When banks lend money to customers, they must consider the ability of the customers to repay the loan in a timely manner as measured against the known risks and the value of the collateral offered. It is the job of a bank's loan officer to evaluate the merits of a loan request and then make a recommendation regarding whether or not to lend the money. To evaluate the commercial loan request described at right, a loan officer at Sterling Bank in Houston must gather information from a variety of sources, judge what information is most pertinent to a loan decision and synthesize the selected information into a credit request memo. This memo must convey findings of a technical nature to the loan committee members in a way that allows them to make the best decision on whether to approve the loan request.

Career Outlook

JOB	COMPENSATION	EDUCATION	NUMBER OF JOBS	OUTLOOK
Loan officers	Median annual earnings were $32,160 in 2000.	Bachelor's degree in finance, economics or a related field	265,000 jobs in 2000	Loan officers: slower than average; loan counselors: average

Source: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2002–03, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.