Every semester for the past several years, I have had the privilege of being a guest presenter at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.It’s a great opportunity to interact with some wonderful students who are always eager to learn more about personal finance.

One of the topics we covered a couple of weeks ago was the importance of monitoring your credit score and checking your credit history. In fact, I used one of the questions from our Mind Your Money discussion starter to help make the point.

Q: How does a credit score impact your ability to get a job?

It’s amazing to see how starting a conversation about something as confusing as credit scores can actually yield such a positive outcome. More specifically, by bringing the issue out in the open via a conversation, it helps the students build their knowledge and confidence for present and future decision-making.

I encouraged the students to think of their credit score as their financial GPA…for life. As with so many topics related to money, once you open the window of conversation not only does it demystify the unknown, but it also helps you understand the impact of your decisions.

With more and more employers checking credit scores as part of the hiring process, it really reinforces the need to pay attention to your overall money habits and in turn your use of credit.