Member Spotlight: Sharpen Your Credit Skills

Since the early 2000s, artificial intelligence has revolutionized business, creating new roles and boosting productivity. However, its lack of human elements like creativity and emotional intelligence has increased the demand for workers with specialized skills and knowledge. Through NACM's six-level Professional Certification Program, credit professionals can acquire credit knowledge as well as the technical and soft skills required in credit management.

The Credit Business Associate (CBA), an academic-based designation which signals mastery of three business credit related disciplines: basic financial accounting, business credit principles and introductory financial statement analysis. Each course introduces a variety of technical and soft skills in various aspects of credit management.

Lisa Ridosh, CBA, lead credit analyst at Superior Plus Propane (Rochester, NY), earned her CBA designation after enrolling in basic credit courses. "They encouraged me to learn as much as I could to perform well in my new position, so I decided to go for the certification," she said. "Being new to the industry, almost every class was something new. There were items that heavily pertained to my day-to-day work life that have helped me to understand why our company does certain things."

For Ridosh, it was a significant amount of work being a full-time employee and mom to a young child while taking the courses. "I had a great support system between work and home that allowed me to get the course work accomplished without too much stress," she said. "Now, I feel like I can be successful in my current position and confident to grow within the industry."

💡Study Tips: Set aside time each day to review. "Flash cards were my favorite," Ridosh said. "Also, find a good study partner that is also working toward the same goal so you can bounce items off of one another."

For more information about each designation within NACM's Professional Certification Program, visit our website.