I work in the bank industry, and I am currently a teller manager. I have a background in management, and I worked for many years at this level in the retail industry. I was tired of the many hats I had to wear as a retail manager, as well as the hours. I found that being a teller manager could fulfill my management interests, and I still get to enjoy “bankers’ hours”.

In total, I have worked for banks for almost seven years. I have worked for three different companies, all of which I was a teller manager at some point. I was a financial specialist in charge of opening new accounts for the second company I worked for, but I found the office setting too boring for my tastes. Being a teller manager works great for me because I enjoy leadership positions—at the same time, I do not have the stress that is entailed with higher positions, such as a branch manager.

My primary job as a teller manager is to set an example for the other tellers in my line. I perform the same tasks as a basic teller, such as taking customer transactions, but I also diagnose and coach problems that some of my co-workers might have. All tellers are accountable for the cash and paperwork they need at the end of each day, but I am also held accountable for any of the errors that any of the employees make. If there is a mistake, such as a great deal of cash missing, then it is ultimately my job to find out what happened to it. I also have to fire tellers if they are missing a significant amount of money at the end of the day, although this has happened only once in my career thus far.

I found that my Bachelor’s degree in business has served me particularly well in this career. My management, accounting and finance classes have all helped me succeed in the position that I am now. However, if I had to go back and rework my education, I would definitely add some public speaking courses to the mix. Although I wouldn’t consider myself as extremely shy, better communication skills would have helped me earlier in my career. There are different times when I am caught off guard, whether it is with a customer, teller, or corporate boss, and learning better speaking skills early on would have made me more confident and professional.

Working with money can be extremely stressful, especially in the banking industry. You have pressure from the corporate level to get things right, but you also have your customers counting on your efficiency every day. Unfortunately, some of the stresses follow me home, especially if I have to go back to the branch during the weekends if an alarm is triggered, or if there is a computer malfunction.

By far the strangest thing that has happened to me was when I processed a bank bag from the overnight deposit box from a sporting goods store manager, and found that money was missing. It turned out that the particular manager had stolen the money—this person also happened to be my friend from college!

Although this job can be stressful at times, what drives me to continue my job is the people I interact with every day. It is amazing how much help some people need getting their finances in order, and it feels good when I make such positive impacts on my customers. I have also helped to train some of my tellers into teller managers, and they have gone on to enjoy their new career paths. This is one of the reasons why I stick with retail banking as opposed to corporate banking—you do not get the same type of interpersonal connections.

I enjoy what I do, but I would hardly say it is my heart’s desire. I would rate my job a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, simply for the fact that it is a good position and it pays the bills—at the same time, it is only a job to me. When I am not with my family, I enjoy playing sports—if I ever found a management position I could land in this career field, then I would trade it for banking in a heartbeat.

One of the downsides to my job is my salary. Although $35,000 a year is enough to help our family pay basic bills, it is by no means a great salary. The good news is that managers within most banks, including mine, have the potential to make decent bonuses per month. However, the bonuses are not guaranteed, and they are mostly based on selling customers products, as well as other measurements of performance. I realize that I would probably get a better salary if I worked in a higher up position, but I would prefer working with the public. Although things can get stressful in my branch, the company I work for does give me five weeks of vacation—I definitely take and cherish every single day of it!

This was a true story as told to LatPro.com, the worldwide leader in providing online employment resources for Hispanic and bilingual professionals since 1997. Visit to search for the most complete personal career advancement service for Latino and bilingual professionals.