Collections Agent (Early Arrears)

This municipal accounts office in George needs a calm negotiator who can hear "no" without giving up. You don't need to be the loudest person in the room, just the one others can count on.

This post is George-based, with most of your time spent at a municipal accounts office. Weekend work is on a roster, so you won't be on every weekend.

• Answer disputes about balances, interest and fees with a printed statement.
• Dial through your arrears book on the auto-dialler and confirm the debtor's identity.
• Report daily on rands collected, contacts made and arrangements set.
• Keep calls within the National Credit Act and the Debt Collectors Act rules.
• Hand accounts over for legal action once internal steps are exhausted.
• Negotiate payment arrangements and set up DebiCheck mandates.

• Good with numbers, dates and payment calculations
• At least 6 months in collections, sales or a call centre
• Clear credit and criminal record
• Registered, or willing to register, with the Council for Debt Collectors
• Matric
• You keep your tone respectful even when the debtor is not

• Legal collections or attorney-firm background
• Knowledge of the NCA and prescription rules

• Structured weekday hours with only occasional Saturdays
• Monthly incentives for the top three collectors
• Uncapped monthly commission on collected rands

• Show your collection results as numbers (for example "collected R420 000 a month against a R350 000 target").
• Interviewers often role-play a difficult debtor; stay polite, get a date and an amount, and close the call.