Many people thinking of entering the UK Financial Services Industry as mortgage advisers think that the way forward is to look for UK mortgage broker franchises with a view to buying into a mortgage franchise of some kind. In my opinion, the reality of all this is that UK franchises either offer bad value for money or they have just not evolved yet to the required standards.



With the Financial Services Authority (FSA) now regulating the mortgage industry, it have become an extremely expensive franchise to both set up, train individuals and to maintain the standards set out by the FSA. As a consequence of this the market is either shrinking or at best standing still. With the expansion of Networks springing up in the UK, a lot of experienced advisers have scurried under their umbrella and newly qualified advisers continue to struggle to find work.

With the regulations of the mortgage industry now well on the way, the exodus of the older and under qualified advisers has left a void and there is now a massive shortage of qualified advisers on a national basis. This is all well and good you may say but if you are a newly qualified adviser or considering entering the mortgage industry, how do you get fixed up with work without the need to buy into a mortgage franchise. Lets look at this below:

Newly Qualified Mortgage Advisers

The key to finding work as a mortgage is to quickly identify the market that you would prefer to work in, e.g. employed or self employed.

Banks, Building Societies, Estate Agents

As an employee, the starting salary of a trainee mortgage adviser is around ?18,000 - ?25,000 plus bonuses and in some instances a company car is supplied.

These positions are ideal for individuals that require an immediate income, security, and have a preference for being looked after and guided on a daily basis.

Mortgage Brokerages

There are however individuals who prefer a more flexible working arrangement of not having to turn up for work on a 9-5 situation and prefer to have the flexibility of working evenings and having their destiny in their own hands. Some of these brokerages offer different financial packages and the may range from fully commission only to part salary and part commission and in some instances a car may also be provided.

New Entrants and CeMAP Training Courses

Being in the Financial Services Industry for over 20 years, many people have asked me what it takes to become a qualified mortgage advisor. As the Marketing Director of Money Marketing Limited, a company that trains hundreds of budding UK mortgage advisers per month, I feel that I am well qualified to answer that question.

It takes dedication, focus, hard work, the ability to strive for success and a little help from cemap training courses.

So what criteria should you use when deciding on your future career direction? Well, try asking yourself a few of the following questions:

? Do you think that you would enjoy helping people with their finances?

? Would you prefer to be an employee?

? Would you like to be self-employed?

? Are you determined to become a high earner?

? Are you intent on being successful?

? Would you like to be in charge of your own destiny?

A ?yes? answer to most of these could mean that you could consider investigating how to become a mortgage adviser but before you do, let us look a little further. The start to becoming a UK mortgage advisor is passing a mortgage advice qualification and in my opinion the most recognised one in the UK is the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP)

You will not need academic qualifications to be able to pass the Cemap exams but one thing you will need is a strong desire to succeed in a highly competitive industry. If you are looking to start a career in Financial Services as a mortgage advisor but are finding it hard to get your foot in the door, let our dedicated team of industry-experienced CeMAP training professionals lead the way. We have people travelling to our venues from all parts of the country including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The best five-day cemap training courses are based on groups of around 10 people for ease of control and ability to interact with the tutor. The courses are extremely focused, intensive and prepare delegates for the CeMAP 1, 2, 3 exams. The courses fast track candidates in five-days per intensive course, in hotels throughout many regions of the UK, including London, Coventry, Sheffield, Manchester and the North West, ensuring that one of the CeMAP courses will be near to you.

The trainers successfully help individuals to pass their mortgage advice qualifications in literally days of intensive, fast track cemap training. Having said that, it can be easy for the gifted people who are just natural at passing academic exams. I recently spent a week with a group of 10 delegates on a CEMAP 2 & 3 training course and the range of abilities on the course was extremely diverse. The challenge here for the cemap trainer was to get them all to the same standard by the end of the week and prepare them for their exams, the week after. Nine out of the ten passed their relevant exams.

The challenges of the CeMAP exams are that you need to learn the qualification content and pass the exams at 70% but that is not all. Many people coming into the mortgage industry have not sat exams for years and in some cases not since they left school. Our CeMAP training courses were built for individuals who are new to the mortgage industry and as a consequence, we teach the course content and mock examine you on a daily basis.

The advantage to this system is obvious, not only are you learning the course content but the exam techniques as well. With strengths and weaknesses identified on a daily basis, it is easy to identify the areas that require extra tuition during the week. This proven system allows us to help hundreds of people get through their Certificate in Mortgage Advice & Practice (CeMAP) exams per month.

Do take care, as the route to becoming a mortgage adviser could be fraught with dangers for the unprepared and under researched person, as the journey could be a long and arduous one. Care should be taken when choosing the company for the initial CeMAP training as many organisations are strictly in the business of offering either a two-day revision course or a self-study CeMAP examination course that in our opinion is not enough.

Furthermore, there are unscrupulous organisations that may try to lure individuals into offering cheap CeMAP training courses and then taking ?5,000, ?6,000 or even ?9,000 off them in an attempt to recruit them into their mortgage business as mortgage advisers or offering them expensive mortgage franchises, which in my opinion are totally unnecessary.

Mortgage Advisor Jobs

We all aspire to the nice things in life but rarely do we find the ideal job that gives us job satisfaction. Before deciding on any career, you have to identify your strengths and weaknesses and decide on what career path you want to follow. Having decided that you would like to pursue the mortgage advisor career, you need exposure. The more potential employers that you can meet and talk too, the better the chance of finding those

The mortgage market is a recession proof business, as when times are good and consumer confidence is high, people tend to borrow for cars, holidays, home improvements and many other things. Then, when consumer spending has peaked and the economy slows down, many people experience difficulty repaying their debts and meeting their other financial commitments. In such circumstances, it is often necessary for them to consolidate their debts into one lower monthly repayment by remortgaging.

Remortgaging clients, debt consolidation, raising capital for home improvements, financing the purchase of holiday homes are all solutions that a mortgage advisor will be able to provide and it will keep them very busy in times of recession.

As previously mentioned, most mortgage advisors working for banks, building societies and estate agents work on a salary plus a bonus system and the employer keeps the bulk of the commission income generated from the sale of mortgages and insurances. The packages on offer to the employed UK mortgage advisor can range from a minimum of ?18,000 pa plus car and bonuses, to ?35,000 pa plus car and bonuses, dependent upon what part of the country you work in.

The self-employed mortgage advisor however can determine his/her own income but this can depend on a number of factors.

? How skilled are they?

? Do they arrange insurances?

? Do they and can they charge a broker fee?

For the right person the job of a mortgage advisor can be extremely satisfying and for the most successful ones the world is their oyster, as the opportunities are endless. Let your imagination run away with itself and picture the nice house, the quality car, the white sands on holiday and the clothes that you have always dreamed of.

For the inexperienced individuals who cannot expose themselves to the potential employers there is help available. Employment agencies, referral systems and inside knowledge are all areas that will help the determined mortgage advisor job seeker.

There are organizations out there that have established a number of contacts with potential employers and employment agencies to help newly qualified delegates to find mortgage advisor jobs within the UK mortgage market and I list below some of the things that potential employers look for at that all important interview.

?Well prepared CVs

?Previous experience

?Age

?Selling skills

?Previous record of income

?A record of success

?Staying power

?Ambition

?Presentable

?Honesty

?Reliability

These are all important areas that should be considered when applying for mortgage advisor jobs both before and during the initial interview but the all important thing is to sell yourself, as if you cannot do that then you will have little chance of selling to a customer.