Recovery Officer Interview Preparation Guide

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The correct answer is “yes”. You want to show off your confidence. However, you should never give a one-word answer in an interview, so you’ll want to follow up with a specific reason that you consider yourself successful. For example, you might say that you have set goals and achieved them. You should also note that you don’t feel that you’ve reached your pinnacle of success and explain why this new position will take you one step closer.

The work is fascinating as it offers so many challenges. There is very little boredom, as every day is always a new one!

Bill collectors can

☛ Make atleast three or more contacts per week by phone or letter
☛ In one month can make more than 10 contact by any other mean like e-mail
☛ Make a face to face contact more than once a fortnight

The most important thing to remember here is to stay positive. You don’t want to gripe and complain about your past boss, even if she was a devil. You want to be very brief in describing the challenge and then expand on that by focusing on what you did to overcome the challenge. If the end result was a positive one, then be sure to highlight that, emphasizing the part you played in coming to that end.

Nearly every interview that you go to will kick off with this basic question. You want to keep your answer concise but information-packed. Briefly explain your educational and employment experience with one or two sentences. (After all, the employer can already see that in your resume.) Follow up with additional information about what you are passionate about (relevant to the job) so that you impress the employer immediately with your enthusiasm. Keep all irrelevant personal information out of your answer.

Pressure is actually a catalyst to my work. When there is an imperative deadline, I refocus my energy into my work which in fact, has helped me to produce some of my best works. (Give examples) I guess you can say I thrive under pressure.

Responsibility of bill collector includes

☛ Identifying customers with back due accounts and notifying them by email or telephone
☛ Negotiating repayment plans, maintaining electronic account and collection records
☛ Referring customers to referrals to professional debt counselors
☛ Forwarding statement of customers to legal bodies to take actions

Employers are fully aware of the fact that it’s tough to find a job right now so they’re not looking for an excuse about the employment gap . What they want to know is how you’ve been filling your time while you’ve been unemployed. Provide a thorough answer that explains what you’ve done and why it would benefit the employer. For example, if you took time off of work to stay at home with the kids, then focus on the fact that the skills required to manage a household will translate nicely to managing employees in your new position.

Bad debt occurs when customer ignores small things like

☛ Checking of a business and background of the client before offering credit
☛ Setting safe customer credit limits
☛ Release good only once the payment is cleared
☛ Before shipping any goods wait for direct deposit payment to clear
☛ As soon as a job is done send invoice to the responsible party
☛ Give all information on your invoice about the mode of payment
☛ Stay in regular touch with your client
☛ For early payment of bills offer a small percentage discount

This is a tough one, just don’t answer “I work too hard or Care too Much.” Again this is a time to show that you know what some of your shortcomings are, and that you can provide some evidence to show how you overcome those shortcomings. For instance if you say that are too task focused, be sure to document how you are able to be more visionary by spending some time each week brainstorming future direction. It’s just an example and this is really going to be tailored to you but be ready for it and practice with someone else.

Contact customer and remind about their payment politely
Contact with an overdue payment reminder
If the customer still fails to pay the payment as per the terms of the payment, send them a final notice
Even after sending final notice if still there is no response from customer, try to make direct contact and ask for payment again
After failing all options, if the customer still resent from payment then send a formal letter of demand. This could be the last option as it may spoil your relationship with the customer.

You want to make sure that you know in advance what type of position the company is hiring for and answer the question in line with that. For example, if it is a temporary position, then note that you are aware that it is a temporary position and that you would stay through the end of your contract with the possibility of being open to further employment — if it is offered. In general, you want to show that you’re not going to just jump at the next big chance, leaving this company in the lurch, so use this question to explain your commitment and loyalty to the projects that you take on.

☛ By direct communication with the debtor
☛ Filing a lawsuit against the debtor
☛ By taking custody of the property or selling customer property
☛ By hiring debt collection service

Bill collectors can do following things

☛ Using obscene or abusive language
☛ Harassing customers with repeated calls
☛ Calling before 8 am onwards or after 9 p.m.
☛ Giving wrong amount of your debt
☛ Calling at office hours even if you asked not to call
☛ Sharing your debt information to others
☛ Falsely claiming himself as law enforcement official or credit bureau representative
☛ Threatening unnecessarily to sue you or seize property unless they actually plan to execute it

Count on this question and have your honest answer ready. If you were fired or laid off you can merely say that the job was not a good fit for me and I’ve moved on. This is not an opportunity to defame your previous employer or manager, this is an opportunity to show your potential company that you are passionate about their position and the promise their company represents.

Replace the 5 with a variable number of years but the key is that you are thinking about your future. This is not the time to say retired! A more ideal answer would be an advanced role that would still fit within this particular employer. Don’t be afraid to say that you would like to be management or move up, but your answer needs to be tempered so that it doesn’t appear that you want this position just so you can drive your way to some other part of the company. Absolutely you need to get your foot in the door, but don’t highlight the fact that you are considering this position just so you can find something better in the same company.

