Loan Officer

Loan Officer qualifications to look for

Highly qualified Loan Officers are plentiful, but the best candidates will have a good amount of sales experience. 

Sales experience will be far more valuable to your team than banking experience, and this opens up more opportunities to seek candidates from various industries instead of one.  

An even more eye-catching resume booster is someone with experience in mortgage lending. This may go by the terms “minimal mortgage”, “hard money”, or “minimum productions.” 

Keep an eye out for candidates who come from these industries: 

• Commercial banks
• Mortgage companies
• Credit unions
• Other financial institutions
• Other relevant sales industries

If interviewing loan officers with more experience, try digging into their sales and relationship-building skills. Ask how many realtors they currently work with, or how high they rank on their team’s sales performance. 

Top tip: Hire candidates willing to grow by making sure their personal career goals align with your company's mission. 

Problem-solving interview questions

• How do you attract new clients to fill your pipeline?
• Explain your selling style.
• Why did you get into the mortgage business?
• What do you want to learn about our sales culture during your first week on the job?
• How many clients do you have in your portfolio on a monthly average? How many were self-generated?
• How would you walk a client who’s never purchased before through the loan process?
• What experience do you have with brokered loans?
• Say your calendar is empty of new prospect appointments for the day. What’s your action plan? 
• How many prospect appointments do you schedule in a week? How did you find these leads?
• How would you handle a difficult coworker?
• Tell me about the most difficult sale you’ve ever closed. How did you get the job done? 
• Have you ever dealt with an angry client? If so, how did you handle the situation and what was the outcome? 
• What do you consider excellent customer service?
• Tell me about a time when things weren’t going right with a client. How did you turn it around?