How To Write a Loan Officer Resume
If you seek a role as a loan officer, the first step is writing a resume that positions you as a top candidate and highlights your qualifications, such as generating leads, growing client portfolios, and raising the bottom line in competitive markets. Review our list of tips, including examples, that can help you level up your resume.
- Entry-level
- Mid-career
- Senior-level
1. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your loan officer qualifications
Think of the profile section of your resume as an elevator pitch to give hiring managers a concise, compelling picture of your skills, experience, and best qualities. Draw the reader in with a snapshot that resonates with the hiring manager. Start by listing your job title, years of related experience, and several specializations that align with the job posting. Then, support these points with statements that establish you as a desirable candidate.
For example, if you have a track record of increasing client portfolios by 50% and generating an average monthly loan total of $2 million, consider adding this information directly in your profile. If you consistently earn a 95% customer service satisfaction rating, consider noting this in your profile as well. Providing these types of insights will help tell your story and highlight the value you can bring to prospective employers.
Entry-Level Profile Example
Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer with 2+ years of experience. Skilled at generating leads, growing client portfolios, and raising the bottom line in competitive markets. Naturally curious and dedicated to gaining and applying new work skills.
Senior-Level Profile Example
Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer with 10+ years of advancement and experience. Skilled at managing and processing applications for Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), and conventional home loans. Recognized for consistently generating 100%+ of sales goals and building robust client portfolios.
2. Create a powerful list of your loan officer experience
To craft a results-driven professional experience section, create bullet points emphasizing your career achievements rather than job responsibilities. Companies are interested in results, and as a loan officer, demonstrate the bottom-line value of your contributions by incorporating data, metrics, and monetary figures. Emphasize your ability to collaborate with teams and your data-gathering and analysis skills. Also, highlight any management experience that overlaps with your target job.
Entry-Level Professional Experience Example
Mortgage Loan Officer, BestLending Mortgages, Atlanta, GA | May 2020 to Present
- Close ~14 loans per month for an average total of $1.9M
- Interview, evaluate, and match clients with suitable financing solutions
- Achieved ~95% customer satisfaction rating on monthly surveys
Senior-Level Professional Experience Example
Senior Loan Officer, Green Bay Home Loans, Green Bay, WI | March 2015 to Present
- Oversee a team of 10 officers originating FHA and VA loans
- Actively manage a pipeline of 50+ loans, or ~$20M total financing
- Surpass monthly sales goal by 20%+ on average
3. Include education and certifications relevant to loan officers
In addition to your education, feature any relevant certifications you’ve achieved throughout your loan officer experience. Such credentials are especially important in the highly regulated finance industry and show your commitment to staying up-to-date with policies and loan processes.
For instance, certification from the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) can be obtained for the state where you practice. It is the system of record for non-bank financial services licensing and registration. So, if you are in a loan officer role at a home mortgage or real estate company, NMLS is a must-have.
Another important industry certification is Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA). This global standard covers accounting, industry and business analysis, management assessment, financial analysis, credit evaluation and documentation, review procedures, and — important for loan officers — loan security.
Education
Template
- [Degree]
- [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] | [Graduation Year]
Example
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Finance
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN | 2016
Certifications
Template
- [Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]
Example
- CBCA, Corporate Finance Institute
- Licensed Mortgage Officer (LMO), Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS)
4. List key skills and proficiencies for loan officers
Many organizations rely on some form of applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify qualified candidates for job openings. To help get your resume through the initial screening process and into the hiring manager’s hands, incorporate keywords from the job posting directly into your profile, professional experience, and skills section. Below, you’ll find a list of key terms and skills you may encounter while applying for loan officer positions:
| Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Client service and relations | Commercial loan processing |
| Credit evaluation | Customer satisfaction |
| Data gathering and analysis | Financial analysis |
| Financial software | Loan origination |
| Loan processing | Loan servicing |
| Portfolio management | QuickBooks |
| Regulatory compliance | Reporting and documentation |
| Task prioritization | Team collaboration |
| Team management | TurnKey lender |
5. Highlight your performance data
Loan officers must meet performance standards and sales goals and achieve positive customer satisfaction ratings. If you consistently exceed sales goals by 20% monthly, highlight this in the professional experience section. If you are responsible for closing $2 million in loans per month or converting 20 referrals per month into new business, emphasize these metrics as long as they overlap with the scope of your target job. Hiring managers will see that you are a high-performing loan officer.
How To Pick the Best Loan Officer Resume Template
The best resume template for a loan officer is clean, neatly organized, and readable. Prioritize structure and content over visuals that distract the reader and take away from the valuable experience you share in the resume.
Loan Officer Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples
- Entry-level
- Mid-career
- Senior-level
Barbara Satori
[email protected] | (555) 000-5555 | 4714 Twin Oaks Drive, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Profile
Loan Officer with 6 years of experience in fast-paced commercial finance settings. Consistently generate 110%+ of sales goals while building positive client relationships.
