Mortgage professionals increasingly sought after

The recent uptick in mortgage business hasn’t kept key professionals from taking their experience outside the channel – even as the industry ramps up employment

The recent uptick in mortgage business hasn’t kept key professionals from taking their experience outside the channel – even as the industry ramps up employment.

Risk management and advisory service companies are increasingly looking within the mortgage industry for new talent, hoping to cash in on a wealth of financial experience.

One company looking to fill its capital markets team plucked a VP from a mortgage lender operations and product development department for new talent.

“MCT is staffing up to ensure we continue to provide unparalleled support for our clients,” says Curtis Richins, president of MCT Trading Inc., a risk management player. It recently swooped into the originator channel looking for financial services experience. The result was the hire of CMG Mortgage’s senior vice president of operations and director of product development, Ben Coll.

“Ben’s extensive mortgage banking background adds significant value to the MCT team and we are pleased to have him on board,” says Richins.

MCT is not alone, other businesses strictly outside mortgage originations have cottoned onto the value-add professionals in that sector have to offer. Unfortunately for the industry, their interest comes at a time when more originators and other mortgage professionals are needed.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will likely be 77,000 new jobs added to the mortgage industry in the next five to six years – which is good news for jobseekers.

However, says David Lykken, the founder and chief transformation officer at TMS-Advisors, it will be the quality of new hires filling those 77,000 positions that will determine to a large extent how the future of the industry fares.

“We need to be careful about who we bring into the field and how we train them,” Lykken told MPA. “Along with seeking out people who are ambitious and productive, we want to emphasize integrity and character.”

As the baby boomer cohort begins leaving the industry in greater numbers, experience is the trump card for many companies looking to hire – and the quality of those new hires has taken on a whole new importance, given the talent drain that has already been set in motion.