U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration https://www.onetonline.org 10m 2,423 #insights
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Provide guidance to prospective loan applicants who have problems qualifying for traditional loans. Guidance may include determining the best type of loan and explaining loan requirements or restrictions.
Sample of reported job titles:
Commercial Lending Vice President, Financial Aid Administrator, Financial Aid Advisor, Financial Aid Counselor, Financial Aid Director, Financial Aid Officer, Financial Assistance Advisor, Financial Counselor, Loan Counselor, Peer Financial Counselor
Tasks
- Maintain current knowledge of credit regulations.
- Contact applicants or creditors to resolve questions about applications or to assist with completion of paperwork.
- Counsel clients on personal and family financial problems, such as excessive spending or borrowing of funds.
- Advise students on available financial-aid awards.
- Analyze applicants’ financial status, credit, and property evaluations to determine feasibility of granting loans.
- Contact borrowers with delinquent accounts to obtain payment in full or to negotiate repayment plans.
- Assist in selection of financial award candidates using electronic databases to certify loan eligibility.
- Approve loans within specified limits.
- Review billing for accuracy.
- Match students’ needs and eligibility with available financial aid programs to provide informed recommendations.
- Inform individuals and groups about the financial assistance available to college or university students.
- Establish payment priorities according to credit terms and interest rates to reduce clients’ overall costs.
- Supervise loan personnel.
- Interview applicants and request specified information for loan applications.
- Check loan agreements to ensure that they are complete and accurate, according to policies.
- Submit applications to credit analysts for verification and recommendation.
- Compare data on student aid applications with eligibility requirements of assistance programs.
- Review accounts to determine write-offs for collection agencies.
- Provide entrance or exit loan counseling to students.
- Maintain and review account records, updating and recategorizing them according to status changes.
- Calculate amount of debt and funds available to plan methods of payoff and to estimate time for debt liquidation.
- Refer loans to loan committees for approval.
- Open accounts for clients and disburse funds from clients’ accounts to creditors.
- Analyze potential loan markets to find opportunities to promote loans and financial services.
- Locate debtors using post office directories, utility services account listings, or mailing lists.
Technology Skills
Knowledge
- Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Skills
- Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
- Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics — Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Time Management — Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
- Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Abilities
- Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility — The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Perceptual Speed — The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Work Activities
- Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
- Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
- Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
- Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
- Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Detailed Work Activities
- Educate clients on financial planning topics.
- Assess financial status of clients.
- Inform individuals or organizations of status or findings.
- Verify application data to determine program eligibility.
- Authorize financial actions.
- Verify accuracy of records.
- Develop financial plans for clients.
- Conduct eligibility or selection interviews.
- Supervise employees.
- Submit financial applications.
- Update knowledge of legal or regulatory environments.
- Verify accuracy of financial information.
- Correspond with customers to answer questions or resolve complaints.
- Advise others on financial matters.
- Examine financial records.
- Compute debt repayment schedules.
- Maintain data in information systems or databases.
- Disburse funds from clients accounts to creditors.
- Analyze market conditions or trends.
- Confer with others about financial matters.
- Negotiate agreements to resolve disputes.
Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities
Work Context
- Spend Time Sitting — 99% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
- Electronic Mail — 93% responded “Every day.”
- Contact With Others — 83% responded “Constant contact with others.”
- Face-to-Face Discussions — 77% responded “Every day.”
- Frequency of Decision Making — 84% responded “Every day.”
- Telephone — 85% responded “Every day.”
- Structured versus Unstructured Work — 32% responded “Some freedom.”
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 58% responded “Extremely important.”
- Freedom to Make Decisions — 38% responded “Some freedom.”
- Work With Work Group or Team — 65% responded “Extremely important.”
- Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 16% responded “Moderate results.”
- Coordinate or Lead Others — 61% responded “Extremely important.”
- Deal With External Customers — 66% responded “Extremely important.”
- Letters and Memos — 63% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
- Time Pressure — 26% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
- Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — 15% responded “Every day.”
- Importance of Repeating Same Tasks
- Duration of Typical Work Week — 16% responded “Less than 40 hours.”
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
- Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 47% responded “Moderate responsibility.”
- Level of Competition — 19% responded “Slightly competitive.”
- Frequency of Conflict Situations — 50% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 39% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
Job Zone
| Title | Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed |
| Education | Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor’s degree, but some do not. |
| Related Experience | A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified. |
| Job Training | Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training. |
| Job Zone Examples | Many of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, chemists, art directors, and cost estimators. |
| SVP Range | (7.0 to < 8.0) |
Education
 Percentage of Respondents | Education Level Required |
|---|---|
| Not available | High school diploma or equivalent  |
| Not available | Some college, no degree |
| Not available | Bachelor’s degree |
Interests
Interest code: ESC
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- Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
- Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
- Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Styles
- Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
- Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
- Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
- Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
- Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
- Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others’ needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
- Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
- Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
- Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
- Independence — Job requires developing one’s own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
- Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
- Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
- Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
- Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
- Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Work Values
- Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
- Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
- Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Wages & Employment Trends
Median wages data collected from Credit Counselors.
Employment data collected from Credit Counselors.
Industry data collected from Credit Counselors.
| Median wages (2018) | $21.72 hourly, $45,180 annual |
| State wages | |
| Employment (2018) | 40,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2018-2028) |  Faster than average (7% to 10%) |
| Projected job openings (2018-2028) | 3,800 |
| State trends | |
| Top industries (2018) | |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018 wage data
and 2018-2028 employment projections.
“Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2018-2028). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.
Source: https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-2071.01
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