Guaranteed Rate ramps up hiring with expanded training program

Guaranteed Rate is planning to hire 280 new employees through its revamped loan origination training program.

Employees in the so-called Liftoff training program report to Guaranteed Rate's online division. Liftoff, which is an expanded version of a former training program, incorporates guest lectures and certification exams and is completed over roughly eight to 12 weeks.

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After Liftoff employees go through training, they will originate loans for the Chicago-based lender's online division based on leads generated through its digital marketing and advertising channels. Applicants are not required to have any previous mortgage industry experience.

To accommodate the larger workforce, Guaranteed Rate is also planning to expand its office space by leasing an addition 22,000 square feet across two of its existing locations.

Guaranteed Rate would not provide an estimate of how much the hiring and accompanying office expansions will cost. The average compensation in the first year for the training program's employees tends to fall between $50,000 and $70,000, the company said. Based on those figures, the expanded workforce consequently could cost the lender as much as $19.6 million.

The company's hiring won't be limited to the Liftoff program – the company currently has plans to bring on new employees for its marketing, information technology and customer service department. Guaranteed Rate doesn't have an estimate currently on how many additional positions it expects to create outside of Liftoff, but did note that thus far in 2017 it has hired roughly 90 people already.

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