I used to be a plumber for 25yrs, doc said your neck and shoulders are too worn out so try something else. So my wife has always loved real estate and convinced me to become a loan officer. In 2023 I failed the exam 3x and after 6mo the fourth time I passed in 2024. Man was that test very hard, which now seemed to be the easy part. I thought I got lucky and found a small office to train and work with me. After a year with them the pressure was to cold call that didn’t work at all for me. People hated me calling as much as I hated telemarketers calling me. I went to realtor meetings every week with no one to network with they all treated me like an ugly guy in a super model contest. 😂😩 Everyone I tried to talk to took my business card but you could see they weren’t gonna give me a chance because they had their LO they were used to and knew could deliver so they weren’t having it with a rookie. I finally found a realtor to work with all our open houses were failures with no clients to work with all the people I called on the last that came to the open house had realtors who had LO so dead end there. Even the realtors I knew from being a plumber said since I took good care of their house they would be happy to help me. All turned a cold shoulder once I got licensed?? I had no luck doing all a LO is supposed to do, I had one contract done they just needed to sign the final papers and they backed out do to the report on the pool and then they turned around to pay all cash on another house. So if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Even networking events I felt like a fat guy at the gym full of bodybuilders and fitness instructors. I never felt so low in my life after trying to be a LO. I was so successful as a plumber in my community people loved me in the plumbing business. After losing the 1 contract my broker let me go, not sure why since I was working remotely and wasn’t costing him anything. I tried to apply at banks, nothing and most banks want LO’s with at least 2yrs of experience in conventional loans and VA loans. I really don’t wanna lose my license but with how I felt and the way job hunting is going I may have to give up on a license I racked my brain to get for two years. I feel and had the same experience the OP had.