Career Advice for a Banker

Bankers help clients with various financial services, including setting up bank accounts, managing money, and applying for loans. They determine their needs and help them choose financial products and services to help them achieve their financial goals. Bankers can manage branches or teams within a specialist banking sector.

Quick Links

How to Become a Banker

Choosing your career path and learning how to become the person you aspire to be is not always straight forward; getting a job in your chosen industry will take dedication, focus and the right qualifications.

When you have chosen the career path you wish to follow, you will need to learn how to become a Banker

Should you wish to work as a Banker you will need to evaluate what courses are required, their cost and what qualifications you need. It is important that you also assess whether you have the right credentials from a personality point of view, what the demands of the job are and whether they complement the lifestyle that you desire.

Another factor to consider, should you wish to fulfil your career aspirations, is the number of jobs you will need to have to reach your ultimate job, and the length of time it will take to reach this goal.

Common Qualifications for a Banker

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs including English and Maths
  • Apprenticeship in Financial Services Administration or similar
  • Degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics or related

Key Responsibilities for a Banker

  • Managing daily operations within the bank branch
  • Assisting clients by opening and closing bank accounts
  • Overseeing transactions within the branch
  • Signing new clients to loans, bank accounts, and other financial products
  • Evaluate and approving loan applications
  • Writing money orders and handling cash for various transactions
  • Explaining banking services to customers
  • Making recommendations of banking products
  • Ensuring high-quality customer service
  • Resolving customer complaints

What to expect as a Banker

Bankers interact with clients to help them find the right financial products. You will meet with customers, handle transactions and evaluate loan applications. To be successful in this career, you will need excellent communication and customer service skills and have extensive knowledge of financial services.

Recommended Banker Jobs

Loading Jobs...

How to get Banker Jobs

Our advice on how to get a Banker job is to focus on preparation and personalisation.

Preparation

This occurs before you write a CV cover letter or complete a Banker application. If you have not held a Banker position before, it will help to research the industry and review what a typical career path might look like. If you have held a Banker role, focus your research on the company where you are seeking employment.

Valuable resources that will help you learn about the employer include the company’s career page, social media page, blog, job ad, and job description. Helpful information will consist of the company’s mission statement, values, and vision. You could also use an employer review site to gain insights on average salaries, what current employees say about the company culture, and what it is like to work for the organisation.

Personalisation

You are now in a position to use what you have learned in your Banker CV, cover letter, and application. You should personalise each Banker application, cover letter, and CV; prioritising job skills and relevant experience and providing examples that show you have similar values and goals.

This pre-application stage is a crucial step in how to become a Banker in the UK. It puts you in a superbly informed state, ready for forthcoming telephone, video, or in-person interviews.

Students: How to Become a Banker 

As with all professions, choose your study topics carefully. Review the qualifications needed to be a Banker and the subjects you will need to enrol in certification courses, higher education, or online courses. 

Aligning your study subjects

The more closely you align your study subjects with your career path, the more likely you will be to have projects and modules that you can refer to and show a prospective employer that you have practical or theoretical Banker experience.

How to get Banker Experience

What does it take to be a Banker? The best way to find out is to get work experience, which will be invaluable when applying for Banker jobs. You can learn how to be a successful Banker through internships, apprenticeships, or volunteering for a local business.

How to be a Banker Part-Time 

If you are wondering how to get into Banker part-time, there are several possibilities. You might find a new employer looking for a part-time Banker or find your existing employer is amenable. Often companies recognise the value of flexible hours and having more staff at work during busy times of the day. 

Banker freelance work

If you have impressive Banker qualifications and experience, you could take on the challenges of working freelance with control over your schedule.

Making a Career Change

How to start a career in this profession if you work in another industry may require studying for qualifications online and focusing on transferable skills when writing your CV and attending job interviews.