Professional Experience
Commercial Loan Officer, Premier Financing, Grand Rapids, MI | January 2018 to Present
- Draft loan contracts, process applications, and counsel clients on policies and restrictions
- Recommend commercial loan options suited to each client’s goals
- Gather and closely analyze financial data to determine whether clients qualify for their desired loan
- Regularly exceeded sales goals by 10%-20%
Loan Officer, EZ Loan, Grand Rapids, MI | February 2016 to December 2017
- Originated jumbo home loans worth up to $1.5M
- Greatly extended portfolio by bringing in 100+ new clients
- Met and surpassed company benchmarks for credit quality, sales, and profit
Associate Banker, Redwood Bank, Detroit, MI | August 2015 to January 2016
- Provided high-quality service educating clients on bank products and services
- Helped customers with bank transactions including deposits, withdrawals, and wire transfers
- Promoted products such as credit cards and investment accounts to existing customers
Education
Bachelor of Science (BS) – Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI | 2015
Certificate in Business & Commercial Lending, American Banking Association | 2018
Key Skills
- Commercial Loan Processing
- Customer Satisfaction
- Data Gathering & Analysis
- Financial Analysis
- Loan Origination
- Reporting & Documentation
- Team Collaboration
Rebecca Finney - Recruiter and Trainer in Financial Industries, LinkedIn
Meet our Expert: Rebecca Finney has spent over 5 years in agency recruiting, primarily in the banking, finance, and accounting industries for permanent and contract staffing.
1. What are the most in-demand skills for loan officers that should be featured on a candidate’s resume?-
These are some keywords and phrases that recruiters and hiring managers seeking loan officers will look for in a candidate’s resume:
- Completed bachelor’s degree
- Mortgage lending
- Loan application, loan documentation, loan processing
- Commercial vs. residential loan experience
- CRM (customer relationship management)
- Customer retention, customer satisfaction, and customer support
- Sales
- Funding
- Underwriting systems knowledge, such as desktop underwriter (DU)
- Loan Documentation System knowledge and experience, such as Loan IQ
- Organizational skills
- Professional communication skills
2. What work experience and other accomplishments are hiring managers seeking in a loan officer?-
Hiring managers are looking for the following types of work experience when considering loan officer candidates.
- Experience working with a bank or credit union
- NMLS Certification (Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System)
- Amount of loans handled in a candidate’s pipeline per month along with other KPIs (metrics), such as how quickly the candidate was able to move the loan through the process and the monetary value of the loans
- Experience handling and tracking loan applications and the associated documents
- Experience adhering to compliance guidelines
- Career progression, i.e., promotion from loan officer to sr. loan officer
- Experience managing client expectations throughout the loan process
- Experience working with internal and external clients/customers
- Experience submitting loans to and working with Underwriters
3. What else should a loan officer candidate be prepared to provide hiring managers besides a resume?-
In an interview, candidates should be able to explain the loan application process they have followed in past roles, an understanding of different types of loan applications and the associated documents (depending on what the client is hiring for), and the previous metrics they were held to with their subsequent production results.
In an interview, candidates should expect to have to respond to similar asks/questions:
- Tell me about a time you had to overcome an obstacle to hit a deadline with a loan application
- What KPIs were you responsible for in previous positions?
- Tell me about a time you had to work with a challenging client. What was the situation? How did you handle it?
4. What advice would you give a loan officer candidate about their job search? -
Use LinkedIn and other job boards to your advantage. If you see a loan officer position posted on LinkedIn by a recruiter, apply to the job and then message the recruiter letting them know you submitted an application, that you’re very interested, and would love to schedule some time to connect further about the opportunity.
Leverage your network. If you have a peer, former colleague, or friend who works as a loan officer, loan processor, mortgage lender, etc., reach out! They may know someone who is hiring.
Use keywords in your resume that are mentioned in the job description. This can help “filter” your resume when recruiters and hiring managers review applicants since you use the words they’re looking for.
Frequently Asked Questions: Loan Officer Resume Examples and Advice
What are common action verbs for loan officer resumes?-
It’s easy to get stuck when writing the experience section of a resume. You might start to run out of action verbs to describe your work. To help you with this challenge, we compiled the list below to describe loan officer roles.
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Analyze | Answer |
| Assist | Collaborate |
| Communicate | Coordinate |
| Deliver | Establish |
| Evaluate | Finalize |
| Implement | Lead |
| Organize | Originate |
| Prepare | Process |
| Record | Report |
| Supervise | Verify |
How do you align your resume with a loan officer job posting?-
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), jobs for loan officers are projected to grow 4%. The BLS projects about 29,400 job openings for loan officers each year. Although many financial institutions are incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into loan approval processes, there is still a need for loan officer personnel to counsel clients. However, there could be less emphasis on data gathering and analytics in the future, depending on how financial institutions adopt AI.
Regardless, align your resume with each job posting to help secure interviews for the most lucrative opportunities. Tailoring your document to individual job postings will significantly increase your chances of landing your next job opportunity.
For example, suppose a lender is looking for a loan officer with expertise in commercial mortgages. You’d highlight your knowledge in this sector, such as noting certifications or experience working with a major corporate client.
What is the best loan officer resume format?-
Most loan officers should use the combination (or hybrid) format. True to its name, this format combines two important features of other resume formats: the chronological format’s experience section, and the functional format’s profile section. (The resume examples on this page all use combination format.)
By fusing these two features, a combination resume offers the best of both worlds. The experience section lets you outline your recent work history – essential information for most employers. At the same time, the profile section lets you showcase your career highlights at the top, regardless if they’re from that work history or another part of your background. As a result, you can present your background clearly and strategically. With this format, you give hiring managers the best possible view of your experience and relevant strengths, so they can decide to call you for an interview.
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