Does Working at a Bank Look good on a Resume?

Do recruiters and employers look favorably upon working at a Bank? Too general of a question. There are many different roles you can have working at a bank. Also, it’s very important to differentiate between commercial or retail banks and corporate banks and investment banks.

This post is designed for people who either are currently working at a bank and looking to revise their resume and want to know how to do that, or people who are planning on taking a job and are concerned how it will look on their resume in the future.

Since as a recruiter you see so many resumes listing Banks and Banking, I decided it was a good idea to write up this coverage.

What we’ll review here are:

• The Differences between: Retail Banks, Investment Banks, Corporate Banks
• How Each Category Looks on your Resume
• How To Handle Retail Banking on a Resume

What Type of Bank Are We About?

The first thing to do when discussing banks and resumes is to clarify what type of banks we are discussing. Retail banks are much different in scope than Investment Banks. That is an obvious statement to people who are applying to work at an investment bank, but it still is important to cover.

As a rule, investment banks are highly sought after workplaces and their employees come from highly ranked schools. They tend to have studied Finance, have a list of high profile internships, and most importantly…understand that they’re in I Banking.

Corporate banking is another category. It’s the corporate environment where account executives, sales directors, marketing directors, and the thousands of back office analysts work. Think the people who work in marketing at CitiBank or the back office for Chase. These people are not doing B2C work (business to customer). They are all corporate. They are above the retail branches (think your local bank).

Retail banking, on the other hand, is vastly different. Retail banking is what most people are talking about when they ask if working on a bank looks good on your resume.

Retail banking is basically your local bank. That local bank might be in a big, impressive location like Madison Ave or Rodeo Drive, or a small side street somewhere. But it’s main purpose is to service retail investors, not institutional investors.

So, now that we’re clear about the three types of banks:

• Investment Banks
• Corporate Banks
• Retail Banks

No one who is applying to work at an investment bank needs to wonder if working at a bank looks good on their resume. Obviously working at Goldman Sachs is not the same as working as a bank teller at Chase or TD.

But this article is not for people who are looking to get into I-Banking. For those guys and gals, I would suggest reading up on my coverage of headhunters and working with executive recruiters. It’s not work you are going to get by applying on Indeed.

So, the primary focus of this article is going to be how to handle retail baking experience on your resume.

How Can a Bank Teller Sound Good on a Resume?

Alright, here’s the main question that people are basically asking. Of all of the roles at a retail bank, the most common one is a bank teller. That’s simply because retail banks cater to large number of people who patronize banks.

Therefore it makes sense that there are a lot of people out there who have a bank teller job and want to know if it looks good on a resume.

And just as there are a lot of bank tellers out there, there are also a lot of banks advertising for the job. Whether or not it’s a good job is a story for another article. But what we’re covered with is if it looks good on a resume.

So, first, it is important to determine what sort of roles you are seeking? If you are looking to be an Account Executive at a fashion firm, then no, it’s not something that will get your foot in the door.

But if you’re looking to work in a bank as a loan officer, or some other role, then becoming a bank teller could be a great first step.

Let’s be clear, if you are seeking a corporate gig, then working retail at a branch bank is not going to cut it. Corporate head hunters are not interested in hiring someone who worked as a bank teller. They will have no interest.

If you are someone, though, who needs to demonstrate reliable income and responsible behavior, then working at a bank is a great thing to have on your resume. As a job seeker it’s important to know your goals. If that goal is making consistent money and having an official sounding title (for landlords, for instance) then working at a bank is going to win out over working most other types of retail environments.

Is a Bank Teller a Good Entry Level Job?

A bank teller is a good entry level job for certain people. All things are not equal when discussing career trajectory. For people who haven’t gone to college, or who have not gone to “good” colleges, then a bank teller is not a bad choice.

First, there is a career path available. It’s not, or it doesn’t have to be, a dead end up. There are plenty of examples of people who started working as bank tellers and who worked their way up to managing the bank.

It’s less common nowadays, but it’s not unheard of. If you are a starting out in your career and you are focused on getting “in” somewhere where there is room for growth.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who graduated from an elite school, and for some reason you’ve not been able to get a job, then there’s nothing wrong with taking a bank teller role…but it should not be seen as a career pack.

To be clear, it’s a good entry level job for someone who does not have the resume for corporate work.

Does a Bank Teller Job Look Good on a Resume?

As mentioned above, it looks good on resumes for certain types of work. If you’re someone who was not able to attend elite schools, or perhaps didn’t get the opportunity to go to college, then yes, working as a bank teller is a respectable role.

You really can’t compare resumes unless you’re also working in the same job vertical. So, people who are applying to be a store manager or an office manager might very well benefit from having a bank teller listed on their resume.

On the other hand, if you’re in college studying to be a lawyer, a public relations executive, or a marketing coordinator, then working as a bank teller really won’t do anything.