Tell me about being a bank teller

[salmoneous]

I've got a friend who is thinking about a total switch in careers, but really doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She walked in a bank the other day, saw that it was a nice environment and that the tellers seemed to be enjoying their job, etc. But, other being in a bank every now and then, she knows nothing about the job. I told her I'd throw a post up here and see if I could get some info. She figures it doesn't pay to well, but that's not an issue for her.

If any of you folks are bank tellers, or know people who are bank tellers, could you talk a little bit about that the job is like - the good, the bad. etc.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,
Sal

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I was a bank teller 20 years ago. I'm sure things have changed since then.
I didn't think it was that great. For one the pay is low.
The thing I did like about was talking to the costumers each day. It did feel like a friendly environment.

Most people transferred or got promoted to other areas of the bank after awhile.

 

[bsnyder]

I worked in the banking industry for 13 years. I started in a management training program after college and received training in all bank departments, including stints as a teller.

You need an apptitude for numbers. Strong attention to detail. The ability to work under pressure and sometimes for long hours at a stretch (Fridays are very long days in the retail banking industry!). Good customer service skills are important, and nowadays, at most of the larger banks, even the tellers are required to cross-sell other banking services and products.

On the last point - if your friend does have some sales ability, the teller position can be a great stepping stone to a higher paying position in banking - customer service rep or branch management.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

I'm not a teller, but I work at a bank.

The pay is on the lower scale, but the job isn't that hard. The hours aren't too bad (depending on branch) and if Saturday work is required, it's only a few hours.

You should be a people person, since you deal with many people each day. For the most part, the customers are nice. If there is an issue, tellers generally don't deal with it; instead, customer service or a manager will.

The nice part is getting off all holidays.

 

[LindaR]

I was a teller (worked my way to mortgage loan officer). Hated banking....or what banking made me become.

Being a teller is not quite as "easy" as some people think. Yes, it is one of the lowest paid positions....but you some ALOT of responsibility. You are the frontline person in most cases that a customers seeks out when there is a problem. That means that generally, you will see people at their worst and get blamed for things that are not necessarily the responsibility of your department. For example, if a customer had a check bounced, they would come marching in the front door and head straight for a teller to yell at. It is the job of the teller to listen, empathize with the customer and direct them to the proper department ALL while trying to maintain good relations!

A teller will stand on her feet ALL day (in heels). There is a certain amount of pressure to dress to a certain standard (even when you cannot afford that standard) because you are representing your company (lots of banks have "uniforms" which are quite pricey and are a requirement).

Everyone makes mistakes (which are ok as long as they are found and corrected)....being off in your cash drawer WILL get you fired....and there is not necessarily a certain amount that will cause firing (one cent or one hundred dollars........off is off). A teller who frequently makes errors will either lose her job or will not get promoted.

There are lots of high pressure/high volume days.

Your customers can be a very loyal group of people! They may stand in line for YOU when they could have gone to another teller and been finished a few minutes ago. I had a rapport with the senior citizens (especially the very cranky ones!) and they LOVED that I remembered something they had said to me the last time they came in (son/daughter coming to visit...etc) and asked about it. I had one lady that I got to know and she would make special Fillipino foods and bring them to me on certain Fridays! YUMMY!

I have to say that I did really like being a teller (because I am a perfectionist) except for the extremely low pay.

 

[cepmom]

I'm interested in this as well. I currently work customer service at a large retail store. Looking to get out since I can't stand the nights and weekends anymore. How low pay are we talking? I can't imagine it's lower than what I am currently making in retail

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Wow, it really must depend on the bank, because a lot of these things don't happen around here.

Our bank does require us to dress in business casual attire. We do not have to wear heels, suits, etc. We can buy things from Lands End and the bank will pay half (the shirts will have our logo on it). Some people do dress up, but it's only if they want to. Fridays are more casual and several times a year we are allowed to wear jeans (we donate money to charity in order to do so).

The tellers all have stools they sit on (no standing for hours in heels).

I don't believe that I have seen a teller get yelled at by a customer, but it could be because customer service is right up front; no one needs to go to a teller.

It may be that we are more of a community bank (with several locations) than a Bank of America, but I find most of what I speak about in other banks around here as well.

I think the pay starts around $8.75 an hour. Insurance costs aren't too bad (especially if it's just for you. I think it's about $50 a month for medical, dental, vision). We get 10 vacation days, five sick days, and a personal day. There is also a retirement/pension plan (we don't pay into that) and we can still get a 401K.

We don't live in a high cost area, so the pay/benefits are decent compared to other jobs.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I worked retail management for several years, and I thought being a bank teller might be a good change of pace. This was about 16 years ago, but it was NOT a good fit for me.

The pay is low - about the same as a retail sales position.

The thing that was hard for me was time management. You have to be able to accomplish ALL of these things in a short amount of time. No matter which thing you are trying to finish, somebody will fuss at you. For example, I had people come turn in all these rolls of change. I was supposed to hand carry them back to the change counting machine and count them, but I never had time! I was constantly busy with customers at my station. As soon as there was a lull one of the more experienced tellers would close and go off to do other stuff, so there I was!

I also found the training to be SEVERELY lacking. There are forms you have to fill out for certain types of transactions and if you don't fill them out you are in HUGE trouble. I knew there was a form for cash over $10,000, but there was another form for lower amounts. I SWEAR nobody ever told me that until I missed filling one out!

I didn't like it AT ALL, and after about a month I went back to retail.

 

[ead79]

I worked as a bank teller for a large bank during college. It was a great job for me at the time.

You need to have good attention to detail and an ability to remember bank policies regarding different transactions. You need to enjoy working with people and have good customer service skills. At many banks these days, the tellers are expected to cross-sell other products (say for example, someone has a savings account with a large balance--the teller could recommend they speak to customer service about opening a money market account to earn more return on their money). Though the majority of customers are polite, it's also good if you're able to keep your calm if someone is rude to you (money can make people do some crazy things, LOL).

