Collection specialists are part of the mechanism that safeguards a company’s financial health and help to ensure that they get all the money that is owed to them. They do a very necessary job and require very particular skills to get it done. For one, this job requires excellent interpersonal skills, as talking to individuals and companies about this sensitive subject is at the heart of the job. Beyond that, one must be very knowledgeable about the strict guidelines and laws around the debt collection process.
There are just over 100 thousand collection specialists in America, with just under 70% being women. Over 70% of collection specialists have further degrees, but about 24% only have high school diplomas, so the barriers to entry are not significantly high; at least as it pertains to education. What recruiters will be looking to see in your resume is your understanding of regulation, your ability to use relevant tools, and your experience that shows your abilities and achievements in the field.
This guide will show you several very successful resumes that have been curated by recruiters in the field. They will be accompanied by a list of skills and a list of action verbs that you can use to elevate your resume and some tips to give you a winning edge.
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A collections specialist works to ensure that a company’s clients settle any outstanding payments. To do this you will need to keep a close eye on all payments owed and work with debt collectors or other debt collection mechanisms within and outside the company to ensure that the company gets the money they are owed. Experience in this industry is highly preferred, as is expertise in all related laws and procedures on billing, debt collection, etc.
It’s one thing to say you are a successful debt collector and it's another thing to have the metrics to back it up. Metrics make your resume easier and more impressive to read. For example, this applicant states that their previous work helped boost the company’s settlements by 70%. This is highly impressive.
Show recruiters that you are a hardworking and successful employee by showing an upwards trajectory of your career. It will also show recruiters your dedication to your profession. This applicant started as a debt collector and moved their way up to a collection specialist position.
As the name suggests, these professionals take charge of making sure the company gets the money owed to them. Tasks under your purview include identifying debts owed, creating a debt collection strategy, developing and offering repayment plans where needed, etc. Your resume needs to show a strong background in debt collection and billing, and you need to have strong communication skills to thrive.
For some employers, getting debt collector certification is mandatory to qualify for this job so do your research and ensure you have the relevant certifications. Ensure that the certifications you get are used in the state or country in which you are applying for your job.
Starting your resume with your strongest achievements is a great way to impress recruiters from the beginning. It will make them look more favorably on the rest of your resume.
Collection agents interact directly with clients who owe money and use whatever means necessary to retrieve money owed to the company. Some of these means may include developing and agreeing to a repayment plan, involving debt collectors to recover assets to cover the debts, negotiating settlements, etc.
This position strongly requires excellent interpersonal skills as well as knowledge and compliance with all relevant debt collection laws and regulations.
Recruiters love accomplishments that actually impacted the company’s bottom line directly. This is especially true for this position as your whole job revolves around you collecting money owed to them.
Showing an upward career progression is always impressive to recruiters. It shows them that you are an excellent employee and that your previous employers entrusted you with more responsibility and a higher position.
We spoke with hiring managers at top collections agencies like Allied International Credit, Aspen National Collections, and Rocket Receivables. They shared insider tips on what they look for in standout Collections Specialist resumes. Here are their top recommendations to help your resume rise to the top of the stack and land more interviews.
The best way to catch a hiring manager's eye is by showing the impact you made in past roles through concrete numbers.
Don't just say you 'exceeded collections targets.' Instead, quantify your achievements like in these examples:
A resume summary for a Collections Specialist is optional, but it can be a valuable addition if you have extensive experience in the field or are making a career change. It provides a quick overview of your most relevant qualifications and helps to contextualize your experience for the hiring manager. However, avoid using an objective statement, as it is outdated and focuses on what you want rather than what you can offer the employer.
When crafting your summary, focus on your specific experience in collections, highlighting your key achievements and the skills that make you an effective Collections Specialist. Be concise and objective, using metrics where possible to quantify your success. While it's good to include relevant keywords, keep your summary to a maximum of one paragraph and avoid overused buzzwords or soft skills.
The work experience section is the heart of your collections specialist resume. It's where you show hiring managers how you've applied your skills to make an impact in previous roles. To create a compelling work experience section, focus on highlighting your achievements and the value you've brought to past employers.
Action verbs shape the language of your resume and can help your achievements and successes shine. For this position, your action verbs need to illustrate your abilities in both aspects of your job, namely the financial analysis and accounting aspect, and the debt collection aspect.
For the accounting side, action verbs like ‘accounted’, ‘identified’, and ‘calculated’ would be useful. For the debt collection side, action verbs like ‘collected’ and ‘recovered’ would be effective. We have compiled a list of strong action verbs for you. Use the ones that best shape your experience.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
The skills section is often not given the attention and importance that it deserves. This section should serve as a summary of your abilities and qualifications. Having the right skills listed will not only help impress recruiters but might also help you bypass the ATS filters that most recruiters put in place. For this position, you need to show that you can use the financial tools and debt collection tools needed for your job. You will also need to show that you are experienced in the different areas of finance that relate to debt collection, such as accounting, and financial analysis.
We have compiled a list of skills that recruiters would want to see on your resume. Add those that you feel are most aligned with your skill set.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Collections Specialist job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
