career in credit

In my years in credit management I have only met two people who found out that they could have a career path in credit; the majority of us just arrived there. I am hopeful that with the greater focus on apprenticeships and education more people will be able to obtain enough information and make an informed decision and choose credit management as their career.

However, I like many others just fell into this career and along the ways have experienced highs & lows, one of the lows (almost literally) was when I went to see a customer and in the basement of the offices (by offices I mean a small country mansion) they had a swimming pool and for some reason the MD decided that I had to have a tour of the offices including the basement as they were the customer I felt obliged to fall in (now there’s a pun) with the idea, high heels and damp tiles are not a good combination I slipped …………………but I did not fall in I was caught in one easy seamless movement by the MD. he was more embarrassed than I was, after I had recovered my dignity I found it funny  and what is more afterwards when we all sat down to discuss the issues I found far easier to extract payment from them

Returning to the first paragraph and on a more serious note if anyone is considering a career in credit it is worth checking out the CICM web site:

Level 2 – Credit Controller and Debt Collection Specialist

Extract from: http://www.cicm.com/cicm-apprenticeships-level2/

Overview
This specialist apprenticeship is the new Standard for credit controllers and collectors.  Developed as part of the Trailblazer Apprenticeship initiative by senior credit managers and collections specialists, with the support of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), the Apprenticeship Standard is based on current job descriptions and covers essential knowledge, skills and behaviours.

This programme aims to develop the knowledge and skills required to be a qualified Credit Controller/Collector.  At the end of the course, apprentices have the opportunity to  achieve highly respected professional qualifications in addition to the Level 2 Apprenticeship

A few days ago I wrote about the advantages of a qualification in credit management and gave details of different ways to start the ball rolling, I have been teaching for many years and some of the recruitment agencies know this and in the last week I have been phoned three times asking if I knew of anyone who could fill a role that had become available, they were for 3 different roles, they were looking for CICM part qualified / qualified – so the morale of the story is ‘Look after your Education and your career may begin to look after itself!  In the words of Mahatma Gandhi

“The future depends on what you do today.”

It is a well known fact in the world of credit control / management that people just ‘fall into’ a career in credit.  As a tutor in all things credit management (slight exaggeration!) after the June exams and before the start of the September sessions I take the time to clear out old teaching files (both paper and on my computer). I do ti for a variety of reasons:

1. Partly to clear space
2. To review teaching keeping material that I thought was good / helpful at the time but things may have changed e.g.
   • Money Laundering laws
   • the introduction of GDPR in May 2018
   • Consumer Rights Act 2015

Point 2 leads me stress the ever increasing importance of staying up to date in knowledge and the way we approach our roles – what was good least week / month / year may not be good today.

With that in mind the key to date is Education it comes in many guises:

• Up to date reading (The CICM magazine is a good place to start!
• For credit managers encourage your team to follow one of the CICM’s many education streams: http://qualifications.cicm.com/
• For those involved in credit the above web site will also help
• There are new classes starting in September click on ‘Where to study’ http://qualifications.cicm.com/
• Last but not least (for today) Apprenticeships cannot go without a mention http://www.cicm.com/apprenticeships/:

Apprenticeships are not just for new employees – organisations can use them to structure and accelerate the training and development of current staff.  For example employees are eligible for funding for Level 3 Diploma in Credit Management programmes, thus providing a funded fast-track pathway to professional accreditation.

CICM currently offer five apprenticeships for the Credit Management profession.

Click for further information on the Government Levy & apprenticeship funding, six reasons to train an apprentice and training an apprentice and becoming an apprentice.

For further advice on Apprenticeships E apprenticeship@cicm.com or T 01780 722 909

So if you are starting out a career in credit could be the answer! It offers a career path with qualifications, job satisfaction, a good salary structure and above all fun! The possibilities are out there, I hope to share with you some highlights of my career, some pointers to help anyone interested,