How to hire a commercial collector

How to hire a commercial collector, step by step

Here's a step-by-step commercial collector hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a commercial collector job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new commercial collector
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a commercial collector, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A commercial collector's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, commercial collectors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of commercial collector salaries for various roles:

   Type of Commercial Collector	Description	Hourly rate
   Commercial Collector	Bill and account collectors, sometimes called collectors, try to recover payment on overdue bills. They negotiate repayment plans with debtors and help them find solutions to make paying their overdue bills easier.	$13-20
   Account Representative	Account representatives are employees who manage client accounts and act as the main contact of the clients they are handling. They maintain existing accounts by updating client details regularly... Show more	$12-24
   Accounts Receivable Analyst	An Accounts Receivable Analyst provides accounts receivable support through monitoring all aspects of the collection of outstanding debts owed to a company. They check missing and unresolved payment issues, monitor overdue accounts, and prepare statements for managers.	$15-27

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Delinquent Accounts
   • Customer Service
   • FDCPA
   • Past Due Accounts
   • Collection Calls
   • Payment Arrangements
   • Credit Reports
   • Customer Accounts
   • Credit Card Payments
   • Outbound Calls
   • Insurance Carriers
   • Inbound Calls
   • Account Balances
   • Epic

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Interpret manage care contracts and/or Medicare and Medicaid rules and regulations to ensure proper reimbursement/collection.
   • Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
   • Follow the guidelines set by FDCPA
   • Adhere to FDCPA, state, and federal commercial laws.
   • Escalate issues with internal business partners for quick resolution to ensure customer satisfaction to maintain health of portfolio against assign metrics.
   • Collect and record deposits and initiate and/or approve ACH distributions.

   More commercial collector duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your commercial collector job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A commercial collector salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, commercial collectors' average salary in west virginia is 40% less than in connecticut.
   • Seniority. Entry-level commercial collectors earn 33% less than senior-level commercial collectors.
   • Certifications. A commercial collector with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a commercial collector's salary.

   Average commercial collector salary

   $36,230yearly

   $17.42 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level commercial collector salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average commercial collector salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Connecticut	$50,420	$24
   2	California	$40,597	$20
   3	Oregon	$39,768	$19
   4	Colorado	$37,462	$18
   5	Arizona	$36,486	$18
   6	Wisconsin	$36,412	$18
   7	Illinois	$36,358	$17
   8	North Carolina	$35,135	$17
   9	Nevada	$35,125	$17
   10	Florida	$34,631	$17
   11	Texas	$34,415	$17
   12	Pennsylvania	$34,181	$16
   13	Ohio	$31,678	$15
   14	West Virginia	$30,054	$14

   Average commercial collector salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Capgemini	$43,933	$21.12
   2	National Service Bureau, Inc.	$37,208	$17.89	4
   3	The PNC Financial Services Group	$36,502	$17.55	19
   4	Robert Half	$35,863	$17.24	133
   5	Brown & Joseph	$35,819	$17.22
   6	Randstad North America, Inc.	$35,750	$17.19	7
   7	Graebel Vanlines Holdings LLC	$35,562	$17.10
   8	Adecco	$35,226	$16.94	20
   9	The Peoples Bank	$34,750	$16.71	8

4. Writing a commercial collector job description

   A good commercial collector job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a commercial collector job description:

   Commercial collector job description example

   One of the fastest growing Commercial Collection Agencies in the United States, headquartered in Itasca, IL seeks self-motivated, effective telephone communicators with above average computer skills, and has mastered the art of collections and negotiations. We are looking for a seasoned collector with 5-10 years of collection experience.

   The ideal candidate should also possess the skills, competencies, and abilities listed below in order to successfully perform the job and to be considered for the position:

   Qualifications:

   • Previous experience in credit & collections, billing or other related fields
   • Ability to build rapport with clients
   • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
   • Ability to prioritize and multitask
   • Aptitude for technology
   • Skilled in negotiations
   • Strong interpersonal skills

   Duties:

   • Contacting businesses informing them they have a delinquent account that needs to be paid
   • Resolve disputes, create urgency, and negotiate the best possible payment arrangement if the business cannot pay their balance in full.
   • The negotiation process involves reviewing the account information in the collection software system and asking questions of the debtors in order to better understand perceived obstacles to payment.
   • Maintaining call quality and productivity measurements.
   • Maintaining a positive, problem-solving approach and positive relationships within a team environment.
   • Performing other duties as requested, directed, or assigned.

   Skills & Requirement:

   The candidate must be highly motivated, competitive and focused as well as commission driven. You must also be energetic, assertive, charismatic, and able to easily handle rejection.

   • Salary based on experience.

   • Commissions: There is NO CAP on how much commissions you can earn. All based on your desire to make money and ability to negotiate and collect.
   • Minimal cost to employee for employee health care contribution available
   • Paid time off and 401(k) options.

   Brown & Joseph is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

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5. Post your job

   To find commercial collectors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any commercial collectors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level commercial collectors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your commercial collector job on Zippia to find and attract quality commercial collector candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit commercial collectors, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new commercial collector

   Once you've found the commercial collector candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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