Hiring for a brokerage
For principals hiring into a broking business: when to hire, who to hire next, what it costs, and the mistakes that cost more.
27 posts on hiring, newest first.
Commercial finance is growing faster than the brokers who can write it
Commercial finance broker numbers in Australia rose 6.3% in 2025 while the commercial and asset finance they settled rose 27.4%. Where principals find them.
Read it. →- When to hire another mortgage broker, and when the leads can wait. →
- 'Salary: competitive' in a mortgage broker job description →
- Junior mortgage broker jobs and the path that never arrives →
- Bank to broker: will your clients follow? Two bankers, two answers →
- Franchise vs independent broker: the biggest split often pays least →
Everything else on this.
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Selling your brokerage? Trail book valuation needs a second face
Trail book valuation sits near 2.39 times annual trail, but valuers mark down a book only one broker knows. Why sellers hire a second broker years out.
8 min read → -
How long does it take to hire a mortgage broker? The full timeline
The recruitment timeline in mortgage broking runs past the search. Notice, aggregator checks, lender accreditation and settlement add months to the hire.
7 min read → -
Australian mortgage broker statistics: loans up 17%, brokers up 9%.
Mortgage broker industry statistics for Australia in 2025, from the MFAA. Loans up 17.2%, brokers up 9.1%, and what the gap means for your next hire.
8 min read → -
Offshore loan processing vs a local hire, and what stays onshore.
Offshore loan processing vs local hire: what offshore support costs a brokerage, why files bounce back from credit, and the onshore seat worth paying for.
8 min read → -
Credit analyst vs loan processor: what's the difference in a brokerage?
Credit analyst vs loan processor: one assesses the file before it goes to a lender, the other gets it to settlement. What each does, earns and needs.
9 min read → -
ASIC's mortgage broker reference check says nothing about volume
A mortgage broker reference check under ASIC's protocol covers conduct, not volume. How to verify a broker's settlements and conversion before you hire.
8 min read → -
In broker salary and commission deals, the first $2m can pay nothing.
How a mortgage broker salary and commission structure pays back the base before any bonus, and why a $2m monthly line decides who takes the seat.
9 min read → -
Mortgage broker employment contracts: who wears the clawback?
A mortgage broker employment contract decides who wears the clawback, who keeps the trail and whether the offer survives on paper. Brokers read those first.
8 min read → -
'Leads provided' in mortgage broker jobs rarely comes with a number
Mortgage broker jobs with leads provided rarely say how many, what converts or who owns the client. What brokers and principals each fear, and what to agree.
8 min read → -
Returning to employment after running your own brokerage
Returning to employment after self-employment, read from both desks: what the broker coming back fears, what the principal fears, and what makes it hold.
8 min read → -
The first operations hire that turns a busy broker into a business.
When should a mortgage broker make their first operations hire? The role that separates a busy broker from a business you could sell, and why most principals make it two years too late.
4 min read → -
AI won't kill the loan processor role. It'll rewrite the job.
AI won't replace your loan processor. It rewrites the role. The support hire your brokerage actually needs in 2026, what it costs, and how to test for it.
5 min read → -
79% of brokers won't move. Here's what it takes to recruit the other 21%.
How do you recruit experienced mortgage brokers? Four in five won't switch. The barrier is rarely the offer, it's trail, salary gaps and restraint clauses nobody checks early.
6 min read → -
You just acquired a brokerage. Now you've got 6 staff you didn't interview.
Buyers due-diligence the trail book to the cent and ignore the people who make it real. In broking M&A, the loan processor is the risk nobody models.
6 min read → -
We hire for attitude. Then why did you reject my last three candidates?
Most principals say they hire for attitude, then reject candidates for lacking experience. The broker turnover data suggests a lot of brokerages are doing the opposite of what they claim.
5 min read → -
42% of brokers are solo operators. Your first hire will make or break you.
Nearly half of Australian brokerages run on one person, and the number is growing. The first hire most solo brokers make is the wrong one. Here is the one that works.
5 min read → -
1,200 new brokers entered in FY25. Where did they come from?
The broker population passed 24,000 in 2025. The headline is growth, but the composition of that growth matters far more if you are hiring or switching careers.
5 min read → -
Broker density may not be the opportunity signal people think it is.
Low broker density looks like an open market. More often it means a smaller addressable market with tighter networks, and it makes a poor hiring or relocation filter.
4 min read → -
Why your broker job ads aren't landing, and what to do about it.
A finance role that keeps resurfacing on SEEK is not just persistence, it is a signal. Here is what reposting a broker job ad tells the market and how to fix the brief.
4 min read → -
The resource war for talent in finance broking.
As broking consolidates, capital and technology matter, but talent is the real differentiator. Here is what it takes to win the right people in a consolidating market.
4 min read → -
Hiring is a sales process, not a HR process.
Most brokers treat hiring like policy and wonder why top performers walk. The best candidates are choosing you as much as you are choosing them. Here is how to actually close them.
3 min read →
Hiring into a brokerage?
Tell me the seat and the business. You'll get a straight read on the market, and on whether you need a recruiter at all.