Loan Officer 

(Female, Age 39) from long beach, CA

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 39 who works as a Loan Officer in long beach, CA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Loan Officer
Salary $70,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 40
Company Size (not answered)
Location long beach, CA
Years Experience 45 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
small independent mortgage broker that also does in house escrow and some real estate transactions

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
originate loans, process loans, and work all submission and conditions needed to close the loan.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
none

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
undercompensated

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I do work with others over the phone all day long and briefly in the office. I do like to work with others, but I also enjoy being by myself in the office a majority of the time.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work in the office. I have mixed feelings on working in the office. I believe that it is not necessary for me to come into the office to do what I do, and I spend a tremendous amount of $ on gas as well as 2 hours a day on the freeway. I would much prefer to work at home. On the other hand, I am probally more productive working at the office as there are fewer distractions.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 4
Hours: 3
Co-Workers: 5
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 7
The Actual Work: 2

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
reffered from a friend

What was the application process?
submit resume

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I did have an interview with two partners, and we discussed my past jobs, and what I was currently looking for, as well as what they were interested in.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I do not recall

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
I do not feel that I was properly prepared for my job. I know that in this job most brokers hire you and that is it, answereing very few questions. I believe that it would be in the best interest of the brokers to babysit for the first few loans, explaining the steps and intricacies of each transaction.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
There was no training for my position

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
It helped but did not prepare me completely. As I had mentioned, I do think that education on the college level helps critical and analitical thinking(yet it does not help my spelling!), as well as grammer is improved and smoothed over thus improving verbal communication, this leads to validity in professionalism, which is important in sales.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
my internships may have helped a bit, but not much as they were at courts, so maybe by watching the laywers ajudicate, I may have gained some sales skills.

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
If they are young and new to the workforce I think it would be best to start at a title company and work their way around, getting to know the various entities of this business, then after some bsics of the business are learned, start as processor and eventually work into doing loans.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
One needs to have strong math knowledge and understanding, as well as good social skills, and critical thinking skills.In order to sell a particular loan you must be able to showthe client why the particular loan would benefit them, thus you would need to be able to figure the products out using math skills, then translate that to the client in lay terms that they would be able to understand, all while most importantly gaining their trust.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
I don’t think a particular degree of education is necessary, although college does strengthen one’s writing skills which I believe directly affects their ablility to verbally communucate better, I believe it also strengthens one’s critical thinking processes. So, although I do not think it is necessary, but it does help the person be more successful.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Learn all the different aspects of each player in a transaction, and understand every thing you tell your client. Also, document what you talk about with the client.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
My current employment is not part of my career plan because I do not like the job I do, nor do I like the people I work with. It is not satisfing to me on any level except for the check.

What are your current career goals?
I would like to go back to school and get my masters and either teach or work in politics, on the consulting end.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
Real estate is all about the buck, and almost every person involved in it is working for greed.

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 junior escrow officer 6 months 45k do legal documents, and work up estimated huds
Prior Job 2 escrow officer 2yrs 30k open escrow order demands, set up signings, prepare docs, prebalance files

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:3.5

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.5 Cal state la political science
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

Ask a Question of this Mentor

This mentor has opted to receive questions from people interested in this career or job position. Please be respectful of their time and willingness to help. Include some basic relevant background so they can intelligently answer your question.