Become a loan officer or continue to be a Network Admin?

[LuckyTaxi]

Network Admin for a private school making $31k.
I administer roughly 11 servers and provide desktop support AND web development for a school with 400+ students. I work year round and receive NO overtime, as I am salary and get paid ONCE a month.

Pros:

1 - Work flex hours, of course you have your bad days when you stay late or come on weekends to troubleshoot problems. Mind you, I get no overtime.
2 - Lots of time off, between vacation and holidays.

Cons -

1 - LOW PAY!
2 - NO OVERTIME!
3 - No opportunity for advancement (I hold the top spot).

So, I applied for a loan officer position on monster.com. I received a cal yesterday from someone at the company and I will be calling him back today. I dont think it's PT so I would have to leave my current job if I was to be hired. Anyways, ad states one can make $60k - $120k a year. I'm sure that's commission based, but I wonder what their salary is.

As of right now, there are too many unemployed IT ppl to compete with. Granted, I have over six years of experience in IT, but it hurts that I work for a school, so I'm limited with the technology that I oversee. Maybe it's time for a career change, because where I am, to make $40k, it's gonna take me another 5-6 years. Cost of living in Philly is high!

 

[woowoo]

Go ahead and talk to the loan people.
It could hot hurt.

 

[TheAudit]

Originally posted by: woowoo
Go ahead and talk to the loan people.
It could hot hurt.

Agreed.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: woowoo
Go ahead and talk to the loan people.
It could hot hurt.

Agreed.

yea ... but i wonder how the real estate business is.
My current job also offer stability, so I hate to take a risk and then be laid off 2-3 years down the road.

 

[vi edit]

Don't get too mystified by the numbers he shot at you. It will be commission based and you'll have to fight for those loans. On one hand, in your current position you are being horribly underpaid. On the other hand you are being courted by the idea of great income.

Reality is somewhere in the middle.

Have you ever tried to get more money from your current employers? Just waiting around for your dinky little raises each year doesn't get you anywhere. I've gone up nearly 30% in income in 4 years because I've asked for it.

If you don't have the brass to ask for more money in your current position, you may find that you lack the confidence to do what it takes to be a successful loan officer. You have to be agressive to succeed in a commission based position.

 

[DurocShark]

I work for a mortgage company...

Loan Officers make bank. Moving up to branch manager / sales manager REALLY make bank.

But you've gotta be able to sell. If you can't handle the stress of a sales job, and it IS stressful, you need to stay in IT.

 

[royaldank]

The home loan industry is starting to drag a bit. The last 3 years have had tremendously low rates. Being a loan officer and showing up for work pretty much guaranteed you'd make money because of re-fi's only. Now, with the rates slowing climbing back up, re-fi business is pretty much dried up and you're back to just purchases. Still, the rates are low enough people are still buying homes, just not like it has been the last 2-3 years.

There is a ton to consider. Starting as an LO can be a tough process. It's a people game which means lots of personal relationships are developed. It can be difficult to get a few realtors to send business your way. But, if you're a people kind of guy, then it should be something you can do.

At the very least, go talk to them. However, you might want to talk to another company or two you'll be competing against. Find out how the market in that area is doing. I'm sure your initial interview will have all kinds of sugar coating on top. Just don't believe everything, especially when he says, "Last year" or "Over the last 2 years..." because the last 2-3 years were the best 2-3 years in a LONG time.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I work in IT for a University and pull around $33k. I enjoy my 5 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of holiday pay, and steady monthly paychecks. My time schedule sounds similar to yours....8-5 m-f, but working over sometimes when there are problems. Unfortunately though, I support around 50+ servers, but no users.

I would probably see what they can offer, but hold out and make them give you a decent benefits package....those outweigh pay any day.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: lilcam

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: woowoo
Go ahead and talk to the loan people.
It could hot hurt.

Agreed.

yea ... but i wonder how the real estate business is.
My current job also offer stability, so I hate to take a risk and then be laid off 2-3 years down the road.

You always run the risk of being laid off. The goal of a career is to be good at what you do independent of any specific company which employs you. Job stability is, imo, just a facade for apathy, and if you instead choose to independently diversify your network, skills, and experience, you'll always be employable.

You can easily the money you're talking about in IT, but not working for a school. Working in finance might open some new doors for you, and hell, even the finance industry needs IT people; there's a chance you could segue into an even better IT position, or even a more advanced position in finance.

 

[RossMAN]

If you don't mind a sales/commission environment, then become a loan officer.

Otherwise network admin.