The biggest factor is choosing a branch with a positive working environment. Just like with any other job, that makes a HUGE difference. It's also good if you can find a bank that has a good training program. My bank had a great one that involved both classroom and on the job training. Also, remember that when you're new it's OK to ask questions. It's better to ask than to do something incorrect and risk getting into trouble. Since it's a job that deals with large sums of money, properly following procedures is critical.

Some of the other positives of the job are regular work hours and access to full benefits including health insurance. The pay isn't great, but it usually meets or exceeds retail job pay and has much better hours than retail.

Some of the things mentioned above vary from bank to bank. We were expected to dress business casual and did not have to wear heels. We had high stools to sit on, though you needed to stand up during the really busy times to be able to process transactions a bit more quickly. We had lots of holidays and paid vacation. I had a really good experience.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I don't have first hand experience, but my mom has been a bank teller for many years. She does like spending a few minutes talking to her regular customers when they come in, but usually it's a busy-busy-busy-you better not make a single mistake type of job where she works. Her hours used to be pretty good until several years ago, when the bank decided to open way early and open on Saturdays. Now she gets yucky work shifts once in a while.

For her, it's a high stress job and she wants to get out of it but she is biding her time until she can retire.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

It was the absolute worst job I have ever had. I hated every single second of being a teller. The job itself wasn't horrible but the pay was pitiful and the people were not very nice. I would not work in a bank ever again. This was my experience. YMMV.

 

[RSoxFan]

My parents met when they were working as bank tellers. My mom liked it, but she said it was hard work. She talks about how hard it was sometimes to make her drawer balance at the end of the day (this was 30 years ago, so I don't know if this still applies). They were held up one day and they both quit after that.

 

[tmarquez]

I was a teller for only a few months while waiting for my current job to open up. Before that I was in retail management.

The pay was ok for the type of job it is. I think it was around $11 per hour to start. The hours are good (we weren't open weekends). We had stools to sit on and dress was business casual...you didn't have to wear heels.

We had great training and it really wasn't a stressful place to work, although you do need to pay attention to the detail. If you're not this kind of person, don't do it or the job will seem stressful to you.

The people that came into the bank were generally either older folks or just very odd. You will definately have "regulars" like the PP said...they will wait in line so they get you.

 

[JVL1018]

I was a bank teller for a few years.

Yes, attention to detail is a must, there is more to the job than cashing and depositing checks. You need to know about everything the bank offers from savings and checking accounts to CDs and IRAs to mortgages and HECLs to wires and foreign drafts.

I liked it a lot, I liked most of the customers(you will most likely get a lot of elderly people, they like coming to the bank, I swear it's their social time, LOL) and being personable is a big part of the job. But there are psychos who will curse you out for asking for ID even when they are a brand new customer and no one knows them. But you know you're right, so it's not that big of a deal.

Bank tellers and the CSR positions were lateral where I worked(United Jersey turned into Summit, turned into Fleet and finally Bank Of Ameria(I was there through Fleet), pay was the same.
I thought the pay wasn't too bad. I started at $10/hour back in 1995, as a regular teller.
The benefits were good, you could move up very easily, the hours were great, I had to be there at 8:45, we opened at 9, closed at 3, I was out by 3:20 on most days(we were fast and proved quickly at the end of the day).
Some Saturdays, but not all, and the bank was only open until 12 anyway.

Dress was business casual, no jeans, no sleeveless shirts. We had chairs/stools to sit on, though when it was really busy you were standing for hours, but wan't bad.

I started hating it when they started making us sell sell sell, we had quotas we had to meet.
I always met them but it could be difficult.

 

[Chloe'sMom]

I loved being a bank teller - I was a teller for 3 to 4 years while I went to college.

Great things about being a teller:
*paid bank holidays
*Saturday hours of 8 to 12, no Sundays, no late nights.
*Drive-thru window - fast paced, clients aren't in your face.
*If you like the people you work with you can have a lot of fun being a teller.
*Talking to different people everyday.
*Easy job - computer system does all the work for the most part you just have to know how to put it in correctly.
*Freebies - business owners love bank tellers - we use to get free pies form a bakery all the time, I got a whole new braking system for the car (more then just pads) for free because I went to the garage next door. I also wore REALLY short skirts when I was 19.

Bad things about being a teller:
*the day after a bank holiday little old ladies flock to the bank at opening to check their balance - I don't know why.
*Smelly customers.
*You begin to think of money as dirty paper.
*Some individuals visit the bank DAILY
*Being out of balance - you can look all day to find a $10.00 mistake.
*You can be on your feet alot, and it can be very fast paced - but most tellers have stools now to sit on.

I tell my husband all the time that if it ever becomes possible for me to work part-time that I am going to go back to being a teller.

~Amanda

 

[ericamanda01]

I was a teller at two different banks and had the same likes and dislikes at both.

Likes:
-The hours rock! No nights, holidays, no sundays and depending on the branch no weekends at all.
-There is always room for advancement should you want to go into banking other fields of finance.
-There are some really great customers that treat you wonderfully.
-Most larger banks, Bofa, Wamu, Wells Fargo ect have great health care, 401k programs, as well as discount programs.

Dislikes:
-Standing. At both banks there was no sitting for the tellers. But we didn't have to wear heals.
-Rude customers. In all my years in retail, even at christmas time at a toy store, I have never been treated so badly as I have while working in banking. I, as well as all my co-workers, have been called every foul name in the book, I had a customer spit on me and threaten my life. When it comes to peoples money it can get very ulgy.
-Robbery, it's a fact, it can happen.