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What is a telephone collector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a telephone collector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.22 an hour? That's $35,823 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -17,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreTelephone CollectorUS Average
Salary
2.8

Avg. Salary $35,823

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.9

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
5.8
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 3.77%

Black or African American 11.08%

Hispanic or Latino 17.20%

Unknown 4.13%

White 63.33%

Gender

female 64.65%

male 35.35%

Age - 46
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46
Stress level
7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance
7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a telephone collector

  1. Explore telephone collector education requirements

    Most common telephone collector degrees

    Bachelor's

    41.0 %

    Associate

    23.1 %

    High School Diploma

    20.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific telephone collector skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Customer Service42.61%
    Telephone Calls22.56%
    FDCPA10.10%
    Past Due Accounts9.56%
    Debtor7.61%
  3. Complete relevant telephone collector training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New telephone collectors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a telephone collector based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real telephone collector resumes.
  4. Research telephone collector duties and responsibilities

    • Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
    • Comply with all state and federal regulations (ACA & FDCPA).
    • Contact debtor's attorneys to discuss debtor's intentions throughout bankruptcy process.
    • Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
  5. Prepare your telephone collector resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your telephone collector resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a telephone collector resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable telephone collector resume templates

    Build a professional telephone collector resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your telephone collector resume.
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
    Telephone Collector Resume
  6. Apply for telephone collector jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a telephone collector job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first telephone collector job

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Average telephone collector salary

The average telephone collector salary in the United States is $35,823 per year or $17 per hour. Telephone collector salaries range between $30,000 and $41,000 per year.

Average telephone collector salary
$35,823 Yearly
$17.22 hourly

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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