Should I quit camming before it ruins my future career (social work)

[MarieElise]

LOL credit background checks are not a what if. I worked full time in social services all the way through Grad school, and after.
It's hard to believe there are states which don't do credit checks.

Not trying to be rude, but that is REAL information. Not a "what if".
I understand no one who is in school and hasn't thought about this yet (?) wants to believe it. But I am giving you real information from the field. Don't be naive, I took a lot of time out to share this information. I'm no liar, and I certainly hope that isn't being implied. I'm sorry it's disappointing and a hard pill to swallow, but lets be real. I'm not about telling people what they want to hear, I'm about sharing the truth based upon real life experience.

God, I'm out. I put so much effort into this thread, and trying to share real info, and it seems like it's turned so weird. There are other young adults, other than OP who will read this info, and potentially make career changing decisions because of it. I'm being honest, for the sake of those people. I don't like the truth either. But like I said, I'm not gonna be dishonest, and naive. OK I'm out/ done. Denial's a hellofa drug, sad but true.

 

[KenzieCams]

LOL credit background checks are not a what if. I worked full time in social services all the way through Grad school, and after.
It's hard to believe there are states which don't do credit checks.

Not trying to be rude, but that is REAL information. Not a "what if".
I understand no one who is in school and hasn't thought about this yet (?) wants to believe it. But I am giving you real information from the field. Don't be naive, I took a lot of time out to share this information. I'm no liar, and I certainly hope that isn't being implied. I'm sorry it's disappointing and a hard pill to swallow, but lets be real. I'm not about telling people what they want to hear, I'm about sharing the truth based upon real life experience.

God, I'm out. I put so much effort into this thread, and trying to share real info, and it seems like it's turned so weird. There are other young adults, other than OP who will read this info, and potentially make career changing decisions because of it. I'm being honest, for the sake of those people. I don't like the truth either. But like I said, I'm not gonna be dishonest, and naive. OK I'm out/ done. Denial's a hellofa drug, sad but true.

now I feel bad. I didn't mean to upset you. I, too, was sharing truth based on experiences. We just have different ones is all. It's all subjective. What I write is just my opinion, nothing against you or your experiences. I feel like we both have valid points that need to be heard and both are important. Ultimately, this is OP's (and whoever else might be reading) decision. These are the different perspectives. It's not black and white. If it were, there wouldn't be people who DO lose their licensing due to past sex work and there also wouldn't be proud and out sex workers who are employed as therapists for other sex workers. Your perspective is important. Don't let mine get in the way of saying what you feel needs to be said. I think there is room for all opinions and thoughts here. ❤

 

[SaffronBurke]

Is tax information not confidential where you live? I can't imagine a background check that could even determine you were a cam model without access to your tax information or access to your person bank account.

Of course if your employer finds out through other means they can do whatever they want with that info

THAT is what scares me about this - the facial recognition. I'm in process of being licensed to be in the mortgage industry and part of the licensing includes a background check and fingerprinting. Luckily my credit report shows me as self employed under my LLC and shows my previous corporate job so I think I may be safe there. I hope. TBH I am not really sure what comes up on those types of background checks and/or how they can be linked to camming.

I currently work, and multiple times in the past have worked, an office job at one of the major US banks. The background check they run is just for criminal history, and they really only care about theft, embezzlement, etc. I've worked with multiple people who had drug charges on their records, including one who took the fall for an at-the-time boyfriend's meth lab in the trunk of her car. I don't know if they know about me camming or not, but they don't care. I was hired by a life insurance company with a 6-month gap on my resume, I told them I was fired for performance after getting burnt out, took a break from working while doing some freelancing, and was ready to come back to the corporate world.

 

[KenzieCams]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but credit checks don't show job histories or income sources. They show debt history. When an employer runs it, its a soft hit on your credit and doesn't show many specifics, including score which is impacted by debt-to-income ratio. Criminal background check looks for criminal history. The only place income sources are listed are on tax documents. Even then, if someone asked me to provide these documents, they'd see MFCXY or whatever vague thing listed. Sure, they could do some digging, but it's not immediately apparent what it is I do.

Unless you're a mega porn star, it seems less likely someone will just "stumble" upon it by accident, too. I do what I can to prevent that, such as not being open about it in my personal life, using a fake name, an anonymous location, and geo blocking my own state. Obviously there are factors I can't control, but even then I'm still one out of how many cam models?

Last, even if the worst should happen and someone found out...is what I'm doing or have done unethical? Maybe, if I'm moonlighting as a cam girl and working with foster kids during the day. Especially if the reason a mom can't have her child is because she was a prostitute, for example. Or maybe a male patient finds it and develops feelings and masturbates to it and brings it up in session. That's a huge issue. So it largely depends on what you plan on doing with a degree like that. If you'd like to take your experience as a sex worker and work with other sex workers to address their specific issues, then whyyyy on earth wouldn't you pursue a degree like this? You're needed.

Yes, there is stigma and yes, you will be judged harshly by some and unfairly. But at the end of the day, camming is a legal profession. Even the hypothetical prostitute who loses her kids doesn't lose them because of the sex work, which is a misdemeanor crime generally, but because of other factors such as drug abuse. Sex work of any kind should not be a crime or discriminated again. If you felt strongly about that, a degree in social work and a job in policy could help change that. Without social workers and other helper professions with special interests and experience in sex work, NO change is going to happen.

If you want the degree, get it. Don't be discouraged because of unjust discrimination. Yes, it might happen and if it does, it won't be pretty and yes its an uphill battle. But you could also be the catalyst for change, whether its policy or helping other models who are right now in this same spot wondering what they are going to do when society tells them they are too old to be sexy and cam modeling spits them out with limited jobs due to their decision to sell their nudes in the safety of their own home. Social workers deal with social issues. If this isn't a huge one, I'm not sure what is.

If you feel called to this line of work, DO IT. Because you are needed at the front line.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but credit checks don't show job histories or income sources. They show debt history. When an employer runs it, its a soft hit on your credit and doesn't show many specifics, including score which is impacted by debt-to-income ratio. Criminal background check looks for criminal history. The only place income sources are listed are on tax documents. Even then, if someone asked me to provide these documents, they'd see MFCXY or whatever vague thing listed. Sure, they could do some digging, but it's not immediately apparent what it is I do.

Some do, some don't in terms of employment history. Most times, employment history on a credit report is due to self-reporting from the individual when they apply for a credit card, or in situations where they are correcting something on their credit report (We should all be reviewing our credit reports annually).

In some cases, an individual is required to file annual financial disclosures. This is not tax records, it is a listing of assets and liabilities.

 

[JustMilfnAround]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but credit checks don't show job histories or income sources. They show debt history. When an employer runs it, its a soft hit on your credit and doesn't show many specifics, including score which is impacted by debt-to-income ratio. Criminal background check looks for criminal history. The only place income sources are listed are on tax documents. Even then, if someone asked me to provide these documents, they'd see MFCXY or whatever vague thing listed. Sure, they could do some digging, but it's not immediately apparent what it is I do.

Unless you're a mega porn star, it seems less likely someone will just "stumble" upon it by accident, too. I do what I can to prevent that, such as not being open about it in my personal life, using a fake name, an anonymous location, and geo blocking my own state. Obviously there are factors I can't control, but even then I'm still one out of how many cam models?

Last, even if the worst should happen and someone found out...is what I'm doing or have done unethical? Maybe, if I'm moonlighting as a cam girl and working with foster kids during the day. Especially if the reason a mom can't have her child is because she was a prostitute, for example. Or maybe a male patient finds it and develops feelings and masturbates to it and brings it up in session. That's a huge issue. So it largely depends on what you plan on doing with a degree like that. If you'd like to take your experience as a sex worker and work with other sex workers to address their specific issues, then whyyyy on earth wouldn't you pursue a degree like this? You're needed.

Yes, there is stigma and yes, you will be judged harshly by some and unfairly. But at the end of the day, camming is a legal profession. Even the hypothetical prostitute who loses her kids doesn't lose them because of the sex work, which is a misdemeanor crime generally, but because of other factors such as drug abuse. Sex work of any kind should not be a crime or discriminated again. If you felt strongly about that, a degree in social work and a job in policy could help change that. Without social workers and other helper professions with special interests and experience in sex work, NO change is going to happen.

If you want the degree, get it. Don't be discouraged because of unjust discrimination. Yes, it might happen and if it does, it won't be pretty and yes its an uphill battle. But you could also be the catalyst for change, whether its policy or helping other models who are right now in this same spot wondering what they are going to do when society tells them they are too old to be sexy and cam modeling spits them out with limited jobs due to their decision to sell their nudes in the safety of their own home. Social workers deal with social issues. If this isn't a huge one, I'm not sure what is.

If you feel called to this line of work, DO IT. Because you are needed at the front line.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

Credit reports can absolutely show job history. Mine does. When you apply for credit and list an employer the employer will show on your credit report. But, the only employers that show up on a credit report are the ones that you have listed on a credit application when applying for credit. And as we know, a camsite is not an employer so you have to list yourself as self employed. I have a few previous employers that do not show because I never applied for credit while I was working for them. And you are right - an inquiry from an employer is a soft hit. Your score doesn't have anything to do with your debt-to-income ratio, that doesn't factor into it. This article explains how credit scores are calculated: https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score The only place DTI (Debt-To-Income) ratio comes in is when you are applying for credit (typically a mortgage although auto lenders factor that as well).

