Becoming a mortgage advisor

LJM14

Hi,

I've seen a few threads on here but they don't seem to answer my queries.

I've got experience in customer service, knowledge about pensions, protection products and investments and I've also completed a degree in business studies which included financial management and personal financial planning.

I've been out of Uni and working for a couple of years now and I've had time to think about what I really want to do.
I've decided I would like to become a mortgage advisor and it would suit my skills and knowledge.

However, I am unsure whether to fund the CeMap myself and then apply for roles or get into a trainee mortgage advisor role. I also am unsure whether there are more of one type of role available than the other.

My concern is without the qualification employers won't take me on, however if I do the qualification they will probably say I don't have the experience.

Does anyone have any knowledge/advice that they can give me on what is the best route to take and how likely I am to be able to succeed in getting a role.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

National_Careers_Service

Hi LJM14, when it comes to making a decision about which route to take, I always suggest checking with employers on the ground. Have you talked to any employers of mortgage advisers yet? If not I’d suggest approaching some banks, building societies, estate agents, and mortgage broker firms to get a good range of opinion to help you make a more informed choice.

The great news is that you have relevant experience which should help you improve your chances of making this career move.

From experience I would say that more mortgage advisers access their training via their employer, but that doesn’t mean to say that taking the CeMap off your own back wouldn’t work for you. Check what employers in your area think. By doing this you may even manage to build up some contacts or even find a trainee position that may not as yet be advertised.

With regards to the availability of each type of position I’d suggest doing some research on a local level. A good place to start might be to use the following vacancy sites; FT Adviser, Money Marketing and eFinancialCareers, then back that up with information from employers that you talk to.

Out of interest is there anything stopping you from applying for trainee positions at the moment? If not, you could start applying to see what sort of response you get.

One promising thing to mention is that it does seem that the demand for mortgage advisers is set to grow over the coming years. For some further information on the expected demand for jobs in the coming years take a look at the job market information on our job profile.

Are there any mortgage advisers on here that can give you some views from the coal face? The MSE forum users are usually pretty active and no doubt a few people will have some useful advice to add.

I hope you find my reply useful and please don’t hesitate to ask any specific questions that you need help with.

Good luck with it,

Leo

Bantex_2

Can you sell would be the main question.

mattcanary

Bantex wrote: »

Can you sell would be the main question.

That probably depends to some extent on whether you work for a tied broker or a whole of market broker. I would have thought with the former, your selling skills are more important as you are trying to get the potential customer to buy your company's products rather than another company's products (even if the other company offers a better deal).
On the other hand, if you are a while of market broker you can concentrate on providing information about the different products, and let the best product do the selling for you.


At least, I am assuming that is how it is.




I too am attracted to the idea of becoming a mortgage adviser. I like working with financial information, meeting different people within a work setting, and of course the prospect of good pay attracts me too.
I would have thought most customers wouldn't want a wheeler-dealer type when making such a big financial commitment. Rather, they would want someone that is confident, truthful and knowledgeable. Particularly so when you consider the number of scandals that have arisen in financial services over the years.


I know a lot of adverts seem to highlight selling skills as being vitally important though. Maybe others on here could enlighten us further.


A few people have asked for help on this subject over the last few months, but there has not been much response sadly.

[Deleted User]

mattcanary wrote: »

I know a lot of adverts seem to highlight selling skills as being vitally important though. Maybe others on here could enlighten us further.


A few people have asked for help on this subject over the last few months, but there has not been much response sadly.

Why should people? This isn't a hardened careers forum but people's opinions in a lot of instances, the best people to inquire with are the organisations you'd want to work for? Same as the being stopped with the molly cuddling when leaving school
The OP also don't give a location which would have been helpful I think

Matt - have you thought about trying something like the Financial Ombudsman Service contact centre? with being Anglia counties based, I can see you there

I agree with bantex and there is a pressure of it's not what you say, it's how you say it... as a result of scandels though lots of people don't give over info as easily as maybe though as people like to believe that's what I found and why the finance industry is quite revolving for lower ruggs of the ladder, well someone has to do it

I enjoyed telesales over being the post lady in a cheque processing centre, well actually I had no idea what I was doing but thats what you should expect from the FS but which is ultimately the starting point if absolutely no experience I would have thought, insurance also being very close if you can hack it