on their secrets, meaning that they're not secrets.
Probably need to have a decent track record for Merrill Lynch, though.

This particular item is highly variable, so I don't think that anyone can necessarily project from their own experience with their own CU to all CU's. I'd go with just asking them what they're looking for. If you're really worried, print out your most recent myFICO EQ report (both score and reports) and show them to the loan officer. They won't approve on that basis, but you ought to be able to get a general thumbs-up/ thumbs-down.