Also - most of the time a request for tax returns by an employer is illegal. The only time they can really ask for this is if you are trying to get a very high profiler/high responsibility job like CIA, FBI agent, politician (*ahem*), high level financial, armored car driver, etc....When I was in the securities industry I did not have to provide an income tax return contingent on employment. I would think as well that the requestor can usually only get the straight form - they cannot access 1099's which is where your actual source of income is listed. (I may be wrong on this part though.) That is how my mortgage lender figured out I was a camgirl. They Googled the income source listed on the 1099 and BOOM, there it is and that was where shit got really messy.

-> Sorry - wasn't trying to hijack but I've been studying credit/mortgage law for 3 full weeks now and have learned a LOT so I wanted to share!

I absolutely LOVED the rest of your post

 

[Deleted member 37064]

The only place DTI (Debt-To-Income) ratio comes in is when you are applying for credit (typically a mortgage although auto lenders factor that as well).

Other places this can come into play is applying for revolving credit such as credit cards, store credit accounts, and also lines of credit. Additionally, if you're applying for an apartment they will look at your credit history, debts and determine if your reported income and debts will impact your ability to pay rent.

Additionally, credit scores come into play with things such as insurance rates. Seems kind of stupid, IMO. But, I kind of get it.

Also - most of the time a request for tax returns by an employer is illegal. The only time they can really ask for this is if you are trying to get a very high profiler/high responsibility job like CIA, FBI agent, politician (*ahem*), high level financial, armored car driver, etc....When I was in the securities industry I did not have to provide an income tax return contingent on employment. I would think as well that the requestor can usually only get the straight form - they cannot access 1099's which is where your actual source of income is listed. (I may be wrong on this part though.) That is how my mortgage lender figured out I was a camgirl. They Googled the income source listed on the 1099 and BOOM, there it is and that was where shit got really messy.

When you're self-employed, that falls into a different category for lending and requires different documentation to show it's a legitimate company. Whereas if you're a W-2, you really only need to provide current pay stub or similar. At least that's how I recall when I purchased my home years ago. Though, I'd say you're more knowledgeable on current practices than I am given your current studies. My house was purchased long before the debacle that led to the housing crash in 2008 or so.

As to politicians, it's not a law they release their tax records. But, since the Nixon presidency, it's been common practice for candidates to release them for transparency. Though, it is law that certain positions have to fill out financial disclosure documents. The downside is that neither show a full picture of a person's financial picture. But, the intent is to help show whether a person is more likely to be bribed due to debts or business dealings. Thus the crux of the current issue with Trump.

 

[Danigirl]

When I hired and fired people in corporate, I mostly looked at relevant work experience, explanations of gaps of employment, too many jobs with only a few months worked in each, criminal background checks, drug tests, and pulled credit reports to see if you would be a risk with a corporate credit card or any access to corporate funds. It's a way of seeing how financially responsible you would be. I still hired a few with shitty credit because they were going through divorce or showed that they were actively improving their score after being stupid with it before. We all make mistakes and mine took a hit after divorcing. The morality clauses with my work was pretty lax. The most informative info I found was on social media. I looked accounts up for every important candidate. Lock that shit up or keep it civil.

 

[KenzieCams]

Credit reports can absolutely show job history. Mine does. When you apply for credit and list an employer the employer will show on your credit report. But, the only employers that show up on a credit report are the ones that you have listed on a credit application when applying for credit. And as we know, a camsite is not an employer so you have to list yourself as self employed. I have a few previous employers that do not show because I never applied for credit while I was working for them. And you are right - an inquiry from an employer is a soft hit. Your score doesn't have anything to do with your debt-to-income ratio, that doesn't factor into it. This article explains how credit scores are calculated: https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score The only place DTI (Debt-To-Income) ratio comes in is when you are applying for credit (typically a mortgage although auto lenders factor that as well).

Also - most of the time a request for tax returns by an employer is illegal. The only time they can really ask for this is if you are trying to get a very high profiler/high responsibility job like CIA, FBI agent, politician (*ahem*), high level financial, armored car driver, etc....When I was in the securities industry I did not have to provide an income tax return contingent on employment. I would think as well that the requestor can usually only get the straight form - they cannot access 1099's which is where your actual source of income is listed. (I may be wrong on this part though.) That is how my mortgage lender figured out I was a camgirl. They Googled the income source listed on the 1099 and BOOM, there it is and that was where shit got really messy.

