We all strive for success by studying for university degrees, attend courses and continuously look for a spark for direction in life and it's not until we see a professional person in front of us that we realise that it's a job that we would like to do. It seems easy watching that individual working at the height of their career without realising what price they have had to pay to achieve success.

Being in the Financial Services Industry for over 20 years, many people have asked me what it takes to become a successful mortgage broker. 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 and the ability to strive for success plus attending a CeMAP training course in order to become a mortgage broker."

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

? Would you prefer to be an employee?

? Are you intent on being successful?

? Would you like to be self-employed?

? Are you determined to become a high earner?

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

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

A ?yes? answer to most of these questions could mean that you should consider investigating how to become a mortgage broker but before you do, let's look a little further. The start to becoming a mortgage broker means 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)

Do you need to have a degree to pass the exams? 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.

Would you like to become a mortgage broker?

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 dedicated team of industry-experienced CeMAP training professionals lead the way.

These trainers successfully help individuals to pass their mortgage advice qualifications in literally days of intensive, fast track Cemap training in order to become a mortgage broker. 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 examination 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. Some CeMAP training courses are built for individuals who are new to the mortgage industry and as a consequence, they 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 broker 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 with a view to taking ?5,000, ?6,000 or even ?9,000 off them in an attempt to either recruit them into their mortgage business as mortgage advisers or offering them an expensive mortgage franchise.