How to Become a Consumer Loan Collection/Recovery Representative
Career News January 19, 2014Are you willing to talk to people and use your social and mathematical skills to help people out? Then it’s time to look into the recovery and collections field.
A consumer loan collection/recovery representative is an agent of the lending company and is put in charge of contacting borrowers. You work under a supervisor or manager’s direction and will be instructed to keep company protocol while motivating borrowers. Usually, these calls will be for overdue bills, loans and other payments. You are not merely a concerned caller but the official liaison between borrowers and the company.
What Training is Required for Employment?
Education is preferred, and you can progress to a supervisory position sooner than later if you have a college degree. However, entry-level positions in collections do go to high school applicants. Some companies may even hire you without banking experience, provided you have a skill set or at least some customer experience. A common figure is two years in some sort of communicative or sales-oriented job.
Education in finance and banking is also important, since you will be explaining and negotiating debt, credit, and accounts. Your main intent is to get the lender’s money back in whatever friendly way possible. If there is no other option, you and management must decide whether to take the borrower’s assets back. While this is a difficult assignment, the bank is forced to do this, or else the company “bleeds money”, which only hurts its employees.
What Should You Learn Before Applying
It will be up to you to impress the manager during the job interview. This requires showing your work value, and demonstrating your ability to work in this role, in addition to answering the questions put forth. Show that you understand your role, which is to collect payments, and keep an organized system of what borrowers owe. Demonstrate that you understand how to access background information, and other paperwork, since this is a major part of your job.
Show that you have a confident voice and that you are an effective speaker when discussing terms on the phone. Point to your resume and show proficiency in computers and bookkeeping. Being a good interview means being a good listener, in addition to asking questions and presenting yourself as a qualified professional. As an agent, you will be listening to a borrower’s story and must create rapport with this person. Lastly, prove that you understand the technical details of the loan process, including details such as repayment plans, terms of sale, debt counseling, and credit bureau operations. If you don’t know these things then make it a point to learn them before the interview.
This is a great career move and a stepping-stone to a managerial position that you can hold onto for the better part of your life. It’s safe work, stable, and will provide for a family. All you need is the education and drive to get started, and everything else will fall into place.
