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The differences between senior collection specialists and collectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a senior collection specialist and a collector. Additionally, a senior collection specialist has an average salary of $45,150, which is higher than the $34,872 average annual salary of a collector.
The top three skills for a senior collection specialist include portfolio, customer service and past due accounts. The most important skills for a collector are patients, customer service, and payment arrangements.
| Senior Collection Specialist | Collector | |
| Yearly salary | $45,150 | $34,872 |
| Hourly rate | $21.71 | $16.77 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 31,192 | 23,948 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Senior collection specialists lead others by distributing and balancing workload, providing on-the-job training, and demonstrating proper work methods to employees. The specialists determine the most effective and economical means of collecting for each account, compose correspondence requiring knowledge procedure and practices in the collection, and apply standard due diligence practice to collect monies owed. They should have work leadership, know how to gather data, and analyze financial information for decision-making purposes. Also, they apply payments received to proper accounts and make necessary adjustments or corrections.
Collectors are responsible for monitoring and providing immediate actions for client accounts with overdue payments. Collectors must be able to contact clients through phone or e-mail. A collector's duty also includes negotiating on payment procedures and offering repayment plans and alternative payment solutions to free the debt. Collectors need to document any agreements made to the client, updating and verifying contact information, resolving account discrepancies and client complaints, and report escalated concerns to the management.
Senior collection specialists and collectors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Collection Specialist | Collector | |
| Average salary | $45,150 | $34,872 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $61,000 | Between $27,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hartford, CT | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Alaska |
| Best paying company | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Uline |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior collection specialist and a collector in terms of educational background:
| Senior Collection Specialist | Collector | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between senior collection specialists' and collectors' demographics:
| Senior Collection Specialist | Collector | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 3.5% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |