What does a Credit Counselor do?

Advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. Day to day that includes work like calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations and Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.

What skills should a Credit Counselor put on a resume?

O*NET rates Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Credit Counselor list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Chat software, Cooperative Processing Resources DMS Professional Suite, CoreLogic DebtorTrace, Email software, and Freddie Mac Loan Prospector. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Credit Counselor work?

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Certified Credit Counselor, Housing Counselor, Accredited Financial Counselor, and Certified Credit and Housing Counselor. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Credit Counselor need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 40% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Credit Counselor role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Credit Counselor resume example

A resume for a Credit Counselor needs to show the work itself: advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. Day to day that means work like this: calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations; explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Certified Credit Counselor
Housing Counselor
Accredited Financial Counselor
Certified Credit and Housing Counselor
Certified Credit Consultant
Financial Health Counselor
Personal Finance Counselor
Branch Credit Counselor
Consumer Credit Counselor
Credit Balance Specialist
Credit Card Specialist
Credit Representative
Credit Review Specialist
Credit Services Specialist
Credit Specialist
Credit Support Counselor
Credit Support Specialist
Debt and Budget Counselor

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations.
Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.
Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals.
Prioritize client debt repayment to avoid dire consequences, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure or to reduce overall costs, such as by paying high-interest or short-term loans first.
Assess clients' overall financial situations by reviewing income, assets, debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information.
Recommend strategies for clients to meet their financial goals, such as borrowing money through loans or loan programs, declaring bankruptcy, making budget adjustments, or enrolling in debt management plans.
Explain general financial topics to clients, such as credit report ratings, bankruptcy laws, consumer protection laws, wage attachments, or collection actions.
Interview clients by telephone or in person to gather financial information.
Estimate time for debt repayment, given amount of debt, interest rates, and available funds.
Prepare written documents to establish contracts with or communicate financial recommendations to clients.
Maintain or update records of client account activity, including financial transactions, counseling session notes, correspondence, document images, or client inquiries.
Negotiate with creditors on behalf of clients to arrange for payment adjustments, interest rate reductions, time extensions, or payment plans.

23 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prioritize client debt repayment to avoid dire consequences, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure or to reduce overall costs, such as by paying high-interest or short-term loans first, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Chat software
Cooperative Processing Resources DMS Professional Suite
CoreLogic DebtorTrace
Email software
Freddie Mac Loan Prospector
ICCO CreditSoft
Integrant DebtLogic
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Accurint
Merlin Information Services databases
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software

23 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Financial calculators
Inkjet printers
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Laser printers
Multi-line telephone systems
Personal computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Microsoft Dynamics
Oracle PeopleSoft
SAP
Chat
Cooperative Processing Resources DMS Professional Suite
CoreLogic DebtorTrace

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Speaking
02Active Listening
03Reading Comprehension
04Critical Thinking
05Writing
06Active Learning
07Service Orientation
08Complex Problem Solving
09Judgment and Decision Making
10Persuasion

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Mathematics
Administrative
Education and Training
Economics and Accounting
Psychology

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

40%Bachelor's Degree
36%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
12%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Credit Counselor do?: Advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. Day to day that includes work like calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations and Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.
What skills should a Credit Counselor put on a resume?: O*NET rates Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Credit Counselor list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Chat software, Cooperative Processing Resources DMS Professional Suite, CoreLogic DebtorTrace, Email software, and Freddie Mac Loan Prospector. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Credit Counselor work?: O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Certified Credit Counselor, Housing Counselor, Accredited Financial Counselor, and Certified Credit and Housing Counselor. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Credit Counselor need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 40% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Credit Counselor role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.