How did everyone start their career in banking?

I started working in a Bank as a teller while I was going to college.

My dad's friend got me a receptionist job in the loan department when I figured out it was costing me money to be a zoo keeper.

I got out of the education business and needed a job.

3rd job after college (teller), and the first that I actually liked. Been a banker ever since.

I started out working in the loan vault at a loan servicing center. I was promoted to loan reviewer within 6 months and then applied for a job in Compliance. Now its 16 years later... I have my CRCM and work as a CRA Fair Lending Officer. Time flies when you're having fun!

The meat packing plant where I had worked the two summers before (college student) went out of business. I was a failure at selling home burglar alarms and took a job as a bank teller. (HUGE drop in pay.) The job provided the inspiration to further my education: Every time I asked why we had to do something, the person I asked would say, "Dunno. That's the way we have always done it!" Aggggghhhhh!

I was hired at 18 as a typist (1979). I typed documents for credit analysts in the credit department for 5 years.

Funny, but when my son was young he asked me once when I decided I wanted to be a banker. I told him when they hired me.

My mother didn't allow me to go to college unless I wanted to be a nurse or a teacher (only acceptable female jobs to her -- she was very old-fashioned) since I didn't care too much for kids or blood I had to go to work but it was 1971 and there was a hiring freeze. My neighbor's son was a VP at a big bank that had a spot open in the last teller class they were offering. My mother did notice that all the tellers in her bank were women so that was OK. She wasn't happy as I moved up in rank however. My sister is an executive secretary and my mother would always tell her, in front off me, never to work for a woman they are horrible bosses, and would give me the evil eye while saying so. It got to the point where we would just laugh and she never figured out why

I got a temp job as administrative assistant on April Fools' Day at a mortgage servicer and was with them for 15 years (11 years in compliance) until I go laid off during therecession. It took two years find a compliance job with a credit union. Now with another credit union and loving the people I work with.

Took a job as a teller on a temporary basis after I graduated from college so I could take my time and find the job that was right for me. Still here (and happy) after nearly 22 years so I guess this was the right job for me.

I was going into my senior year of high school (at the age of 16) and needed a part-time job in business as a requirement of my distributive education program at the local tech school. Someone said go try the bank. I did and was hired as a teller. Thirty eight years later I am still at the same bank after doing a wide variety of jobs.

Another mortgage refugee!
I started as a file clerk with a mortgage company when I graduated college. Stayed with that company 16 years, worked my way up to VP before getting laid off in a merger. Went to work in compliance/product development for another very large mortgage company until the bloodbath of 2007. I was unemployed for four years - tried selling insurance, doing small business consulting, fixing computers. My best annual salary during those four years was $700. And my IRA balance went down significantly. One day I saw an ad in for a compliance assistant at the local bank; I've now been here 7 years, gotten a couple promotions (CO), have my CRCM, and love working for a small community bank instead of big mortgage.

First job in high school. Started at the end of my sophomore year, got the lead from my business teacher when the local credit union called and asked her to send them a student for an afterschool position.

Duties included: shredding, miscellaneous filing, filming the tellers daily work, encoding, balancing and preparing the daily deposit, and then did the end of day processing and backups after the teller staff balanced out and left for the day.

I'll be in the business 25 years this spring.

In 1975 I started through the high school co-op program working second shift running a IBM 1419 and processing outgoing cash letters. Still the days of punch cards, mag tapes and giant interchangeable disk drives the size of very large toaster ovens. Never looked back.

Originally hired as a teller (1986) out of college, but compliance is totally my gig. smile Changing and challenging at all times, it is. best career move I ever made...

Back in them old days... I was a Page at a very big bank. There were always 6 Pages and they were temporary positions that allowed departments to get to know you during your rounds and decide whether or not to offer a job. I got offered a job as a teller but one of the another Page wanted that one so I waited for the next offer which came from the Collateral Dept. - 38 years later and I'm still in the business only at another bank - my second.

I taught HS English for two years, then decided I needed to find something that paid better. I got my MBA with a concentration in Finance. I taught at the university for another year ( I had been a teaching assistant) and then got laid off. I really wanted a job doing financial analysis of companies for an investment bank, but couldn't find anything like that available. Banks were hiring, though, and I got a job as manager of the credit department. I had a small staff that did credit investigation and credit reporting, and I did credit analysis for the commercial loan department. That was in 1983.

One of the reasons they hired me is that they had bought a PC for use in analyzing financial statements, but needed someone who knew how to start the thing. That was back before hard drives and Windows, when all you got when you started it was A:\ and you had insert a 5.25 inch floppy and know what to type.

My college degrees are in finance and economic with a minor in personal financial planning. My goal was to become a financial planner. However, when I started researching some of the companies that I applied with, their product offerings were very expensive and had a lot of hidden fees. Of course those products paid the best commissions, but I didn't think I would feel right telling someone to buy an expensive product when an index fund would be cheaper and perform just as well. So I took a compliance job at my local bank and have been here almost 8 years.

I fell into banking because they offered me a job and I needed one. The current CO new the head of the accounting dept at the local college. They spoke and the head of the dept recommended me. I took the job in compliance having NO idea what to expect. I didn't know how long I would last. I'm coming up on 5 years and I love it. It's always challenging and no 2 days are the same.

I worked at an S&L while in college for 2 years (accounting and finance). Then I decided I didn't want a 9 - 5 job so I went to Nursing School and practiced as an RN for 8 years. Then in 1980 got into commercial banking in compliance, learned from the ground up.

After 37 1/2 years practicing compliance at three banks, I am retiring. Today is my last day.

It was a rocky ride at times, especially in the late 80's, but I made it and it was worth it.

Happy New Year to all!

Dumb luck! I quit college to get married and had a baby. Found myself in need of a job so my aunt got me hired as a teller and I worked my way through the ranks of tellering, new accounts, lending, and now, 21 years later here I sit in the compliance department. It suits my personality so much better than if I'd finished college and become a teacher. I don't have the patience for that mess!

was in college full time and needed beer money...Dad was in banking so gave me a couple of people that I could call to see if they had openings...sadly, one did, and hired me...started at night opening bags full of checks and putting them into trays with batch separators, that was it for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week...that was 32 years ago...

Congrats Ski! Good luck on your new adventure!

2005, I had just moved to a new town, recently graduated from college with a degree in English, and was opening an account at a credit union. While I was there I asked if they had any openings. I applied and was hired for a part time scanner job. I went from there to teller, to supervisor, to branch manager, to director of teller operations (over three branches) and then back office to a fraud/compliance job. And then moved from that CU on to a new one, still working in compliance. 12 years later and still hanging in there! Can't imagine doing anything else anymore!

I got into banking mainly because my high school guidance counselor was really bad at their job. I graduated fourth in my high school class of 300 but had very little direction and decided that I wanted to work construction. I had taken vocational classes in general carpentry and cabinet making which were pretty much useless in the mid 80's when the housing market in my area was in the dumps. I worked a few construction and retail jobs, but then a family friend offered me a job as a bank messenger. At the time it was a steady paycheck and the working conditions weren't horrible so I stayed for 30+ years.