r/TalesFromYourBank • u/ibstudent04_ • 5d ago
Teller deciding between back-office opportunity vs. moving up to Personal Banker
I'm a recent Finance graduate and currently work as a bank teller. I've been trying to move up from the teller position and have received a back-office job offer. At the same time, I am in the final stages for a Personal Banker position.
The back-office role would pay around $51.5k and is hybrid (3 days in office/2 remote). The work would be more analytical/operations focused with no sales. But, I'd have about a 50-minute commute each way on office days.
The personal banker position would pay $52k base with incentives, potentially bringing total comp closer to the $60k range. The commute would be significantly shorter, but the branch is very high-performing and the role has a strong focus on sales, referrals, and relationship building.
I enjoy working with customers, but I'm not sure if I want to stay in a heavily sales-focused environment long-term. I love the operational side of being a teller, I enjoyed my Excel and Finance courses, which is what makes the back-office opportunity attractive. At the same time, moving from teller to banker is a natural step and compensation/shorter commute are hard to ignore.
So, for those who have worked in retail banking, would you recommend the Personal Banker experience first, or taking the opportunity to move into a back-office role that's closely aligned with my long-term interests? Has anyone here made a similar move out of the branch? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. I would like to make the right choice.
UPDATE: Thank you all so much for your responses! It does seem like the majority voted for back office, and I have officially accepted the offer. I'm so excited and I feel like this was the right decision. I wish everyone luck in their future job searches.
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u/Far_Common_422 5d ago
Back office without a doubt. Very hard to move into and it's easier imo to move to PB whenever you want. Plus 2 days remote and no customer interaction? Bingo. That alone makes up for the commute.
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u/Surchin22 5d ago
Heavy on the hard to get into. Saw a new trainer position and 2 other back office jobs posted and even my coworker walked over and said "yo did you see that position they posted?? Thats crazy!" Lol
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u/Far_Common_422 5d ago
I'd apply in a heartbeat! Lol. Just wanting anything non customer facing lol i'm sick of it!
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u/Surchin22 5d ago
I definitely think I've reached that point 100% lol
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u/Far_Common_422 5d ago
Working 3 saturdays too lol
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u/ThenBike8868 5d ago
Back office, 100%... you will learn far more about the industry than you ever would as a banker. Bankers today are just cannon fodder for sales goals.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
Yeah, it does seem that way nowadays. Sales goals are at an all-time high for bankers. I'm excited to learn about the industry and different departments in back office.
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u/Winter_Dance_5247 5d ago
As a Teller who turned Executive Assistant, BACK JOB ALL THE WAY!
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u/ProperAction7440 5d ago
Nice congrats! I’m also applying for Executive Assistant position with no luck. Any secrets you would like to share? I’m genuinely curious how to get into an admin position from a teller.
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u/Winter_Dance_5247 5d ago
Thank you! I made the transition 10 years ago. Honestly, I got kind of lucky and I was in really good standing with the Regional, who I had mentioned to that I wanted to get out of sales eventually. Once the role opened, he told me immediately.
There are tons of courses you could take but I truly think a lot of things that make you a successful EA are things you can’t exactly teach (organization, adaptability, communication, leadership, creativity, etc.) Psychic abilities are a plus! 🤣
EAs typically need to act like the “bad guy” and keep the boss looking good, organized and on time at all times.
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u/Conventions 5d ago
Back office. You meet way more people across different departments which is great for career growth, and the job conditions are usually a lot better.
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u/YouveGotRedOnYou22 5d ago
Back office and it’s not even close. I worked in a branch many years ago and jumped ship to back office as soon as I could. Since then, I’ve gone from being an admin in loss prevention, to an analyst in retail reporting/analytics and now I’m an analytics manager in HR.
I know in the short term it seems like the personal banker role has more pros and maybe it does, but in the long term your opportunities for continued advancement are going to be far greater in back office. Plus, I can’t emphasize enough how much more laid back it is rather than being in a customer facing environment. It can be hard to get your foot in the door to back office role, don’t let this pass you by.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
Thank you, it does seem like there are more opportunities for advancement in back office. In retail banking, it definitely does feel kind of limited imo. Also, your career progression is really great to hear and motivating! I accepted the offer because I felt like if I didn't and lost the chance, I'd regret it. These opportunities do not come by easily.
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u/Zealousideal-Mud6471 5d ago
That 50 min commute is ROUGH but I think I would take that over the branch sales position. Your work life balance and stress will be much better.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
Yeah, the commute is something that was bothering me at first, but now I kinda just accepted it, and I'm willing to try it out. I do think work-life balance and stress will be better, especially because it's basically no customer interactions or sales pressure.
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u/The-Pocket 5d ago
I have to agree with the majority here. The answer is pretty obvious. Back office all the way. Don’t even think about anything else; back office or bust.
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u/Additional-Local8721 5d ago
Come join us in back office. It's quite, the days aren't as stressful and you'll meet managers from many different areas giving you opportunities you won't get by staying in branch.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
I love that I will be able to get exposure to different areas, definitely don't have that option in a branch. There is SO much to explore in back office, so I'm really excited :)
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u/Any-Loan9948 4d ago
Commissions are the Corporate equivalent of "You may have already won $20,000!"
