Loan Officer Hiring: How to Recruit Top Talent for Your Mortgage Shop

If you’re an independent mortgage broker, you know the keys to building a successful book of business are creating lasting relationships and offering value. You’ll need those same characteristics to recruit top loan officers for your broker shop.

Whether they’re mortgage vets or newly licensed, talented loan officers will want a personalized mortgage broker career and recruitment experience. They’ll want to see how their unique business and life goals can be fulfilled as a loan officer at your brokerage.

If they have exceptional industry experience or have the potential you’re looking for, a one-size-fits-all recruiting strategy just won’t cut it. 

4 Loan Officer Hiring Best Practices

Use these loan officer hiring tips to attract talented originators that will close loans and help grow your business.

Target Your Audience

It’s tough to communicate effectively with an audience you haven’t fully defined, so take the time to get specific about who you’re trying to reach.

Is it the part-time salesperson plotting their escape from auto sales? The message that resonates with auto industry recruits may not work for the millennial fresh out of training, or the loan-closing vet looking for schedule flexibility. All three candidates could become top producers for your broker business, but a stale introduction to your company could lead to ignored calls and unread emails.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to speak to everyone because you’re not trying to hire everyone.

Create a Culture that Attracts Your Ideal Loan Officer

Whether they’re new to the mortgage world or experienced professionals looking for a new home base, the candidates you want to hire will care about work culture. Remember that audience we honed in on earlier? Put yourself in their shoes.

Consider the newly-licensed millennial loan officer with tons of potential — where do they want to work? If mentorship and coaching is a part of your culture, it could be a key selling point for a promising newbie looking to start strong.

What about the established loan officer who’s expanding their family soon — where do they want to work? If you can offer benefits like flexible work hours or technologies that make balancing their work and home life easier, it may earn you attention from experienced candidates.

Spread the Word

The applications and calls won’t roll in on their own, you’ve got to get the word out. People won’t apply if they don’t know the opportunity exists. That initial research on your audience pays off here, as you’ll need to know where your audience “hangs out” if you want to make sure they see your message.

Digital platforms like LinkedIn and Glassdoor can help you spread the word fast by providing online applications and profiles for the applicant can learn more. However, don’t forget about old-fashioned word-of-mouth. You or someone you know may have a network full of people who’d make great loan officers with a bit of extra coaching.

If you’re looking to hire more experienced loan officers who can hit the ground running, the NMLS is a good place to start. You’ll be able to view a candidate’s employment history, which can help you gauge their fit.

Build Meaningful Relationships with Your Loan Officers

Spending quality time with your loan officers will be easier once you’ve hired them, but the impact of that time is too great not to mention. Whether it’s making time for lunch, or tagging along for their continuing education courses, finding creative ways to encourage comradery can have lasting positive results for your business.

As you begin to build out your team, your current loan officers will become your strongest asset in recruiting new ones. Why? Loan officers know loan officers. They bump shoulders at events, compete for clients, and tend to follow each other on social media platforms.

If your loan officers can’t stop gushing about your business growth and how awesome the work culture is, their peers will start to take notice. You’ll become an attractive destination for top talent looking to make a change, and all you’ll need to do is close the deal.

Are you ready to jump-start your career in the mortgage industry? Our team at BeAMortgageBroker.com is here to help you every step of the way.