There are several different things that an employer may be trying to get at when asking this question. Address them all in your answer, and you’ll have a successful interview. Those things include:
☛ What do you actually know about our company?
☛ What skills do you bring to the company?
☛ Why are you even looking for a job in the first place?
☛ Why are you looking at getting a job that is below the status / pay of a previous job you’ve held?


Answer this common interview question by doing your research about the company and position before the interview and choosing a fact about the company that really interests you. Highlight this fact in the interview as a reason you want to work with the company, and then explain concisely how your skills dovetail with this.
If you are applying for jobs below your previous title, briefly explain that you realize that you may look overqualified for the position, but that you’re excited about the opportunity to learn some new skills from your younger co-workers while serving as a mentor as appropriate in specific situations. You may also want to mention that you appreciate that you won’t be the leader in this new position, and that you have appropriate respect for your boss (even if he is younger or less experienced than you are).

There is a subtle balance to be achieved when answering this question. You want to show that you can indeed be a great team member, collaborating with others and working together to produce a great end result. However, you also want to emphasize that you value the opportunity to share your own input and also that you have the ability to take instruction and run with it without having your hand held.
In order to achieve this subtle balance, you should answer that you do enjoy working as part of a team, but also that you aren’t afraid of taking on individual tasks, either. You should then provide two examples from your past; one that shows true collaboration and one that shows an ability to work independently in a manner that is an asset to the company.
A final note is that there are often gender stereotypes at play here that you should be aware of. Women are often seen as collaborative but unable to take initiative, so females should emphasize the portion of the answer that shows off their ability to take the lead on projects. On the other hand, men are sometimes seen as aggressive and unable to cooperate and take the lead from others, so their examples should emphasize their experience with collaboration.

I have over 6 years of experience working as a debt collector. In addition to experience, I am well-versed in strategizing ways to connect with debtors and solicit payment. The last 4 years that I have worked as a debt collector, I have been successful in closing all accounts assigned to me. I’m quite sure that I will be a great addition to your organization.

Whether or not you get a similar type of question this is a great theme to think about before your interview. Think back through your career or education or any prior experience and think of a situation where you presented with a very difficult situation and how you either overcame the situation or didn’t. Remember you don’t always have to win, but you need to demonstrate that you can learn from these types of situations. This is not a one sentence answer, the interviewer is looking for you to demonstrate that you have problem solving skills to work through a situation or that you can handled some ambiguity.

Things to be considered before filing a lawsuit is

☛ Is yours claim large enough to sue, as most attorneys in U.S will not file a lawsuit under $1000 and even $2000
☛ Is debtor active in business or job
☛ Find the correct address where you can send a legal notice to the debtor
☛ Check whether debtor holds up enough cash or property to pay the debts
☛ Some debtors won’t pay you unless legal action is not held, so hire an attorney who has experience in such cases
☛ If the client has the upper hand then always go for a settlement, as they have rights to counter claim against you for damages
☛ Can you provide enough proof or documentation that substantiate the debt
☛ Will you be able to present a witness if needed
☛ Does the cost include the warrant filing a lawsuit

The interviewer wants to know how you are going to work with them and their style. There isn’t a specific right answer here because there are definitely supervisors or managers that are very difficult to work with again the interviewer is looking for how you as the interviewee would fit in the team.

Creating lists of delinquent accounts and sorting them to prioritize clients, contacting debtors through telephone, email and in person to solicit payments from them, sending out reminders, and ensuring that all payments are properly logged so that accounts can be closed out, are some of the main duties I expect to be performing as a debt collector.

I have always felt that my follow-up skills are excellent. This coupled with an inherent interest to do something challenging on a daily basis is what made me pick up this work, and make a career out of it!

Customers usually have excuses like

☛ Cheque is in post: Ask him to send a copy of cheque through mail and inquire about the cheque number, date and what name the cheque is issued. If they are telling you the truth then, it will provide you all the facts you asked for and if not then probably they are lying
☛ Not received any statement, notice or any invoice: It is the most common excuse you will face. Ask them to give their address and make a request to pay the debt on that day itself.
☛ Account department operates only at 9am to 12pm one day a week: In such cases, think about the company size, is it really big to have an accounting department. And if yes, try to contact the director or partner of the company they can process your payment.
☛ Debtor is never available: Try to get personal contact number through which you can reach the debtor if that is not working send a warning letter about the payment to the debtor’s address, and they should call you back.
☛ Cash flow problem: If the client is really facing cash-flow problem ask him to pay the amount in small installment, if he is still resentful about paying the debt than refer them to a debt counsellor. If the problem is temporary then give him some time to overcome his problem but time should not exceed to a longer duration.
☛ Signatory is passed away: Nothing much can be done in such cases, unless you have a proper legal paperwork that states the third party name for the payment if anything goes wrong with the main party.
☛ Account is already been paid: If the debtor gives such excuses then try retrieve all the information like which bank account, date and day of the payment deposited, request to mail a copy of deposit slip, etc. If he stammers anywhere while giving information, then get alert it’s a red flag.
☛ Too busy: Show appreciation to debtor that keeps him busy, and politely ask them to settle the payment without any delaying as it is the best interest for him.