How To Become A Skip Tracer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a skip tracer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a skip tracer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.57 an hour? That's $36,545 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 2,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSkip TracerUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,545

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.1

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 4.69%

Black or African American 12.82%

Hispanic or Latino 19.76%

Unknown 5.60%

White 56.87%

Gender

female 64.69%

male 35.31%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a skip tracer

Explore skip tracer education requirements

Most common skip tracer degrees

High School Diploma

29.2 %

Bachelor's

28.1 %

Associate

27.3 %

Start to develop specific skip tracer skills

Skills	Percentages
Debt Collection	24.61%
Outbound Calls	10.54%
Skip Trace	6.79%
Delinquent Accounts	5.57%
Payment Arrangements	5.32%

Complete relevant skip tracer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New skip tracers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a skip tracer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real skip tracer resumes.

Research skip tracer duties and responsibilities

Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
Utilize various skip-tracing services such as Accurint and TheWorkNumber in order to locate consumers and verify employment for account recovery purposes.

Prepare your skip tracer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your skip tracer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a skip tracer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Skip Tracer Resume templates

Build a professional Skip Tracer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Skip Tracer resume.

Apply for skip tracer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a skip tracer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do skip tracers rate their job?