My Career Interview Homework

My plan is to graduate West Texas A&M University in May of 2020, with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) in Finance. Right now, I am employed at First Capital Bank of Texas in Amarillo, where I hold a full-time position as a teller. Therefore, I want to pursue the banking industry when I graduate college. The first position that is best for starting out is a Personal Banker. A Personal Banker (PB) makes approximately $37,000 to $50,000 a year. The qualifications needed to become a PB is preferably a bachelor’s in business. However, in some cases, experience in retail banking can overlook a business degree.

PB’s work in retail banking, where they assist customers with needs that involve opening checking or savings accounts, investing in certificates of deposits (CDs), mortgage and auto loans, and they assist customers with saving for retirement or saving for their kid’s college. Although PB’s do not make as much as commercial bankers, the hours and flexible schedule (banker’s hours) make the work-life balance much easier. Personal banking is a suitable career for those who love building relationships with people and the community with a solid income, or for those who are starting out in the banking industry (DePersio, 2018 ). The next position in banking would be a Credit Analyst position. The annual salary for this position is approximately $34,089 to $67,958. A Credit Analyst is responsible for gathering and analyzing financial data about clients, their paying habits, earning and saving habits, and some issue credit cards to clients.

Credit Analysts who work at bank are responsible for gathering financial statements, credit reports, and evaluate data to ensure the lender that a customer is qualified for a loan. The minimum educational requirement is a bachelor’s degree in either finance or accounting, because it eposes a student to subjects like ratios, economics, accounting, and finance. To be a successful Credit Analyst, knowledge of financial software is crucial. An analyst must have experience with financial software and must be comfortable with programs such as Excel and Word (Morah, 2018). The third and higher positions in banking is a Commercial Lender. A Commercial Lender creates sales and growth to a financial institution by granting loans to commercial customers.

A lender also follows leads, makes the ultimate decision on whether a customer will receive a loan, present banking products and services to customers, and researches ways to obtain more customers. A lender’s salary ranges from $83,500 to $120,000 per year. The requirements are much like a Credit Analyst which is a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or economics. A master’s degree is not required, but it is most definitely preferred along with years of banking experience. Also, much like a Credit Analyst, lenders must have adequate knowledge of financial software that crunches numbers, gathers financial data, and makes financial reports (PayScale, 2019).

I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Toneisha, my coworker who is the Personal Banker at the branch I work at. Her job consists of opening checking and savings accounts for personal and business customers, processing consumer loans, open IRA/401 K accounts, she provides maintenance on accounts, and makes customers new debit cards when needed. Toneisha is involved with community outreach and is involved with business networking events.

A typical day for her includes opening a least two to four accounts a day, daily meetings, banker’s calls, and she must complete 76 online training sessions each year for her position. She uses several different types of banking software such as Fiserv, BPM for opening new accounts, CRIF for processing loans, Microsoft Word, Excel spreadsheets for processing data, and TRISM for making debit cards. Lastly, Toneisha would like to expand her knowledge in Excel, by expanding her knowledge with the financial formula’s that Excel has to offer. Expanding her knowledge in this software will allow her to enter in customer data accurately and efficiently.

Throughout the last couple of years of college, I have struggled with finding the career that will best suit me and my needs. During my freshman year of college my major was nursing, and I was determined to become a pediatric nurse. However, I started nursing school at a Community College in my hometown and I found that it was not for me. At the time, I was employed at a healthcare office, where I oversaw billing and accounts for our patients. I decided that accounting and finance was the path that I needed to pursue. I was offered an opportunity to move to Amarillo, where I then found my current teller position at a very successful bank.

I transferred to WT and decided that banking is the best route for me. After researching and learning about the three different career options that banking has to offer, the one that has sparked my interest is the Credit Analyst position. To prepare for this position, I have decided to job shadow the Credit Analyst that works at my branch. Getting to work hands on with a Credit Analyst will help me prepare, and it will give me adequate training for when I am ready to move up into this position. Taking on an internship or any opportunities that the bank has to offer will only benefit me in the long run, and it will help get my foot in the door for a very successful career path. I am very fortunate that I have been granted the opportunity to work at a place that has many different opportunities and that has allowed me to gain hands on experience over the past year.

References

DePersio, B. G. (2018 , January 13). What personal bankers do – and how much they make.
Retrieved January 31, 2019, from Investoedia:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/021816/personal-banker-job-
description-average-salary.asp.
Morah, C. (2018, October 1). Analyzing a Career in Credit Analysis . Retrieved January 31,
2019, from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-
careers/09/career-credit-analysis-analyst.asp.
PayScale. (2019). Average Commerical Lender Salary . Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
PayScale: https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Commercial_Lender/Salary.