Life of a Loan Officer - Where did it begin?

Life of a loan officer, where to begin. I became a loan officer in July of 2016 so I am going on six years of doing this crazy job.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself before we dive deep into the grusome first steps of being a loan officer (which you may notice, I often refer to as an LO, that's the same thing).

I am a 28 year old woman who started in this crazy industry as a 22 year old girl in a male dominant industry. I graduated from Indiana University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a focus in Finance. Throughout college I had NO idea what I wanted to do, I just knew that business would be a good fall back because there would always be a need for business management. December of 2015, right before I started my final semester of college my parents asked me, "So what is it that you're going to do when you graduate?" I was set on finding my lifelong career right away, forgetting that I had plenty of time to give it a little trial and error to find something I really loved doing. I took the pressure off of myself and went to talk to the president of the first mortgage company I worked for, someone who had known me for a very long time. I decided to give this whole loan officer thing a shot and here I am, six years later, having found my lifelong career that I have a true passion for.

The picture you see above, when I got started as an LO (see, there's that abbreviation) spelling the word mortgage is about all I knew in the industry. I was a new 22 year old and no one that I worked with was younger than 32. I had never bought a home or really knew anyone who had, that would discuss the process with me other than my parents.

My first thirty days were the most terrifying days I experienced in the industry and here is why. I was AFRAID to ask questions and I was AFRAID to talk to prospective clients. You may ask why I was afraid of those two things. The reason was, I was honestly just afraid to look clueless. I felt like I was expected to know stuff about the industry I decided to join but I did not. The class that I had to take and the test I had to pass to become a loan officer taught me very little about the job I would be doing or the day to day tasks I was responsible for.

After thirty days, my boss told me to pick up the phone the next time it rang... my response, "What if I don't know the answer to their question?" and that is when I got the best piece of advice that I still hold close to me and still utilize EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This advice is when you don't know the answer to a question, you do not bullsh*t the client to pretend you know what you are talking about and you do not say the words "I don't know" becuase nobody wants to hear that. Now you may think that I am crazy, because what are you supposed to do then? Just stay silent? No way. You respond with, "Let me check on that for you and I'll give you a call right back." This shows your client that you are invested in them. You are invested learning more for them, no matter how big or small the question is that they asked you. Guess what else it does? It gives YOU another reason to have another point of contact with them. Did you know the more you have contact with prospects, the more likely they are to remember you every time they need your services? In an oversaturated market of loan officers, you have to make yourself memorable, and that is your first step.

Needless to say, the next call I took was for a really easy refinance. It was for a gentleman in his 60's and I was transparent with him that he was my first transaction I was ever doing but I assured him he would never know it if I hadn't told him. By the end of the transaction, because I was always asking questions that he needed answers to, I learned a significant amount to better myself at my job.

My first thirty days taught me a lot, but that thirty-first day taught me the most.

Follow along for my next post to learn more about how I got where I am in this crazy industry and how I turned my first "real, big girl" job into a career I love and how I did it at a young age in a predominantly male industry.

Your Favorite Loan Officer, Karissa E.