I am an assistant branch manager for a bank.
How would you describe what you do?
I am an assistant to the manager but I oversee all the daily operations of the branch. That includes making the weekly schedule, I oversee all the teller daily activities and make sure that they’re performing their tasks and staying within their check cashing limit. I also balance the ATM. I do a lot with customer service, complaints, and helping people resolve any customer conflict that might arise. I open new accounts. I make sure all the cashier’s checks and money orders are typed up and issued correctly and logged. I do a monthly audit of the branch. I just make sure that the branch operates smoothly. A lot of it is administrative work.
How did you get started at your job?
Well I first graduated from college and I had a few interviews with other companies and the bank just offered me the job. I first started out as a teller and then got involved in the manager training program and then I was promoted to assistant branch manager.
What do you like about your job?
I really enjoy all the people I work with. They make it enjoyable and fun to come to work with every morning. I like that and I like that I get to kind of do things at my own speed.
What do you dislike?
I kind of feel like it’s the same thing every day. I wish that I could get out more maybe and sell the bank instead of being behind the teller line.
How do you make money or how are you compensated?
I’m salary-based. We don’t get commission and recently after I was promoted to assistant manager I got a raise. And then at my yearly review I got a booster raise which is basically a standard raise for employees.
How much money do you make as an assistant branch manager?
$38,000 a year
What education or skills are needed for your job?
A high school education. The only thing you really need to be is a good people person and be able to understand that the customer is never wrong. You need to be good at resolving conflicts and coming up with ways to make the customer happy. You need to go out of your way to help accommodate their needs. You also need to be computer savvy and know Excel templates for monthly auditing and those kinds of things.
What is the most challenging about your job?
For me the most challenging thing would be to move up in the bank. Basically, it’s challenging trying to prove that I can do more than what I’m doing now. I kind of feel like I’m underused.
What is most rewarding about what you do?
I love my customers and they come to see me so I’ve built good relationships with customers at the bank. And again I’ve enjoyed everybody I’ve worked with.
Is there any advice that you would give someone considering this job?
For an assistant manager you’re ultimately not the one in charge and you need to be respectful and mindful of your authority and not go in there and try and rule the show. But there is always potential to move up. It’s a good learning and stepping stone for anyone to be in management. As an assistant manager you are given authority to manage people and it kind of gives you an idea of what management is like without giving you the absolute, full-blown responsibility of it. What I mean is, I have authority but I don’t make the final call on things.
How much time off do you get and do you take a year?
Well after being there a year you get two weeks of vacation and after five years you get three weeks off and then obviously the more years the more time off you get. It builds over time.
Are there any common misconceptions people have about what you do?
Not that I can think of.
What are your goals or dreams for the future?
Well obviously a goal of mine is to move up the corporate ladder, whether or not that’s in banking I don’t know. When you’re in the management position you tend to start like I did as a teller and then the next step after that is management. I would like to move to the commercial side and see how the lending side of the bank operates.
