jobfacts

Collector salespersons and credit agents

SOC 2020 7121

Collector salespersons and credit agents visit private households to obtain orders and collect payments for goods and services.

Also calledTallymanRepresentativeAgentDistrict agentCollector-agentSalesmanand 41 more titles
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month447↑ 9.4%on last year · 274th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
Typical pay by regionUK median —
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
Show as table
UK median, —
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 447 jobs for collector salespersons and credit agents are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026492
Jul 2026394
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026382
Apr 2026481
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026419
Jan 2026501
Dec 2025276
Nov 2025448
Oct 2025520
Sept 2025561
Aug 2025536
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 2025546
Apr 2025410
Mar 2025391
Feb 2025480
Jan 2025387
Dec 2024211
Nov 2024326
Oct 2024423
Sept 2024411
Aug 2024373
Jul 2024467
Jun 2024360
May 2024549
Apr 2024726
Mar 2024528
Feb 2024492
Jan 2024817
Dec 2023168
Nov 2023696
Oct 2023521
Sept 2023370
Aug 2023252
Jul 2023344
Jun 2023607
May 2023368
Apr 2023331
Mar 2023312
Feb 2023560
Jan 2023710
Dec 2022394
Nov 2022513
Oct 2022584
Sept 2022648
Aug 2022456
Jul 2022658
Jun 2022866
May 2022549
Apr 2022923
Mar 2022527
Feb 2022784
Jan 2022676
Dec 2021617
Nov 2021620
Oct 2021783
Sept 2021362
Aug 2021533
Jul 2021697
Jun 2021435
May 2021391
Apr 2021284
Mar 2021428
Feb 2021179
Jan 2021219
Dec 2020267
Nov 2020373
Oct 2020482
Sept 2020420
Aug 2020387
Jul 2020306
Jun 2020324
May 2020182
Apr 2020296
Mar 2020676
Feb 2020541
Jan 2020530
Dec 2019312
Nov 2019476
Oct 2019530
Sept 2019541
Aug 2019677
Jul 2019533
Jun 2019833
May 2019686
Apr 2019695
Mar 2019743
Feb 2019574
Jan 2019694
Dec 2018412
Nov 2018532
Oct 2018540
Sept 2018654
Aug 2018527
Jul 2018617
Jun 2018791
May 2018464
Apr 2018725
Mar 2018930
Feb 2018875
Jan 20181,172
Dec 2017722
Nov 2017890
Oct 20171,218
Sept 2017587
Aug 2017634
Jul 2017778
Jun 20171,148
May 20171,120
Apr 2017635
Mar 2017774
Feb 2017661
Jan 2017826
Is there a shortage of collector salespersons and credit agents?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertainty in change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
17%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for sales related occupations, which includes collector salespersons and credit agents. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London201
Birmingham43
Glasgow City27
Manchester22
West Northamptonshire19
Bristol, City of18
Somerset18
Milton Keynes17
Leeds16
Leicester14
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where collector salespersons and credit agents are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
WomenToo few in the survey to give a reliable figure
Age of collector salespersons and credit agents
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p
n/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–34Not published
35–44Not published
45–54Not published
55–64Not published
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!–
Not published
Higher education below degree–
Not published
GCSEs or equivalent!–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalentNot published
Higher education below degreeNot published
GCSEs or equivalentNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: activities of insurance agents and brokers (—), non-life insurance (—).

How to get in

Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • calls on household, explains purpose of call and displays or describes goods/services on offer
  • emphasises main selling point of goods/services to stimulate customer interest
  • quotes prices and terms, collects any payments and completes hire purchase or credit arrangements
  • distributes advertising literature and sample goods
  • makes follow-up calls to obtain further orders

Skills

  • achieve sales targets
  • adapt to different weather conditions
  • apply health and safety standards
  • assist customers
  • carry out active selling
  • demonstrate products' features
  • ensure customer focus
  • guarantee customer satisfaction
  • identify customer's needs
  • implement customer follow-up
  • negotiate price
  • plan customers' sales visits
  • prepare presentation material
  • prospect new customers

Knowledge

  • product comprehension
  • sales argumentation
  • sales strategies
  • consumer protection
  • credit card payments

Suits people who like

  • Leading and persuading
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for sales occupations, a group of 13 jobs that includes collector salespersons and credit agents.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 12%about 255,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035671,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.