What should a Mortgage Underwriter have on their CV?

As specialists in recruitment in the Mortgage sector, to stand out in the competitive job market we know that it is essential to have a strong CV that showcases your skills and experience as a mortgage underwriter. In this article, we will discuss what a Mortgage Underwriter should have on their CV, highlighting key responsibilities and skills that align with the role.

Have you held a mandate? You should highlight if you’ve ever held a mandate – include how long you held it for, the volume of cases you dealt with, what the value was and what type of mortgage your mandate was in regard to. So If you had a mandate of £200k for a residential mortgage but your sign off for a buy-to-let mortgage was £150k, specify it. Detailing your mandate provides recruiters and hiring managers an immediate insight into your experience and allows them to qualify you.

What lending products have you underwritten? It’s important to disclose the range of products you’ve been exposed to when underwriting as this provides future employers an idea of if you are familiar of the intricacies of the products that they lend and whether you will be able to transition to the role quicker. It’s also of great benefit to detail the type of customers or product sub-types your underwriting experience is related to. For example, if you are underwriting HMO applications, provide that detail as opposed to generalising it under a buy-to-let mortgage. This will separate you from any underwriter that is just underwriting vanilla buy-to-let and showcase your complex underwriting background, which is a big bonus.

Have you worked for a specialist or intermediary only lender? Many specialist or intermediary only lenders are keen to see candidates with similar exposure. Many candidates fail to show this on their CV and assume the internal recruitment team will know the difference – they don’t always know.

For intermediary only lenders (lenders that specifically work with brokers) – highlighting you have experience of working with brokers is Key! This is a valuable experience to have as lenders with no retail channel will be more inclined to consider someone who understands their model and the value of providing a good service to brokers.

Do you underwrite manually? Highlighting that you have manual underwriting experience is a big PLUS! Not all lenders will work from an automated scorecard and will require strong credit assessment skills with a proven track record of manual underwriting.

If you do not have a manual underwriting background don’t be deterred, but do not be ambiguous about it on your CV. It will serve you better to outline your experience on your CV rather than progressing through the process under any assumptions.

Have you had any experience in underwriting outside of policy? Highlight if you’ve had any experience underwriting outside of policy – showing you can demonstrate strong credit assessment ability. This shows a commercial aptitude and demonstrate to hirers the value added credit skills you can bring to their business.

In conclusion, to stand out in a competitive job market for Mortgage Underwriters, it is essential to highlight key responsibilities and skills that align with the role and answer questions that would be at the forefront of the minds of potential employers.

Want to know more about Mortgage Underwriting jobs we have available? See how we at Stellar Select can help you in your job search – You can also contact us to find out more on how you can become a mortgage underwriter and how we can help you during your recruitment journey.