Credit Management November 2022

YOUNG MONEY
AUTHOR – Roshika Perera
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“Winning the award makes me feel like I’ve made the right
career choice. It’s given me a huge morale boost and makes me
want to excel in my career and as an individual.”
as I became motivated by the job. It’s
what naturally happens to me when I
develop a passion for something. Once
I realised this is what I really want to
do with my career, I was determined
to work hard.”
Although he was concerned at first
by his youth and lack of experience, it
didn’t take long for him to settle into
his job. His innate confidence and
outgoing personality helped him build
relationships with more experienced
colleagues, from whom he was eager
to learn:
“I did find it nerve-wracking to
interact with people who were twice
my age and had twice as much
experience,” he admits. “But by
being approachable and showing my
colleagues that I was there to learn,
I built good relationships with them.
It’s all about getting to know people.”
CICM Apprenticeship
Sam has found the CICM Level 2
Apprenticeship to be of immense
benefit: “Doing the CICM course has
helped me massively. For example,
learning about risk management and
customer service has helped me excel
further in my job as a credit controller.
“In terms of customer service, CICM
has taught me ways to resolve a range
of customer issues. For instance,
the course has taught me methods
of calming a customer down when
they’re unhappy with our service.”
When asked what he most enjoys
about the apprenticeship, Sam says it’s
customer collections: “I enjoy creating
relationships with people before trying
to push a payment. They’re trying to
pay less while I’m trying to get more
– I love the challenge of negotiating
and coming to an agreement. After
all, it helps get cash into the business,
which is the main aim.”
Of course, he has also found the
course to be intellectually challenging:
from legal modules to accounting
principles, he has had to absorb a
huge amount of knowledge in a short
period of time.
Yet, as he has done throughout
school, Sam rose to the challenge
by building relationships with his
fellow CICM apprentices: “It’s great to
have people around you that you can
learn from and help out in return. If
I did my learning outside of CICM, I
wouldn’t have the network of people
that I’ve been introduced to. It’s been
massively beneficial to have a group
of people who are going through the
same experience as you.”
Work-life balance
Juggling a full-time job alongside
studying for the CICM course is no
easy feat. But however much work
he has to do, Sam always makes time
for friends, family and fun. And
with his newfound independence
and freedom, he is beginning to
realise that there’s more to life than
Warrington, and is keen to travel as
much as possible.
“I’ve enjoyed visiting new places
like Berlin and Dubai. I also make
sure that I still spend quality time
socialising with my friends. And of
course, sport is still a big part of my
life. Although I don’t play it as much
since leaving school, bonding with
friends over football and rugby is still
a big part of who I am.”
While reminiscing over his love of
sports, Sam realises that playing sports
from a young age has served him well
as an adult: “Playing sports has allowed
me to build relationships with people
from different backgrounds and has
made me a better communicator. I’ve
always found it easy to make friends
since I was a young kid, which has
definitely helped me progress in my
career.”
So, what’s next?
Sam remains excited and hopeful
about his career in credit management,
particularly in light of his most
recent achievement. On 6 October,
he won the award for the Apprentice
of the Year in the Northwest, a
highly prestigious competition with
hundreds of applicants. As a result, he
has been nominated for Apprentice of
the Year in England.
“Winning the award makes me feel
like I’ve made the right career choice.
It’s given me a huge morale boost and
makes me want to excel in my career
and as an individual,” he concludes.
❝
“In terms of
customer service,
CICM has taught
me ways to
resolve a range of
customer issues.
For instance,
the course has
taught me methods
of calming a
customer down
when they’re
unhappy with our
service.”
❝
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / November 2022 / PAGE 43