I'm your friendly neighborhood bill collector.
Started working part time while going to college. Mom and Dad were paying for school and this was a job to get office experience. Started making $3.75 an hour as a collector + bonus when I was around 22 or so and a sophmore at Canisius College.
Well, by the time I was a senior I was making more money than my dad, who was a high school teacher with 30+ years experience. I had all the beer money in the world and was driving a new IROC Z-28 Camaro.
Got into management when I graduated, then eventually left my original employer after burning out doing 80 hours a week (they drove their managers like nothing else I've seen). But, the experience I gained there was immeasureable.
Got my Masters Degree while floating around as a collector so I could do the school stuff, then got into the Sales and Marketing end, selling the collection agency services to various banks and other lenders. I couldn't believe what a great job that was, as within the first month of taking the job, here it was a weekday afternoon and I had a gold club in one hand, a beer in the other hand, and had a client meeting on the golf course. Are you kidding me? This is a job? So, for almost 10 years I got paid to take people to lunch, dinner, golfing, fishing, strip clubs, etc. Wow, I couldn't believe it.
I started with the firm when there was 13 people and we grew it to over 800 in those 10 years. Well, the owner sold the place for $48 Million. I realized building a collection agency wasn't rocket science, so I told him I would stay on for 1 year after the sale to help with the transition but after that I was done and was going out on my own.
1 year and 1 day after the sale I left. I sat on the sidelines for 6 months then started my own place. Now, I do anywhere from 30 hrs a week to 90 hours, depending on whats going on. When I started the place it was 90 hours a week no matter what, but now that we're established its more around 50 - 60 hours a week. I'm getting on the road a lot more now and getting back to sales, as I've finally got a staff around me that I'm comfortable with. Now, it's grow, grow grow and let the $$$ fall in.
Still got loans to pay-off from starting the place, but we're doing better than we ever have and are up to almost 60 employees. Plan to get to 100 by the end of the year, then have another few years of growth and get the place to around 400 or so people, at which time I should be making a great buck, all the while having the employees in place to handle 99% of the work for me.
Still have a lot of hard work to get there, but I can see it now. It's taken an awful, awful lot out of me to get here, but in the end it's going to be worth it when the final cash out comes.
From there, who knows. I'm not the type to be able to retire, that's for certain. I will most likely work til I die, but work doesn't have to mean 80 hours a week - it can mean 30 hours a week while spending time gardening, fishing, etc.
Started working part time while going to college. Mom and Dad were paying for school and this was a job to get office experience. Started making $3.75 an hour as a collector + bonus when I was around 22 or so and a sophmore at Canisius College.
Well, by the time I was a senior I was making more money than my dad, who was a high school teacher with 30+ years experience. I had all the beer money in the world and was driving a new IROC Z-28 Camaro.
Got into management when I graduated, then eventually left my original employer after burning out doing 80 hours a week (they drove their managers like nothing else I've seen). But, the experience I gained there was immeasureable.
Got my Masters Degree while floating around as a collector so I could do the school stuff, then got into the Sales and Marketing end, selling the collection agency services to various banks and other lenders. I couldn't believe what a great job that was, as within the first month of taking the job, here it was a weekday afternoon and I had a gold club in one hand, a beer in the other hand, and had a client meeting on the golf course. Are you kidding me? This is a job? So, for almost 10 years I got paid to take people to lunch, dinner, golfing, fishing, strip clubs, etc. Wow, I couldn't believe it.
I started with the firm when there was 13 people and we grew it to over 800 in those 10 years. Well, the owner sold the place for $48 Million. I realized building a collection agency wasn't rocket science, so I told him I would stay on for 1 year after the sale to help with the transition but after that I was done and was going out on my own.
1 year and 1 day after the sale I left. I sat on the sidelines for 6 months then started my own place. Now, I do anywhere from 30 hrs a week to 90 hours, depending on whats going on. When I started the place it was 90 hours a week no matter what, but now that we're established its more around 50 - 60 hours a week. I'm getting on the road a lot more now and getting back to sales, as I've finally got a staff around me that I'm comfortable with. Now, it's grow, grow grow and let the $$$ fall in.
Still got loans to pay-off from starting the place, but we're doing better than we ever have and are up to almost 60 employees. Plan to get to 100 by the end of the year, then have another few years of growth and get the place to around 400 or so people, at which time I should be making a great buck, all the while having the employees in place to handle 99% of the work for me.
Still have a lot of hard work to get there, but I can see it now. It's taken an awful, awful lot out of me to get here, but in the end it's going to be worth it when the final cash out comes.