-> Sorry - wasn't trying to hijack but I've been studying credit/mortgage law for 3 full weeks now and have learned a LOT so I wanted to share!

I absolutely LOVED the rest of your post

Ok so I don't think I've ever put down a specific place of employment on any credit application, except my car years ago because they required paystubs, so that's why I was clueless. But you're right, if I was asked, I'd put down "self employed" and maybe I'd have to explain that. But I'd be vague.

You're right about the debt to income ratio, too. I barely have a handle on all this stuff. But my thought was, if credit checks from employers showed the score and ratio, I couldn't explain away my employment gap with "pursuing education". I'd have to bring up being self employed.

For me personally, I don't think credit checks will give me away. I would, however, be slightly embarrassed by the sheer number of credit cards I have with high limits to Ulta, Sephora, and Victoria Secret for work-related purchases.

 

[JustMilfnAround]

Ok so I don't think I've ever put down a specific place of employment on any credit application, except my car years ago because they required paystubs, so that's why I was clueless. But you're right, if I was asked, I'd put down "self employed" and maybe I'd have to explain that. But I'd be vague.

You're right about the debt to income ratio, too. I barely have a handle on all this stuff. But my thought was, if credit checks from employers showed the score and ratio, I couldn't explain away my employment gap with "pursuing education". I'd have to bring up being self employed.

For me personally, I don't think credit checks will give me away. I would, however, be slightly embarrassed by the sheer number of credit cards I have with high limits to Ulta, Sephora, and Victoria Secret for work-related purchases.

I'm happy I was able to help you with this. It took me years to understand how credit works. One of those things I think they should teach in high school - along with how taxes work and balancing a checkbook - just sayin'!

As for claiming self employed when it comes to small credit (anything but a house) I just tell them I drive affiliate traffic to websites and have a popular monetized blog. (Neither are true, but they won't dig further I've found). With YouTubers and Twitch streamers becoming more popular most places will understand this now

At least if they see your credit cards they will know you are a sexy motherfucker

 

[AudriTwo]

I live in a country where we have as TV hosts women who admitted having charged sex for money...The US is puritinical.

US's first colonies were settled by Puritans in the 16th century. We never seem to shake off that mindset.

 

[LenaSexton]

There are so many factors that determine how easy it would to be discovered, that I'm not sure anyone could give you a definitive answer. There are safeguards you can have in place to reduce the chance of it happening, but not completely eliminate the chance of that happening. I intentionally maintain a low profile with camming for that very reason.
Personally, I wouldn't apply for a government job, because I have always heard that the government does more thorough background checks. I've worked with HR directors at different places (including home health) and in my experience they main thing they are concerned with is your licensing being current and your criminal background.
I began camming out of desperation too. The company that I had worked for the semester of my graduation went belly up due to financial mismanagement by the execs. I didn't even get my final paycheck until 8 months later. I immediately experienced financial hardship.
After a few months of trying to find a job, getting unemployment and so forth, I considered camming a couple of months before my unemployment would run out. I was fortunate to find a job just as my unemployment was running out, but camming paid the rent that month.
I read up on background checks too, and for as many jobs that I applied for before my current employer nothing has ever come up about the "companies" I've "subcontracted" with if you catch my drift. I pulled my credit report earlier this year and didn't see anything that hinted this source of income either.

 

[Life_Happens]

I am a hiring manager for a large US company. Quite honestly, if you did not use your "professional" email or IRL information, then you are gold. The only way someone would find out is if they saw you on cam and recognized you in an interview. In which case, they would have to out themselves for visiting adult cam sites.
Total transparency, if I noticed you from a camming site, I would keep it to myself and let you move YOURSELF through the interview process based on your own personal experience and merits...but that's just me.
We all have lives outside of work. haha

 

[JustMilfnAround]

I am a hiring manager for a large US company. Quite honestly, if you did not use your "professional" email or IRL information, then you are gold. The only way someone would find out is if they saw you on cam and recognized you in an interview. In which case, they would have to out themselves for visiting adult cam sites.
Total transparency, if I noticed you from a camming site, I would keep it to myself and let you move YOURSELF through the interview process based on your own personal experience and merits...but that's just me.
We all have lives outside of work. haha

Are you hiring people that need fingerprint/criminal background checks and need credit reports pulled? That is where i am worried camming may somehow come up - I've deleted 90% of my accounts already.....

