Taking out loans is a part of life, almost a rite of passage in some ways. The job of a loan officer is to assist applicants with the details of their loan applications, determine their creditworthiness (how much they can be trusted to pay back their loan, based on their financial history) and decide on the exact terms of the loan (interest rate, amount borrowed and payment schedule). While part of a loan officer’s job is to make it easy for people to understand how the loan application process works, they are also required to function as salespeople for the financial institution they work for and to actively seek out clients who are considering taking out a loan. There are three main loan officer specializations: commercial, consumer and mortgage. Most employers expect applicants for loan officer positions to at least have a Bachelor’s Degree in finance, accounting or economics. However, this the minimum requirement is a high school diploma.  An average loan officer salary is around $54,700, and the most experienced ones can make slightly over $100,000.