One of the Best Jobs of 2024 Doesn’t Require You to Get A Bachelor’s Degree

You can now earn more than $200,000 working from your home and the good news is that the work does not require any bachelor’s degree. Yes, if you are willing to become a loan officer, then we are happy to break it to you that the profession has claimed the number 2 spot in Indeed’s annual ranking of the best jobs in the US, all thanks to its high-earning potential. The pay for the role is great with the average salary for loan officers being $192,339, per Indeed’s research. These positions also offer a lot of workplace flexibility and at least 75% of the listings for loan officers have remote or hybrid options.

If you think that you can assist people and their businesses in the process of applying for loans and are capable of evaluating their financial documents then there's nothing that can stop you from becoming a loan officer. The demand for these positions is on the rise and industries like education, real estate, e-commerce, and retail are always looking for people to work as loan officers. "The need for loans will always be there, even if it ebbs and flows a bit," says Scott Dobroski, Vice President of global corporate communications at Indeed.

The requirements for becoming a loan officer vary from state to state. However, there are some things that every process includes. For example, registering with the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry is a must. Also, note that one needs to take pre-licensure courses on federal law and regulations, lending standards, and ethics. After this, the applicant must pass a state or national license test and once that's done, you can now find an employer to sponsor your license.

Ciara Glover, 37, left her job as an academic coordinator at Louisiana State University to become a full-time loan officer at a residential mortgage division of Merchants & Marine Bank. "It’s one of the most flexible jobs out there," says Glover. "You can fit your schedule around client meetings, and most employers are supportive of you working from home, in my experience, that’s been a common practice for loan officers even before the pandemic," as per CNBC Make It.

The position is such that there is no ceiling on how much you can earn. Some loan officers are paid a salary while some are paid between 0.2% and 2% of the total loan amount in commission, as per Indeed. 

"There’s a hard limit on what you can make in a lot of jobs, but for loan officers, there’s no ceiling on how much you can earn,” says Glover. "It’s the kind of profession where you get whatever you put in — so if you work hard, you’re looking at a nice paycheck." For instance, if you are a loan officer who negotiated a 1% commission on a $500,000 loan, you can be paid $5,000 on that transaction alone. Glover first became a loan officer over seven years ago as a side hustle. Now, she works from home for an online mortgage lender in her spare time.