From there, who knows. I'm not the type to be able to retire, that's for certain. I will most likely work til I die, but work doesn't have to mean 80 hours a week - it can mean 30 hours a week while spending time gardening, fishing, etc.
Remember the black guys jumping over tables to protect Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
It's a lot less glamorous now than in the 60s. Much less responsibility and an extra $1 per hour working the overnight shift. The sleep schedule (or lack of one) fucks you up
I'm planning on being retired at age 30
It's a lot less glamorous now than in the 60s. Much less responsibility and an extra $1 per hour working the overnight shift. The sleep schedule (or lack of one) fucks you up
I'm planning on being retired at age 30
Now, to get with the idea of the thread, for those of you looking for jobs, think collections.
We're at a time when there are TONS of positions open for collection associates - and think about it. If you've ever been called by a collector for not paying your bill, YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE for the job.
You have to be able to deal with a ton of NO, but you have to think of our job like this ...
We are nothing more than sorters. Pile #1 are people that have the ABILITY and WILLINGNESS to payoff their accounts. Pile #2 don't. Work your ass of and go through as many accounts as you can to find as many people that go into Pile #1 that want to pay their bill. Work with them , show them how to payoff their account and get paid.
Top collectors in Buffalo make over $150,000 a year. Average collectors make around $45,000 a year here. There's a ton of money to be made if you can deal with no. You just have to realize you're not going to get paid by the Pile #2 people, and your job is to get them off the phone as quickly as possible so you can concentrate on Pile #1.
With the laws the way they are, you can't beat up people or harass them anymore. They'll just sue your employer and now when the suits are filed many times the collectors are named in the suit as well. Spend your time looking for people who have the ability and willingness to pay and you can really, really make a good buck at this job.
We're at a time when there are TONS of positions open for collection associates - and think about it. If you've ever been called by a collector for not paying your bill, YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE for the job.
You have to be able to deal with a ton of NO, but you have to think of our job like this ...
We are nothing more than sorters. Pile #1 are people that have the ABILITY and WILLINGNESS to payoff their accounts. Pile #2 don't. Work your ass of and go through as many accounts as you can to find as many people that go into Pile #1 that want to pay their bill. Work with them , show them how to payoff their account and get paid.
Top collectors in Buffalo make over $150,000 a year. Average collectors make around $45,000 a year here. There's a ton of money to be made if you can deal with no. You just have to realize you're not going to get paid by the Pile #2 people, and your job is to get them off the phone as quickly as possible so you can concentrate on Pile #1.
With the laws the way they are, you can't beat up people or harass them anymore. They'll just sue your employer and now when the suits are filed many times the collectors are named in the suit as well. Spend your time looking for people who have the ability and willingness to pay and you can really, really make a good buck at this job.
This is a meaningful thread! Unfortunately, I won't be of much help. I am an independent writer. I write poetry and am about to get started on my first piece of fiction. I write sometimes during the night or in the mornings only. The afternoons are spent revising and reading. Does this sound boring? It's fun, trust me. 
I have no clue how anybody makes a living....seriously i dont. Im a complete ignoramus when it comes to making money. Ive worked since i was 14 and have next to nothing to show for it. I passed by a "scrapbook supply" store yesterday in a $1500 a month store in a strip mall that was next to a Candle shop in the same strip. They pay rent and employees on scrapbook supplys and candles and i cant afford my house rent most months and have never been on a vacation or owned a new car in my life. At various times in the last 20 years ive had a bigger balance at sportsbooks than ive had in my checking account.
I guess im an all or nothing guy. I (think) know everything about somethings and absolutely nothing about others....and 1 of the "others" is how to accumulate wealth.
I guess im an all or nothing guy. I (think) know everything about somethings and absolutely nothing about others....and 1 of the "others" is how to accumulate wealth.
Nursing student, work part-time at a retirement home and also at a cancer hospice. The retirement home gig is pretty boring, not much to do. But the hospice is absolutely amazing. It's totally changed my life. Not sure I could work there full-time or for a long time, but it's a blessing to be there now.
I also do a bit of swing trading on the side, for beer money.
I also do a bit of swing trading on the side, for beer money.
Hello Xpanda
I am currently unemployed. I have been looking for a job for a while now.
In July my job will be to take care of my Nephew's little boy.
Michigan is a tough state right now. Not much of a chance to find a job in the same field I was in.
LOL If I still don't have a job I will see you losers at the bash.
I am currently unemployed. I have been looking for a job for a while now.
In July my job will be to take care of my Nephew's little boy.
Michigan is a tough state right now. Not much of a chance to find a job in the same field I was in.
LOL If I still don't have a job I will see you losers at the bash.
