underwriter

What does an underwriter do at work every day? Though it might seem like you spend a lot of your time sitting around doing paperwork, your job has a lot of variety. Throughout the day, you'll often find yourself doing one or more of these tasks:

• talking to customers: You'll need to learn a lot about the customers you're underwriting, so you have to spend some time talking to them. Underwriters often need to request specific paperwork or call clients to ask for clarification.
• review and confirm applications: When customers submit applications, it's your job to review them. You have to verify all the information and make sure customers entered the right details.
• identify potential fraud: You have to look out for warning signs of fraud. If you can't verify an applicant's truthfulness, you'll flag their claim for more investigation.
• assess signs of risk: One of the most important parts of your job is analyzing risk. You look at things like how much money a client makes and what credit score they have. Then you use these details to see how likely it is that your company will have to pay an insurance claim or foreclose on a house.
• make eligibility and pricing decisions: After assessing risk, you then consider how much the customer would have to pay your company to offset the potential risk. Low-risk customers pay less, high-risk customers pay more, and extremely high-risk customers are often declined.
• draft policies and documents: All of your recommendations then get turned into official loan offers or insurance policies. If your supervisor approves, the client then gets an official contract.

Being an underwriter is an office job. You perform all of your tasks indoors and do not need to travel. Recently, there have been an increasingly large number of remote job opportunities for underwriters. In these cases, you still work in an office, but it's your home office instead of a corporate office. Whether you work remotely or not, you'll spend much of your time sitting at a desk with your computer. Modern underwriting is typically done with software, but there may be a little physical paperwork to do as well. In cases with hard documents, you'll end up leaving your desk occasionally to file paperwork.

Your main colleagues will be other underwriters. Most companies that hire underwriters have an entire team of underwriters working together to handle their customers. Depending on the industry you work in, your colleagues might include loan processors and actuaries. You may also work in close proximity with customer service representatives, administrative assistants, and other support staff. Some jobs also have you working with specialists like mortgage brokers and financial analysts.

Being an underwriter is almost always a full-time job. People usually work around 40 hours per week. Overtime is rare in this industry. You'll typically find yourself working weekdays between around 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. with a lunch break of around 30 to 60 minutes. Some companies may offer chances at more flexible scheduling. If you work in insurance, you could potentially ask to work on nights or weekends. This is usually a salaried position, so you do not clock in and out each day. Instead, you go to work regularly and stay until you finish your work for the day. Some companies with remote workers allow their employees to set their own schedules entirely.

BLS data shows that the underwriting industry is declining. The number of new jobs should decrease by 4% by 2031. However, even though there isn't a lot of growth, there would still be some job opportunities opening as older underwriters leave. An estimated 8,400 new jobs will open each year.

This decline is primarily due to the rise in automated underwriting which uses computer programs to evaluate risk automatically. However, automated underwriting only works for simple cases where customers fill out forms clearly. More complex cases or situations where customers have a lot of paper documents still require human input. Therefore, underwriters who specialize in customer interviews, complex underwriting, and fraud detection will have more opportunities. You can make yourself stand out by focusing on the parts of underwriting that a computer is unable to do.

Working through Randstad offers you a range of benefits:

• being paid weekly
• flexibility
• always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
• many training opportunities
• a range of jobs in your area

Want a permanent contract? But you wonder why it would be interesting for you to work with a staffing company? A temporary job as underwriter is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too!

Unlike some types of brokers or insurance agents, underwriters do not need a license. There are no federal or state licensing requirements. However, some jobs will require you to get certified before getting a job. Unlike the licensing process, the certification process is often shorter and requires fewer fees and legal paperwork.

Most underwriters use standard office software like Excel, Word, and Outlook. They also use a variety of accounting and underwriting software. Some big companies have their own proprietary software, while smaller companies encourage you to use third-party software. Popular options include Applied Rater, PL Rating, and Duck Creek Rating.

A broker works on behalf of individual customers to help them find the right mortgage or insurance policy for their needs. Meanwhile, underwriters work on behalf of the mortgage or insurance company. They are the ones actually creating the policies that brokers present to their clients.

Each client usually takes between two to three days of work to process. However, if your customer is particularly complex, it can take up to six weeks to finalize their case.

In most cases, you are the one directly approving or denying customers. The only exception would be if you're an entry-level underwriter working under someone else's supervision. Furthermore, most institutions will have an appeals process, so you can redirect clients to another department if they complain about a denial.

Applying for an underwriter job is easy create a Randstad profile and search our underwriter jobs for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV. If you do not have a resume, no worries. Just check out our resume builder. This state of the art tool will help you to create your own resume. Need help with your application? Check out all our job-hunting tips!