[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I just had to deal with this. As some of you may know, I am a felon (armed robbery from '92, did 3.5 years in the MD state prison system followed by three years of parole and probation). I am also a Loan Officer and I have been for years. When I got into the industry, there was no regulation at all, back in '07 they started implementing state licensing which was easy to get, as it was just a matter of completing a 40 hour course, but now the government is mandating a national database of all loan officers that will be originating loans or talking to customers. Six months ago I was denied.
So I appealed it and was further denied, so the company I was working with basically said, “we luv ya, but you gotta go”. So I did two things: first I started another business distributing renewable energy products so that my income would be consistent (it’s against my religion to touch savings after I’ve invested it - especially with the losses I’ve taken in the past few years). I was able to find several distribution channels and my most popular product is solar water heaters. I have a strong sales and marketing background so it was not very hard for me to put up a website, SEO it, and generate some traffic. I also focused on federal contracts and I won several bids. So I handled the immediate cash flow challenge. That’s why I kinda dropped off the face of the earth around here back in November until recently - I’ve been busy!
The second thing I did was explore the regulations and restrictions I was facing. As it turns out, the licensing requirements are more focused on a State level and bringing all of the States into one common standard. In my research, I discovered that Federally Chartered Banks are exempt from licensing! Now all I’ve ever worked for was Brokers (companies that are essentially “middle men” between customers and lenders) and Correspondent Lenders (Companies that have the power to underwrite, but immediately sell the loan to investors in the secondary market).
Now my challenge was to find a BANK that would hire a guy who went to PRISON for ARMED ROBBERY! So picked up the phone and started dialing. I went to the top - I didn’t call HR departments, I was dialing Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies. I’m in sales, so I definitely didn’t “wing it”, I spent the better part of a week preparing an outline, a script with openers, hooks, hot buttons, tie downs, and closes. I spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror (even on phone calls, facial expression and body language is somehow sub communicated) and the first 20 phone calls I made were to banks that were NOT federally chartered so I could make my mistakes and get a comfortable flow going. My goal was lunch with a VP or President with them going in knowing the whole situation (getting an appointment would have been easy, I wanted an appointment with them knowing I was a felon and knowing I wanted to be hired). When I nailed five in a row, I knew I was ready to start calling the banks I was interested in.
To make a long story short, I eventually went on four lunch appointments with two Presidents and two VPs. I was able to slam - dunk those interviews and eventually chose the bank that I wanted to work for. I am now working in the mortgage division for one of the top five largest banks in the US - if you heard the name, you would immediately recognize it. The hiring process was easy when the President tells the head of the HR department in front of me, “figure out a way to get this guy on board - whatever it takes”. They still did their due diligence, and I had to jump through some major hoops with writing several letters of explanation and several other interviews and verifying the loan volume I was bringing to the table (I dropped over three million in volume in their lap, before the second interview and before I was hired to show them I could put my money where my mouth was). So I just sent the signed offer letter in last week.
If I , a felon convicted of ARMED ROBBERY, can get a job at a BANK in a recession, your buddy can get a sales job. His felony is more than seven years old, for crying out loud! It’ll take some effort. Absolutely. The question is, is providing for his children WORTH the effort? Is changing his self limiting belief system WORTH the effort? Is having an unshakable belief in himself and his success WORTH the effort? Tell him to quit feeling sorry for himself and go out and sell the product that he knows the most about and hopefully believes in the most: HIMSELF! [/quote]
Not that this needs to be said, but that’s called HUSSLIN’, folks. Young-ins, take note. AC, I really enjoy (and take to heart) the majority of your contributions/postings.