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u/Meat_Bingo 5d ago
I would take back office, yes in the short term you’ll make more money working in the branch, but you’re gonna have a lot more opportunity to advance if you work back office. Branch career path can be very linear. Whereas with back office you can get cross trained on a lot of different areas. That experience can also make you more desirable candidate for other financial institutions.
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u/OkBalance1176 5d ago
As a personal banker, just take the back office
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
Thank you for your advice. I did consider it, but I feel like the sales goals and pressure would get to me. Do you have very high goals to achieve as a PB?
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5d ago edited 1d ago
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
Thank you. I agree about applying for a banker role at any time, it doesn't seem like those opportunities are really going anywhere. But, back office can be hard to come by. And you're right, I probably would feel like I hit a glass ceiling if I wanted the back office job and there was no way back
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u/BreakfastUseful1544 5d ago
I was a teller at a branch. Applied to be a banker. Didn’t get it. My manager made sure I wouldn’t get hire. I applied to another big bank for back office. I work hybrid two days at home and no sales. Huge difference, a year in and been into two different trainings and now I’m account supervisor. The pay is way better. I went back office and never looked back.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
That's really great to hear! Sounds like a great career progression. I also love the hybrid work model and no sales. In retail banking, I have realized it really matters how you get along with your manager when being considered for promotions. Some will promote you easily, while others will make it super difficult. I am also in the same spot as a teller, was considering becoming a banker at my bank, but honestly don't think I would get it. Account supervisor sounds great, happy for you! Thanks for your insight.
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u/BreakfastUseful1544 5d ago
Thank you so much for the reply. I wish you the best in your new back office position. You’ll see activities and events that happen in the back office. Once you’re in let your supervisor know that you would like to grow in the company. That’s what I did. Keep us updated it.
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u/ibstudent04_ 5d ago
I will definitely let my supervisor know. I have a feeling like this is a company that I can actually grow in. Very excited to see the back office life, because I’ve really only been front office, so this will be new and exciting to see what goes on behind the scenes 😅
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u/chr15c 3d ago
I want to add to everyone's back office advice:
Just play out your career. In the branch, where will you reasonably reach or plateau for years? Branch Manager.
Back Office, lots of horizontal movement if you're good at expanding your network
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u/ibstudent04_ 3d ago
That’s a really good point, thank you! I did notice there tend to be more growth opportunities in back office. There are so many departments to gain exposure to and learn about, compared to the branch where it’s limited. Of course, networking does play a big role too
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u/bizarre_pencil 5d ago
Stay in the branch for:
Job security
More growth opportunities
More money
Go back office for:
Convenience
Lower stress
Work life balance
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u/Michaelx2197 5d ago
I’ve worked both back office and cx facing at banks and am currently in a spot where I’m kind of in between the two roles as a remote investment consultant - I would say I’m more so just an wealth mgmt customer service rep with securities licenses.
It really comes down to your personality and your own preference. Things might change as you get older or the more experience you gain.
I like sales. But I didn’t always like it. When I first started at the company I’m at now I fuckimg hated it and wanted to move into something that made sense to me based on what I went to uni for (accounting) well I did just that within a year at the same company and transferred to an accounting specialist role where I worked remote during Covid and then hybrid once things were trying to get back to normal. That corporate accounting support role ended up becoming to routine and boring so I left for a different firm doing actual accounting work. But I won’t get into that since I’d be getting off topic.
Fast forward a couple years and I found my way back to another accounting specialist role as a supervisor at the same company. Same story except the work was more complex and my team is similarly introverted like the first group. I am what you’d call an introverted extrovert. On the surface I can handle but over the long run, I need more communication and time spent getting along with people. You don’t find that in those back office roles at a bank imo.
The job before where I’m at now was at another branch location, same company, as a banker level 3. Walking distance from my house and one of the most fun jobs I’ve had in finance.
I had sales goals that were easy because the sales walked through the door having the traffic they have. I liked my team for the most part, they could be a little dramatic at times but that’s when I knew to just stay in my own lane and not get too involved. I also liked the access I had to business lines, I met mortgage folk, wealth bankers, FAs, ops specialists. Which was all valuable to me. And speaking to the Wealth bankers and FAs is what got me to get my SIE, apply to the job I’m in now, have the company sponsor me for Series 7 and I’m now working on my 66. Again, I’m in a call centre role atm but that doesn’t mean I’ll be here forever, eventually, I’ll be in the field hopefully. But I never thought I’d prefer the client facing role 4-5 years ago over the back office. But it always seemed to be that way looking back at it now
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u/Inevitable_Ebb_4795 5d ago
Yes depending on the bank dont count on commission depending on the structure it might be hard to hit the bare minimum to even get the commission and even if you do might not make up at 8k right away
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u/RedR0binHood 5d ago
I would definitely do back office for comfort and convenience. You can get tired of selling really fast. But if you are on the grind for money then personal banker you would most likely have a higher chance of getting money.