Interview with a Bank Teller

INTERVIEW OF A BANK TELLER

1. Vocation: What is your job title/position/job description?

Personal Banking Representative (Bank Teller)

2. Do you belong to a union?

No, there are none for this job.

3. Describe your physical work environment.

I work in a large two-story bank, called a banking center, with 10-12 teller stations, 12 cubicles for salespeople, and a four lane drive-through banking area, with several offices upstairs.

4. Please describe a typical day (do you travel, hours you work, etc)

A typical day starts at either 8 or 11:30 am, depending on which shift I’m scheduled. If I start at 8 am, I can be done by 5, if I start at 11:30, I can be done about 7:30. This is a large branch, and our hours run from 9 am – 7 pm. Smaller branches are open 9-5.

Two people must open the branch; that is a double check to see if it is safe to enter. The first person deactivates the alarm and does a walk-through, checking the building for anything or anyone out of place. The second person waits in their car until the first person sets out the ‘all clear’ signal. This can be a brochure rack, advertisement, or piece of furniture placed near a door or window. No one else can enter until the signal is put out. If the signal isn’t out, the second person must contact the police. Opening a bank is very routine, but can be dangerous, since most robberies take place before the bank opens to the public for the day. After the first two people enter, other employees must ring the bell and be let inside until opening time. At opening, we generally have 3-4 tellers, 4-5 sales people, which we call the “platform” and at least one manager.

The first thing each teller must do is retrieve his or her tray of cash from the main vault. Each teller is assigned a drawer in the vault where they keep their individual cashboxes at night, and only they have the key. The drawers are taken back to each teller station on the line, and after logging onto the computer system, the station is set to open for the day.

Business customers drop off deposits at night in a special vault that we open as soon as we get our cash drawers. We will split up the deposits between us depending on who needs more cash on hand to meet their needs for the day. Sometimes there can be 20-30 nighttime deposits.

There are 3 main “rushes” of customers during the day: at the opening of business, lunchtime, and at around 5 pm. My branch stays open until 7 pm, but smaller branches close at 5.

Customers generally charge to the line when we first open, so it’s pretty crazy that first 20-30 minutes. These are people who either have to get to work quickly, or are trying to make a quick deposit to try to ‘beat the clock’ and not overdraft their accounts.

Over the course of the day, I’ll do about 300-500 transactions. This can be anything from a simple deposit or withdrawal, to a loan payment, or a printing a cashiers check for a closing. It’s very important to be both friendly and efficient. Even though you may have a long line, you still need to be nice to the customers.

If I’m working at the drive through window, typically the number of transactions is much higher, but they are generally simple transactions, like cashing a check, or making a deposit. There are normally 2 tellers on the window on weekends, and 1 on weekdays. During the week, we’ll normally have 2-3 lanes open, and on the weekend, all 4 are open.

At around 11:30 the second shift of tellers arrives in. After they have retrieved their doors and started their computers, a few of the morning tellers can go to lunch, one or two at a time.

At 5 pm, the morning tellers are done. Before you can leave, you must balance your drawer, and reconcile your transactions (batching). My company allows tellers to consider themselves ‘balanced’ as long as they are within five dollars either way of what the computer says they should have. If you are further off, you must keep recounting and rechecking transactions for errors until you find the problem. Sometimes it is a simple miscount, but sometimes you made a mistake early in the day, and told the computer that someone gave you, say, $50 in cash, when in reality, it was a $50 check. If you find the mistake before you log off of your computer, you can reverse the transaction, and run it again correctly. There is more of a pressure on finding “missing” money, than finding out why you have “too much.” Generally “too much” means that you most likely mis-entered a transaction while “missing” money could mean that you gave away too much money to people. This can be a very stressful event for even experienced tellers, since anyone can make a mistake.

If you are one of the tellers that are staying until the end of the night, you can’t leave until all drawers are balanced. At my company, if a teller is $2000 or more off, every drawer must be recounted by management.

Once you find your error, you can take your drawer back to the vault, and leave for the night. If you can’t find your error, the corrections department verifies transactions overnight, and will contact you the next morning if they have fixed your mistake.

5. How does you profession affect your ability to live a healthy lifestyle (exercise, sleep, nutrition)?

It’s a very sedentary job. You need to find some time to exercise outside of work to keep from gaining weight. The hours in a larger branch can make it a little harder to find time to organize your life, since the shifts change from day to day. At a smaller branch with “banker’s hours,” it’s a standard 9-5 schedule, so it is much simpler to take care of yourself..

6. Are there over the counter medications, alternative medications that are typically used in your profession (wt loss, tobacco, steroids, etc.)

None

7. What are things that your friends find interesting about your profession (like how often do you shoot your gun if you are a police officer)? / What types of questions do you get asked by the public?

How much money I go through a day (generally tens of thousands between incoming and outgoing). Who comes in: local sports players and “celebrities.” Who has how much money? It is strictly forbidden to give out any personal information, such as accounts or transactions to anyone who doesn’t have a legitimate need to know, but generally, you can mention if someone came to your branch, as any member of the public could have seen them there.

8. How did you get interested in your profession?

I was a business major in college and thought it would be a good entry-level job.

9. What do you like most about your profession?

It’s nice to be able to meet lots of different people. You get to meet students, athletes, businesspeople, everyone. Some customers come back every day or so, so you get to know them.

