What made you get in to Banking?

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.

Service Learning/work-based learning program as a senior in high school. Worked 1.5 hours a day filing and eventually teller. Manager asked me to work part-time that summer, and I worked at two different banks through college. Hired at another bank for my first full-time job after graduating and been here 10 years. Teller, bookkeeping, loan ops, loan officer, and now compliance.

Graduated from college and did temp jobs while looking for something permanent. Got a temp job at this CU and they kept me on until there was an opening in the collection department. Was hired permanently in January and moved around to various departments before landing in internal auditing and then compliance. Next month will be 31 years here

Bombed my CIA interview so decided I'd better interview with some more government agencies to practice (International Business & French major.) Interviewed with the FDIC next, got hired on the spot. Started 2 months after college graduation.

Was going to school for accounting and decided to get a job at a bank as it would go with major. Worked as teller for 4 1/2 years, graduated but wasn't overly interested in pursuing field. Got promoted to Loan Processing which I worked for a couple of years, did a quick stint in collections before BSA Officer brought me over and have been in BSA 8 years next month.

I job shadowed a local bank for my high school accounting class. I was able to go to all departments that day and found it interesting. I worked as a teller during the summer between college semesters. They hired full time once I graduated and since have moved to compliance/risk. Still happy after 12 years.

In order to early admit my son to kindergarten, he had to go to daycare first so I took a lunch shift teller replacement job to pay for daycare. From there worked at title companies and real estate attorneys offices and finally supervised mortgage doc review for CUNA before leaving the field for five years. A friend asked me to be an LTE for her to scrub HMDA and 15 years later next month, I've been here doing compliance since.

As a recently graduated philosophy major in the early 80s, the job situation was pretty bleak. I was doing temp work and placed at a bank counting food stamps and doing simple ops research (roll the microfiche!). After about 5 months they hired me. Then I got into their management training program. Shortly after that, they "made me an offer I couldn't refuse" to become the first full-time compliance officer. Thirty years later, I'm still in banking. There've been decent years and not so great years, but where I am now is the best ever!

I used to think it was fate. Now I'm convinced I'm simply cursed.

I was tired of working at Penney's Catalog department part time. Wanted a full time job so I could move out and support myself! Our pastor's wife was a head teller at the bank and looking for new teller. I got the job..... and stayed!

Banking is in my family so when BofA was hiring a Mortgage Loan Asst and offered to pay for college, I was in. I didn't want to be a banker when I was a kid but here I am 19 years later.

LOL!!

I was a teller in college, classified as full-time temporary at my local small town bank. Near graduation I approached the bank president and asked about becoming a permanent full-time employee. He said he could not afford what I asked ($15,000) per year in the mid-90s. I left banking for about 3 years, went back in a call center for Wells Fargo for 2 years then got a job at the FRB in Minneapolis. After 5 years there I became a bank examiner in regulatory compliance and have not looked back.

The bank in the small town I was living in was looking for a teller/check filer/statement preparer and the timing was right as my youngest was starting kindergarten. Compliance was placed on my desk while I was on vacation 5 years later - not joking! 20+ years later and I'm still in compliance, although at a different bank.

I was 21 in 1979 and was working two part time jobs. One was telemarketing in the evenings for an insurance agent. He eventually told me that although I was doing a great job he could no longer afford to pay me. However, he went to his bank and told him that if they had any openings they should hire me, and they did. A full time job with benefits and I didn't have to wear a uniform? I was on board with that. The economy was poor and I was happy to have a good job, even if it didn't pay much more than the grocery store across the parking lot. I didn't think then that it would become my life's work, but life is funny that way. And I use this example as to why you should try to do the best job you can even when you don't like the work: I didn't enjoy the telemarketing, but I still tried to be the best I could at it, and it paid off in an unexpected way.

I know it takes time but you break that $15k mark yet PP?

Just barely.

Father was in banking, so I studied and majored in finance in college, working part-time in retail. Graduated and went to work full-time for the same retail store chain, until I was informed that I would not advance any further due to circumstances beyond my control. Obtained a job at a bank, which I should have done to begin with right out of school as planned. That was March 1978, almost 40 years ago. Time to plan a party. BTW I have a brother in banking as well.

Wait...WHAT???!!!! You're an examiner??!! We've been treating you like one of us and you're one of THEM?!

Applied for a position in Bookkeeping in 2004 and didn't hear from the bank until a year later. I was getting married around the same time and working as a server, so I decided it was time for a more stable income (after first turning down an interview....what was I thinking?). Stayed at that bank for almost 12 years through 2 mergers and many position changes (teller, office manager, CSR, BSA). Back to operations at a different bank now, with my boss from bookkeeping, and I'm in my happy place.

It's okay. I left the examiner world for a bank (as a compliance auditor) in 2009. And in September I left the audit world for a position in the 2nd line of defense (working with compliance controls). I am only a recovering examiner now.

I was tired of the hours in the retail world so I told my husband "I'm getting a job in a bank!"

And 30 years has gone by like that.

I was playing in a band and waiting tables part time. To impress a girl, I decided to get a "real job" and landed one as a mortgage processor. Apparently, that did the trick as my compliance profession somehow seems to still impress that girl (now wife).

I started as a high school co-op working the drive-thru window at the local bank. 28 1/2 years later, I'm still working at the same financial institution, albeit it is far more larger that it was in 1989.

I got in because of the lure of chicks, cheap booze and free smokes

Always swore I'd never work in a bank. After college I started out appraising real estate, but that wasn't a good thing to be depending on in the late 80's! I started looking for any job I could get - and found one in auditing for a multi-bank holding company. I've been in banking ever since.

Started at a Savings and Loan in 1979 as a VOE student. I went to school and worked part-time at the bank. After I graduated I wanted to get married and asked to work full-time as a teller. I went from teller to new accounts to personal banker and then to a Manager for one of the larger banks, Funny thing is the savings and loan I worked for got merged with other Savings and Loans and them we were bought out by a bank and then that bank was bought out by another bank, so I never quit, but thru name changes worked for different named institutions. My last stint was as manager for a large bank and I left that job in 2010 to work in the community bank and have been her for 7 years now. I started in new accounts and now am the BSA officer. Total years in banking is 38 and I tell everyone I started working when I was 7. Banking is what I enjoy and I do not mind coming to work which I will have to do so for many more years until I am able to retire. I always say that if you love what you do, you have a good attitude about working. I did not go to college, but learned thru on the job training and as I say the "school of hard knocks".

Jimmy Carter-He so screwed up the economy, that even two years later when he was out of office, I could not find a job when I graduated. Started at a small credit union, barely making more than minimum wage with a college degree. It got better...

I needed to change jobs in my late 20s, was married to a teacher, and we had an infant. I had a math-teacher degree, and my wife said 2 teachers was too many in our family. I had discussed banking with a friend in the National Guard, so decided to "pick a corner" to start my job search. The first bank to offer a job won me, and I stayed 32 years until they were bought out, Compliance came about because I was stupid enough to say yes! No one else wanted the job..... Still at it and nearing retirement!