"If you're someone who's meant to be in Credit, you'll probably love the experience," says Judy Baker, CCE, credit manager for Southwestern Pipe Inc. (Houston, Texas).
"If you're in credit but you're not meant to be, it will 'eat your lunch."
Baker is someone who was meant to be in credit and loves what she does. In addition, she takes care to make sure that the people she hires to work with her are also meant to be in credit--not just people "looking for a job."
One way she could determine which applicants will work out well would be to simply hire carbon copies of herself. However, she realizes that such a strategy would be narrow-minded and shortsighted.
So instead she has studied the traits, characteristics, and qualities of the most successful credit professionals she knows as colleagues in her credit industry group. "Networking with these people has been a very worthwhile experience for me, both in terms of the practical information I have learned and as in identifying the most important traits, characteristics, and qualities required for a successful career in credit."
Over the years, she has identified seven characteristics that are extremely important for success in credit, and she looks for these when interviewing applicants for positions in her department.
1. Flexibility. "A person who is demanding and will only accept things when they go his or her way will simply not make it in Credit," she emphasizes. "Credit professionals must be flexible and willing to change--willing to work with customers in unusual and unique circumstances." (It is the lack of this characteristic, in fact, that Baker has seen as the causative factor when employees in other companies who are new to credit get "eaten for lunch" quickly and decisively.)
2. Open-mindedness. While this is similar to flexibility, it is a bit different. Open-mindedness refers to being open to changes and open to suggestions related to individual work habits and career growth. "Adapting to changes and suggestions usually leads to professional and personal growth," she explains.
3. Negotiating ability. A person with good negotiating skills is someone who is able to relate personally to customers, listen to their situations, and arbitrate payments. While negotiating ability is a skill that can and must be learned and honed over time, the basis for the skill is the characteristic of sensitivity, according to Baker. "Every customer and situation is different, and you must be sensitive to these each and every time you're working with a customer," she notes.
4. Honesty. This involves being honest with people in your own department, employees in other departments, customers, and colleagues (credit professionals in other companies with whom you have contact). In fact, in interacting with successful credit managers from her industry group, Baker has found them to be among the most open and honest people she knows in any profession or walk of life.
5. Leadership. While the credit department is a support function for the company and exists to serve the needs of the company as a whole, credit professionals must still take a leadership role, according to Baker. "They must be able to communicate and cooperate with all types of individuals," she emphasizes.
6. Dedication, dependability, and reliability. While these are three distinctive characteristics, they all revolve around a single theme of commitment--commitment to the profession and to the company. "Credit professionals must realize that they have careers in credit, not just jobs, and they must enjoy those careers," she says. They must understand, and be willing and able to actively support, the department's and company's goals related to credit and collection. "In addition, they must be willing and able to give 100% to what they do--doing whatever it takes to complete the task."
7. Education. The credit professional is also someone who understands the importance of continuous education and is committed to the continuing education process. In fact, one of the questions Baker specifically asks job applicants relates to existing and previous continuing education involvement.
The Interview
Baker admits that it is difficult to identify all of these characteristics quickly and easily during job interviews. She must rely on educational background, employment background, reference checks, and traditional interview questions. However, to begin to get a sense of just how well an applicant might fit into the profession, she utilizes two strategies:
- She asks applicants what they expect from the company and from their jobs/careers. "I ask what they want from us, as well as where they want or plan to be a few years down the road," she says.
- Without getting too personal, she asks some general questions about applicants' personal backgrounds and interests.
"Both of these approaches tend to loosen people up, eliminate the nervousness that goes with being interviewed, and emphasize that I'm interested in them," she explains. "All of this works together to get them to open up and talk about themselves."
It is then that Baker is able to gather the insights she needs into how many of the characteristics the applicants possess.
Editor's Note: The above article originally appeared in the Credit & Collection Manager's Letter, a newsletter purchased by Credit Today in 2006.
