White Collar Jobs

How To Get A Job As A Bill And Accounts Collector

There is a rapidly growing demand for skilled, educated Bill And Accounts Collectors.  In order to succeed in this profession, you must have good communication skills, be mature, polite, patient, calm, persistent, persuasive, and able to work well under stress.  You must have good computer skills, and be comfortable dealing with individuals in all walks of life, whether pleasant or not.

Bill and Accounts Collectors work in large collection agencies as well as directly for doctors, hospitals, retail establishments, financial agencies, and other businesses.  They may be employed by any interest that loans money, or sells goods or services.

If you get a job as a Bill and Accounts Collector, you will usually work a forty hour week.  You may need to work split shifts, including evenings as well as weekends.  Collectors work in offices and out in the public.  Some Collectors work part time.  Bill and Accounts Collectors use phones, with automatic dialing, headphones and computers in the course of their work.  They may contact debtors by phone or, occasionally, by letter.

The duties of Bill and Accounts Collectors may vary slightly depending on their place of employment.  They do, however, remain generally the same.  Collectors first must locate the debtor, verify their own and the debtors identification, and then let the debtor know what is owing, and request payment.  They may review the terms of the debt involved.  In some instances, Bill and Accounts Collectors may suggest payment plans, debt councilors, or alternatives such as debt consolidation.  If an agreement is reached and the Collector receives a promise to pay, they make a record of this, and, in a timely manner, check to see if payment was made.

Sometimes a debtor cannot be located.  They may have, accidentally or intentionally, failed to give a forwarding address.  In this case the Collector will search postal or phone records, search out old neighbors or friends of the debtor, or use computer search programs, anything it takes, until the debtor is found.  They then follow the above procedure.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Normally, if no response is received after payment has been promised, this is recorded, and the Collector will have various options.  In the case of goods, repossession proceedings my be initiate.  In the case of services, these may be discontinued.  An attorney may need to be called in to take further action.  In all their dealings, Bill and Accounts Collectors must act according to laws mandated by both state and federal agencies, regarding debt collection practices.

If you become a Bill and Accounts Collector, you will be required to meet a quota of successful collections.  This may prove stressful.

Education

To get a job as a Bill and Accounts Collector you must have at least a high school diploma.  Take courses in English and Computers, as well as others such as history, mathematics, and science,  to give you a nicely rounded education, and enable you to enter college if you wish.

Although a high school diploma may be adequate, employers in this field, as in others, prefer at least some college education, preferably an associate or bachelor’s degree.

The company with employs you will provide additional on-the-job training.  This training will cover legal issues involved in collections, customer service and negotiation skills, computer programs, and company policies and procedures.

With education and experience, you will be assigned larger accounts with greater financial rewards.  You may also advance to positions in supervision or management.