10. What do you dislike most about your job?

You aren’t very well respected by customers or management. Many people take you for granted until you move up to sales.

11. Educational background:

Personally, I have a B.S. in Business Management.

12. High school

It’s a requirement to have at least a diploma.

13. Vocational school or College

There are a lot of college students and recent grads on the teller line. It’s normally a stepping-stone into a higher position within the bank, but a degree isn’t required.

14. Graduate school or special training

Very few people with a graduate degree start as tellers – they would begin at least, handling investments.

15. How does one obtain a job in your profession?

Either as a walk-in applicant or through career fairs. You have to be detail-oriented and have decent “people skills.” There is normally pretty extensive training on how to properly handle transactions, so you don’t need much experience beforehand.

16. What previous positions have you had since you started this profession?

None.

17. Can you get promoted? If so, to what position and how?

There are two routes of promotion. The first is to become the teller supervisor; Small banks have one, larger banks have two. In addition to normal teller duties, this person is in control of the vault, making sure the bank has enough cash on hand (or not too much), and handles scheduling and customer service issues. It normally takes at least 3-5 years of teller experience before a teller can be eligible to become a teller supervisor.

The second is to go to the “platform,” that is, to take a sales position. Most people who rise through the ranks at banks have sales experience. The first step is a basic salesperson that opens accounts, assists in loans, and handles some customer services problems. There are specialized salespeople that also handle investments and business banking needs. A teller can be promoted quickly to a sales role, or a new person could be hired straight out of school, as both positions are considered “entry-level.”

18. What are the "perks" of your job?

There are a few like, free checks, and a few special exceptions and discounts on fees and charges.

19. How do you get paid (contract, per mile, per hour, etc.) How can you make more money?

Tellers are paid per hour, from about $7-10 depending on experience. A teller can make more money by working more hours, or sometimes through special bonuses for generating lots of referrals to the platform sales people who open new accounts.

20. What is the most stressful part of your job?

The major stressor is customer complaints. Customers are often in a rush and want everything done right away. Sometimes they come in, talk on a cell phone, and never even acknowledge you. Lots of times they want things that you can’t give them. For example, sometimes someone will need a cashier’s check to buy a house and has not planned well enough in advance. They might have just deposited a check for $10-15,000 yesterday, but it needs to clear before we can write them a new check. Sometimes people expect that we can give them all of the money right on the spot, but unfortunately, some deposits are fraudulent, and the bank has to be careful about giving away money. The people need to come back in a day or two and reschedule their closing. You feel bad turning them away, but there’s nothing you can do right at that time.

If a mistake is the bank’s fault, we try to fix it as soon as possible, but many times, it’s the customer’s mistake. A manager has discretion to refund charges if the customer has a good history with the bank and it’s the first time he or she has made a mistake. But if someone is a chronic abuser of the system, they don’t get any special breaks. These people can be very argumentative if they don’t get their way.

21. What emotional problems are common in people in your profession?

Stress if they’ve been having a tough time with transactions or customers.

22. What type of physical activity is required in your position?

It’s a very sedentary position. In the old days, many tellers stood all day. We have chairs now, but when it gets busy, sometimes it is easier to stand. The main time when a teller might need to be fit is when they carry large bags of coins. They really add up!

23. What things happen that really make you angry?

Getting yelled at by a customer. Sometimes, they blame you for issues with their account or for a transaction you processed. It takes a lot of patience to keep a cool head and deal with them professionally.

24. What other professions do you work with, and how do they affect your (make your job easier or harder)?

The entire bank staff interacts everyday. Tellers are required to refer customers to salespeople if they see a legitimate “need,” i.e., the customer has no savings account, but thousands of dollars sitting in a checking account, the customer is in his forties but has no retirement plan, etc.

There are also many local businesses-owners who make daily deposits. Some of them are very friendly and make the day go faster.

25. What "health risk" behaviors are common in your profession? (tobacco, alcohol, specific drugs, sex, stress, marital or family discord, etc.)

None more than other jobs. Maybe more smokers than some jobs, because when you go for a smoke break, you can get away from the crowds.

26. How does your vocation affect the personal life of you or people you know?

There is a pretty high turnover rate in banks. Most people don’t stay tellers for very long. There are a few older people who have been with the bank for years, but generally people either get promoted, or leave within a few years. The stress and pay sometimes are too much.

27. What activities and/or hobbies do people in your profession like to do?

It’s generally a younger group of people, so things like bars, clubs, etc.

28. Are there any items of clothing, or props that someone portraying a person in your profession would use consistently? (Hats, keys, stuff you’d keep in your pockets (or bags), day planners, work boots, particular “costume”, or types of clothing…)

During the week, business attire: shirt/tie. Fridays would be more business casual: polo shirts, etc.

29. If a person in your position were to get fired, what would they most likely have done to justify the termination and what would the steps involve? Do lay offs happen in your occupation?

A person could be fired for consistently not balancing at the end of their shift, or for mishandling a large number of transactions. A person would also be fired for stealing (or planning on) stealing or using customer’s personal information without their permission. Lay-offs rarely affect the industry, but when there are slower times, part-time tellers may have their hours cut back.

30. During all of these questions, listen for “jargon” used by the interviewee…words they use that are “lingo” specific to their profession. Ask them to define those words if it is not clear to you.

Platform – Sales personnel and their cubicles/offices.

Line – the area where tellers work

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Interview of a Bank TellerPage 1