If you’re interested in the diverse and rewarding career of being a mortgage advisor, these are the four main steps to achieving your aim.
Step 1: Take a CeMAP course
The first step is training for the CeMAP exam. A CeMAP course teaches you everything you need to know about the role of a mortgage advisor. The course covers the knowledge you need, such as information about the different types of mortgage products, the regulations that cover financial products, and how to communicate with and explain complex issues clearly to clients.
At Beacon Financial Training, we provide intensive and online CeMAP courses.
Step 2: Pass the CeMAP exam
On completion of a CeMAP course, you are ready to take the CeMAP exam. This is usually taken on a computer and is a multiple-choice question exam. If you fail the exam the first time, don’t worry, as you can re-sit it at a later date.
Step 3: Find a job
A CeMAP certificate means you are qualified to become a mortgage advisor. Part of an advisor’s job is to develop relationships with clients and mortgage lenders. When you first start out, you will not have established any links with clients and lenders, so your first job will probably be with a mortgage broker or financial organisation.
Step 4: Continue your development
Mortgage advisor training does not stop after the CeMAP course. Changes to financial regulations can happen and new mortgage products are launched. A mortgage broker is required to take a minimum number of hours of continuing professional development
(CPD) training.
CPD hours can include seminars, courses, conferences and attending financial exhibitions. This is on top of reading the financial news and specialist financial journals that keep the mortgage broker up to date with all the latest changes in the financial markets. There are also many websites that publish financial news and articles.
Get promoted
After a year or two’s experience of working as a mortgage advisor, you should have developed your skills and be successfully selling mortgage products to clients. Your first job will be in a junior position, but if you perform well, you will hopefully be offered a more senior position. A senior mortgage advisor may have a moderate basic salary, but they will receive commission based on sales, which can boost their salary considerably.
There are several skills you need to develop in order to become successful. You need to be a problem-solver, because your clients have a problem – they do not have the cash to buy a home. The mortgage advisor solves this problem by finding a suitable and affordable mortgage.
You need to be a good communicator who can both clearly explain complex financial products and listen to the client’s concerns. A mortgage advisor needs to be good with numbers and proficient in IT skills.
If you think you have what it takes to become a top mortgage advisor, take the first step – enrol on a Beacon Financial Training course.
