Loan Officers
What Loan Officers Do
Evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Advise borrowers on financial status and payment methods. Includes mortgage loan officers and agents, collection analysts, loan servicing officers, loan underwriters, and payday loan officers.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 2.1%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.7/5
- Economics and Accountingimportance 3.9/5
- English Languageimportance 3.8/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.7/5
- Sales and Marketingimportance 3.5/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 3.3/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.1/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 2.9/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Telephone Conversations5.0/5
- E-Mail5.0/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled5.0/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
- Contact With Others4.8/5
- Frequency of Decision Making4.8/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping98% skill match
- Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents97% skill match
- Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan97% skill match
- Dermatologists97% skill match
- Customer Service Representatives97% skill match
- Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes97% skill match
- Insurance Underwriters97% skill match
- Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers97% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.3/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.3/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.1/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.0/5
- Coordinationimportance 2.9/5
- Persuasionimportance 2.9/5
- Negotiationimportance 2.9/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- 1003 Uniform Residential Loan Application
- Amortization loan software
- Bankers Systems Rembrandt Lending System
- Bottom Line LoanMaster Loan Servicing
- CGI-AMS BureauLink Enterprise
- CGI-AMS CACS Enterprise
- CGI-AMS Strata
- California Infinite LPS
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Integrity
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Cautiousness
- Social Orientation
- Achievement Orientation
- Initiative
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ConventionalHigh
- EnterprisingMedium
- SocialMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- RealisticLow
- ArtisticLow
Specific Interests
A more detailed breakdown of this occupation’s interest profile, per O*NET.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where loan officers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Pocatello, ID3.73× national avg
- 2Hattiesburg, MS2.77× national avg
- 3Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL2.36× national avg
- 4Columbia, MO2.36× national avg
- 5Charlottesville, VA2.36× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Credit CounselorsLateral Move
- Insurance UnderwritersLateral Move
- Loan Interviewers and ClerksCareer Change
- Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and AthletesLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Finance, General
- American College of Financial Services (King of Prussia, PA)
- CUNY Bernard M Baruch College (New York, NY)grads earn ~$84,956
- Ohio State University-Main Campus (Columbus, OH)grads earn ~$97,986
- Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)grads earn ~$87,089
- University of South Carolina-Columbia (Columbia, SC)grads earn ~$92,578