A loan assistant usually works directly beneath a loan officer and assists the loan officer with loan documentation preparation. The loan assistant may be responsible for a variety of tasks, including ensuring that all documentation is in order, pulling credit reports or past financial data for loan applicants, and answering questions and assisting applicants with paperwork completion. Working as an assistant in the loan department, while not quite entry-level, can be a great way to get started in a banking career.
Some people’s first job in a bank is as a loan assistant, but many others begin with a lower-level position, such as a bank teller. A loan assistant is one of the first positions to be promoted to if one succeeds in that position. Working as a loan assistant is typically a more behind-the-scenes position, though one may be responsible for answering phones or meeting with bank customers on occasion. Unless you have a strong background in business, you will most likely start in the individual loan department rather than business loans.
A loan assistant’s primary responsibility in the workplace will be to ensure that all loan paperwork is complete and accurate. The assistant will review the paperwork for missing information or errors, and may need to contact the applicant to obtain the missing data. The assistant may be contacted if the applicant has any simple questions about the loan. Additional information, such as credit reports or data from previous loans, may be required the assistant. All of this must usually be completed quickly because people applying for loans may want to ensure that they receive a specific advertised interest rate before it changes.
Once all of this information has been gathered, the loan assistant will usually prepare a report for the loan officer to review. The loan officer can then quickly review all of the information and decide whether or not to grant the applicant a loan. Someone who wants to work as a loan assistant should be meticulous and able to communicate clearly in both spoken and written form. Furthermore, he or she will frequently be dealing with confidential information, so discretion and tact are essential when speaking with others.