How much do bank tellers make in your area

[87112]

I applied for a job at Chase Bank in Seattle for part time teller. It paid 16.30 which is 30 cents over min wage.
There goes the theory that banks pay good money.
1st step is a video interview, once I found that out I did not proceed any longer. I imagine it would be 3 interviews for a bank teller job.

1. Video interview
2. MGR interview
3. Meet the team interview

How can they get good people when the job is 30 cents over min wage and the hiring is so strigent. .

 

[AMG-GTR]

Remember there is Retail Banking and Investment Banking.

Retail banking is like any other retail job. The word bank makes someone feel better but it’s retail. The advantage is there are opportunities to advance into other areas of banking that can pay more. Most bank jobs are completely shit. Less and less jobs as people manage to do much more of their own transactions online via phone. Computers are replacing a great deal of entry level positions. Even lenders and other higher level jobs are seeing massive consolidation as less people are needed to do triple the work.

I worked in a bank for a year while in my first year of university and it was a clear indication to me that I was going to be a broke ass cracker of I took that career.

There is a massive misconception that “bankers” make all this money. Some positions in banking pay really really well. Most suck a big fat pipe.

They can ask for crazy requirements because there are more and more people applying for less and less jobs. It’s only going to get more competitive.

 

[nightswhisper]

The Pareto Principle applies for banking wages.

My friend at Goldman Sachs makes about 1.5 million a year. He started off as a teller just like everyone else.

In the end, it's all about your social skills.

 

[87112]

Opps, my mistake it pays 16.50 which no joke is the same pay as delivery driver at Dominos Pizza starting wage.

 

[MixedDude]

I was once told that you won’t get rich but you can live comfortably. That said, this industry is like any other - you get out of it what you put into it. I started as a teller in the $18 dollar range but moved up in under a year and have nearly tripled that pay when you consider total compensation and I still have tons more growth potential.

Good people don’t stay tellers for long. They come in, do their time and move up - that’s how banks attract and retain good people. Anyone who thinks they’ll get rich as a teller and calls themselves a banker or whatever is sorely deluding themselves.

 

[gr8_punk]

3 interviews just to get 16.30$, that blows.
But banks do comes with tons of opportunities.
Work for a year and move up.

 

[Stamkos]

Bank teller positions are considered entry level into banking. If you’re good you won’t be on it for more than a year then onto other opportunities. If you exhibit strong sales and interpersonal skills you will move quickly. If you’re still on that role after 18 months you should consider another career.

 

[87112]

I've seen one at my local Bank of America for 5 years plus as a teller. She is a sharp person, but I don't think the sales skills are there, she is kind of shy that way.

I do think she loves the bank work hrs and hey its indoors and no cleaning involved or any kind of labor. So I can certainly understand the allure of that.

 

[AMG-GTR]

Typical path

Teller
Financial Services ——- see option A
Lender ——— see option B
Manager
Branch Manager ——- see option C

On the retail side it managers at a good size branch used to make over $100k (no clue if that’s changed much)

Option A
Move from financial services to some specialization such as becoming a financial planner or an insurance specialist. These jobs become salary plus a % of performance. Client facing side means having a book of investment clients and income is directly related to assets held. If you have clients with a total of $10,000,000 in assets then you get a % of that amount.
A person can stay on that side of the business and grow their client wealth or they can move out of retail banking (usually CFA MBA route) and go to investment banking. Analysis and then managing bank to bank funds. Buy side/sell side. Pay can be really good but most live in super expensive cities and the person MUST be socially gifted and able to connect extremely well with the right people. I always founded it ironic about the CFA because while it applies to the entry level i-banking jobs, MDs always dump that work on others.

Financial side with investments has a pile of areas to go into and the professional jobs tend to pay well. Even I banking sucks now. Not what it used to be. The best funds are with machine learning AI, index funds etc all play a role. Less jobs and more people and it’s increasing. When I left JP after the meltdown in New York, most of my team went the hedge fund route and that was much better.


Option B
Lenders can get licensed as brokers and then go after big deals with developers or large scale projects etc. Even some guys on the residential side did reasonably well over the last decade ($300-500k a year). Back in 2006 I remember one of my friends was a lender at the banks and his dad and his friends were all connected with these huge subdivided projects. He quit the bank to be a mortgage broker but the bank took him back and offered him a sweet deal. We were still in our 20s and he was pulling in $80k a month on the low end.

Option C
Go down the senior management route. I personally think this is a dangerous place to go because this is a place that I’ve witnessed a lot of people get stuck in. I find there can be a lot of politics and the financial benefits are limited unless you’re able to go all the way to the top. To each their own.



There are always spin offs at any stage of the above.

For those that want to waste their time reading about my specific path which started about as dismal as can be, I stared as a teller for over a year. I was a teller for a bit over a year making $15 per hour. I then went into financial services because that was the “next step” at a massive $18 per hour.

I was a super shit employee by the way. Like I was a fuckin retard (don’t care if you’re not allowed to say that anymore)

I stayed in that job for 2 years constantly bitching about the pay. At the time, all my friends were nice people but losers when it came to making money. I ditched them all and make a choice that I wanted to improve my live.

My point of all this is that once I got my head out of my ass and asked the question “what do I need to do around here to make it to the top?” And then actually do 10 times more than what my branch manager said, things changed.

I got my designations, accreditation, advanced aggressively, networked like an animal and had advocates that were big players in the bank. I remember showing up at the CFOs house unannounced to give him a golf club I found out he liked. I was 24 and strategically became an assistant planner to an old Advisor with a huge books of business. This all came from networking and volunteering at events. I probably looked like I was sucking up and I was but I also wanted to be these people so badly. I admired them and their success and contribution. I made friends with professional athletes and business magnates. 3 years after I said banking was bullshit, I was over $200k a year. At 25 years old the CFO introduced me to his friend who’s was the MD at JP in New York. I got the job by making the MD laugh and playing a round of golf with them. I had already almost finished my CFA so he took me on and I went straight to the sell side of the business.

Made good money for a few years but was burning out. Networked with the right people and joined 4 different start up tech companies and took ownership in the seed round. My job was internal financing but I also had a stake. 2 of them went to shit, two of them exploded and I was in baller mode at 28.

I took my winnings and invested it so I’d never have to work again and then I’ve spend the last decade working harder than ever working in silicone valley and Vancouver on all sorts of awesome things that I love.

My point of all this is that retail banking sucks a big black monster cock and the pay is crap but if you grab your ballsack and push yourself it can lead to some amazing things. As said above, it’s all about your EQ and going the distance. When I was younger I honestly probably would have sucked a dick (I’m straight) if it was going to get me where I wanted to go. Good luck on your interview.