Loan Officer

Slide Show: America's Best Careers 2010

Jobs by SimplyHired

The rundown:

Loan officers put money into the hands of home buyers, business entrepreneurs, car buyers, and parents looking to send their kids to college. You'll talk through the basics of a loan with interested borrowers before they file an application. Once an application is in your hands, it's up to you to ferret out the crucial information about finances, such as income, credit history, and debt load. It's most common that loan officers specialize in an area of lending: commercial loans to businesses that, say, need new equipment; consumer loans for things like car purchases; or mortgage loans for home buyers. While borrowers may approach you in need of a loan, in many cases your unofficial job title essentially includes the role of "salesperson," whether you're calling companies to introduce yourself and your services or working on building a relationship with real estate agencies.

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The outlook:

Employment of loan officers is expected to grow by 33,000 jobs, or just over 10 percent, between 2008 and 2018. That's about equal to average growth for all occupations.

Upward mobility:

Experienced and skilled loan officers can scale the ladder in their financial organization—moving to bigger bank branches or taking on supervisory roles. You may also find some continuing education and certification opportunities that will grease the skids, particularly if you specialize in mortgage lending.

Activity level:

Depends on your specialty. If you're a commercial loan officer, you're likely to be traveling a lot and visiting different business offices. If you're a mortgage loan officer, you may spend some time in your office, but you may be visiting clients in their homes. Consumer loan officers will very likely spend most of their days in the office, at a desk.

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Stress level:

Variable. You may travel quite a bit, or find business especially busy during peak periods in the economic cycle.

Education and preparation:

Loan officers are often trained on the job. Commercial loan officers will typically need a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as finance or economics. Mortgage loan officers now need to be licensed, which requires extra effort: coursework, an exam, and a background check. If you've worked previously in the banking field or you have experience in sales or lending, that will also serve you well in finding work.

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Money:

Median annual earnings for loan officers last year were $54,700, but earnings can range widely from less than $30,000 to more than $107,000. Some of the best pay comes from employment at brokerages.

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