 

[MarieElise]

It depends on the field in which you plan to work, how extensively they go into your background. As well as this, it depends on the discretion of the individual worker, who is assigned to do your background check, how far they go into it. Some won't bother, some will call and check on everything, and follow every lead.

I have had no issues with most jobs. The fields which I am aware of, where they are known (in many states) for going very extensively into your background, are anything related to working with children, and also (for reasons which make not as much sense to me) mental healthcare. Hopefully, that will change and has changed somewhat with time.

The jobs in my state which have looked into my background the most extensively were social work, childcare, and mental healthcare (for adults only)-related. Most of the higher-paying jobs which I have had in hospitality have not done that in the slightest. Ironically, in my state, the lowest paying jobs have looked into my background to the most extreme degrees. Purely because of the fields that they were in, and just how traditionally conservative those fields have been. I have friends who work for the government in mental healthcare, as well as different friends who do IT contacting for government contracts. Both of those people have also had extensive and detailed background checks. One where they went back 15 years.

I am sharing this info for any young adults who may be considering getting into sex work, for any significant length of time, before starting their main career. But I want to highlight that I am talking about specific fields and specific States in the USA. My banking example prior, was purely hypothetical, I could have easily pulled any other field out of my imagination, to try and illustrate the point.

ETA; I have not had my credit score itself looked into for social services. However, they have looked into which companies have issued me paychecks, regularly for long periods of time, in my past. In my State that is perfectly legal for prospective employers to do, and many have, although only in the specific fields which I mentioned above.

 

[Life_Happens]

Are you hiring people that need fingerprint/criminal background checks and need credit reports pulled? That is where i am worried camming may somehow come up - I've deleted 90% of my accounts already.....

I didn't think cam sites fingerprinted models, or somehow gave them a criminal record. Yes, we pull credit reports for the higher level positions, but we really only look at the overall scores, we never dive in to see why. Personally, I think the credit report is a huge waste of time. But if we did dive in, unless you owe the site money for more than 90 days, your involvement with them wouldn't show up (I don't think - I've never seen it)

 

[CheeseMoon]

Personally, I think the credit report is a huge waste of time.

Probably in most cases, yes, but if your job involves handling money or valuable information, having 5 maxed out credit cards and a 2nd mortgage sets you up as a very soft target for bribes. You want the far end of the debt bell curve here, not the middle.

 

[JustMilfnAround]

Probably in most cases, yes, but if your job involves handling money or valuable information, having 5 maxed out credit cards and a 2nd mortgage sets you up as a very soft target for bribes. You want the far end of the debt bell curve here, not the middle.

This. I just passed the licensing test for a high level mortgage industry position so in this case a credit report is absolutely going to be pulled. I'm just not exactly sure what the background check entails (FBI level).

 

[Life_Happens]

Probably in most cases, yes, but if your job involves handling money or valuable information, having 5 maxed out credit cards and a 2nd mortgage sets you up as a very soft target for bribes. You want the far end of the debt bell curve here, not the middle.

Having a second mortgage or bad credit can also mean that your life simply took a bad turn. We understand these things and that is something that can be discussed in an interview. From a hiring manager's perspective, it wouldn't stop me from considering you as a candidate if you have the right experience. Just sayin'

 

[Danigirl]

Probably in most cases, yes, but if your job involves handling money or valuable information, having 5 maxed out credit cards and a 2nd mortgage sets you up as a very soft target for bribes. You want the far end of the debt bell curve here, not the middle.

I never took it as a bribe route, just that if you have a history of being stupid with finances, your past is most likely to repeat itself unless there's understandable reasons. I didn't want anyone's bad financial decisions to impact their potential job role in the company I worked for. I had my credit pulled when I worked a bank position. I oversaw branch balancing for a bunch of locations and they didn't want me with access to tons of cash and the accounting background to hide it mixed with terrible financial decision making history.

 

[aryanakitty]

omg bless you woman! I just literally spent hours crying and thinking about all the student loan debt I will have to have because of not being able to work as a cam model! I even took the day off work. Its great to hear from somebody who is pursuing what I want who's also a cam girl. I am a BSW student and nobody has ever found out. I always figured it wouldn't effect my line of work because I plan to work as like a hospital social worker or an agency helping the homeless. I certainly don't want to work for some privileged private practice in the suburbs. I think I am gonna keep doing it after reading your post!

Also idk if this is weird but can I ever message you? We are both following similar courses of study so I find it quite interesting.

I am also looking to go into social work or non-profits. I just started camming and I really really enjoy it, but I think my main purpose in life is to help others who are being beat down by the system. I'm not sure if I can do both at the same time but hearing you two makes me want to continue camming and following my dreams. I just hope I don't get outted :,)