How To Become A Commercial Loan Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commercial loan officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

In order to get started or expand, businesses need capital. In order to get that capital, they usually have to talk to a commercial loan officer. A commercial loan officer works for a financial institution, such as a bank or mortgage company, and helps businesses that the bank works with to secure funding.

They can advise clients on different loan packages and help them prepare repayment plans. The commercial loan officer also reviews a business's loan application and is responsible for investigating their credit. Businesses do not want to get on the bad side of the commercial loan officer, especially since sometimes they're the ones who start foreclosure proceedings if a business can't repay the loan.

Most commercial loan officers have bachelor's degrees and experience in the financial industry, especially with commercial loan regulations. Most commercial loan officers are also white men. Maybe it's time for the industry to get a shake-up.

ScoreCommercial Loan OfficerUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,876

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.48%

Asian 6.46%

Black or African American 9.33%

Hispanic or Latino 15.49%

Unknown 4.65%

White 63.60%

Gender

female 26.22%

male 73.78%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commercial loan officer

Explore commercial loan officer education requirements

Most common commercial loan officer degrees

Bachelor's

75.6 %

Master's

13.1 %

Associate

6.8 %

Start to develop specific commercial loan officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	9.09%
Loan Portfolio	8.06%
Financial Statements	5.75%
Business Development	5.74%
Commercial Loans	4.48%

Complete relevant commercial loan officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New commercial loan officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a commercial loan officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real commercial loan officer resumes.

Research commercial loan officer duties and responsibilities

Create and manage mortgage loan department along with commercial consumer, SBA and real estate lending producing additional revenue stream.
Manage a multifacete commercial real estate investment firm.
Mortgage underwriter for FHA direct endorsement, VA authorize & FNMA delegate programs.
Sign and issue payroll checks to contractors hire to complete REO projects.

Prepare your commercial loan officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your commercial loan officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a commercial loan officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable commercial loan officer resume templates

Build a professional commercial loan officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your commercial loan officer resume.