At one point or the other, you reading this has come in contact with a loan officer, right? Yes, when you needed to take a loan, you went through one. Most times you pay little attention to these people, probably because you felt they are not as important as other too officials.
But you are wrong, to become a loan officer, they have gone through rigorous drilling like every career out there.
In this piece, you will learn all that is required to become a loan officer in 2024, including the skills needed alongside what a loan officer resume should contain. Do not be in haste to get the best out of this post.
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Who is a Loan Officer?
A loan officer is a professional saddled with the responsibility of determining the individual or corporations clients that are qualified or unqualified for loans in a bank or financial institution.
A loan officer reviews the records of clients as well as the principles tied to their ability to repay the loan such as income, job stability, assets owned and debt-to-income ratio, etc.
A loan officer includes; mortgage originator, mortgage loan officers, ex. There are different departments, however, the greatest part of their job is sales and customer service as they need to communicate by asking questions from their clients to satisfy them.
How to Become a Loan Officer
To become a loan officer, the majority of loan officers must have gone through a college education or obtained a bachelor’s degree in any business-related field. As a major of business or business administration-accounting or finance is the major area of concentration, while those who major in accounting focus on auditing, taxation, etc. All of these are needed in a loan officer career.
After obtaining that, you can go for a program and take courses in real estate fundamentals, real estate fraud, real estate math, real estate finance, sales, marketing, etc, although, these are optional or go through the American Institute of Banking to obtain a certificate through local training providers by taking consumer lending topics such as;
- Building customer relationships,
- Client referrals,
- Ethics,
- General accounting,
- The law and banking,
- Personal tax return analysis,
- Analysis of financial statements, • evaluating and structuring corporate loans,
- Credit and deposit products for small businesses, and
- Growing small business relationships., etc.
As a loan officer, you can also receive your training while on the job.
After Education, what next?
Getting licensed
As a loan officer, you need to obtain a license from your state service providers. The requirements for a license vary from state to state, but the general process is you must be above 18 years, and you must have completed 20 hours of prelicensing education created by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. The topics to be undertaken include;
- Federal law,
- Ethics,
- Lending standards, and
- State-specific information.
You are expected to pass the NMLS test before you can get licensed as well as have a clean criminal and credit record.
Mostly, consumer and commercial loan officers do not need to get licensed, but a license is important if you need to boost your resume.
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How Long Does it Take to Become a Loan Officer?
If you would like to take a bachelor’s degree, that takes 4 years while prelicensing education takes about weeks or months depending on how serious and available you are.
What is the Salary of a Loan Officer?
Average loan officers in the United States earn $59, 820 yearly as of 2012. Those with lower qualifications earn $32,600 while those with higher earn above $119,710. There are also compensation, bonuses, and commission which vary depending on the employer.
How to Find a Job as a Loan Officer?
There are various ways of finding jobs as a loan officer, you could use the online job boards, community resources, banks websites, or other financial institutions websites. However, you can never be short of the job as a loan officer.
A Good Resume
After undergoing every necessary education, if you would become a loan officer, you need a good resume to secure a job. A good resume must contain the following;
Relevant Experience
A good resume must include, an experience you have gotten from volunteering, etc. It must thus be relevant to the position you are applying for.
The Right Skills
It must include relevant skills that can boost your work in that organization.
These could be hard skills or soft skills. Example any of those skills includes; Communication, customer service, loan portfolio, new client, problem-solving skills, etc.
Achievements
An organization needs to know what you can offer them, so use numbers to quantify the previous problems you have solved.
Contact Information
This should include your name which must be written at the top of the document, your address (your city and state), email address, and social media handles.
Educational Qualifications
This should include the name of your school arranged in reverse chronological order(All schooling undergone), date of graduation, etc. However, an undergraduate with graduation in view should include the expected graduation date.
Other optional parts here include; Academic awards, G.P.A, and other certificates received.
Your resume should be well formatted and do not forget to state what you can offer the company.
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Conclusion
Becoming a loan officer is not a difficult task as much as you are willing to sacrifice your time and go through every educational stage to be a reputable loan officer.
Do well to check groups like the American Bankers Association, the Association of Mortgage Professionals, and the Mortgage Bankers Association to learn more about loan officers.
