Being a Bank Teller is Stressful

Being a bank teller is stressful? What is teller job in a bank? There are many definitions to elaborate what a bank teller is but simply put, a bank teller is that employee of the bank who deals directly with the customers/clients. Whether it is receiving the money for deposit or dealing with any withdrawals, money drafts, taking calls or simply filling out any forms for the customer, it all comes under the bank teller. A bank teller is in fact the first person to deal with a customer in a bank before they can be sent to see someone more specific to their task. So, it is not surprising that there is a long list of the duties and responsibilities of a bank teller. These include collecting payments, checking and counting cash, money withdrawals, wire transfers, dealing with loans and mortgages, balancing, dealing with any customer questions and queries, answering and forwarding calls, filling and checking paperwork, promoting bank services and so on.

Requirements to become a bank teller

Surprisingly, for a job that deals with so many things on a regular basis, the minimum education required is a high school degree or equivalent. Anything above this will obviously have its benefits and will likely excel to higher post in future. The customer dealing skills must be impeccable. All other relevant skills and training required can be acquired as the job starts or as an internee before becoming a bank teller. Bank tellers deal with numbers and math. So they must be good at computer skills and mathematics.

Bank teller duties & responsibilities

Whenever a customer enters a bank, the first bank employee after the security guard at entrance gate is the bank teller that the customer interacts with. Basically, day to day work of the bank teller involves:

• Assistant the customers in a bank with their transactions (deposits & withdrawals)
• Guide the customers related to accounts
• Forex exchange (to exchange currency notes for customers)
• Keep record of each and every transaction (electronically)
• Create system generated banking reports
• Provide guidance to new customers about bank's products and services
• To reconcile and remove discrepancies in cash drawer
• To get requests from customers and submit for processing (e.g. orders for checks & cards etc)
• To implement and follow banking guidelines, byelaws, rules, SOPs and procedures
• Packing cash into bundles of required size

Why being a bank teller is stressful?

A job with many responsibilities cannot be easy. More than other jobs in the bank or other offices that require only dealing with the computer sitting before you on a desk or just quietly doing your work without having to deal with so many people in a day's work. It can be stressful dealing with customers all the time. Especially in bank job where you run the risk of making people angry, have to satisfy customers by answering all hundreds of questions they ask, explain to them over and over how something works. Or worse yet, refusing them for any requests they have that require you to make an exception to the bank's rules.

Handling money involves risk

Like all other jobs dealing with people's money, a bank teller has huge responsibility. The amount of concentration required and the responsibility that the job entails makes it particularly stressful. A customer could miss an important billing deadline because of your mistake, you could accidentally transfer a wrong sum of money, you could misplace a receipt and so on. These mistakes can be disastrous for a bank teller and could make them lose their job without further ado. 

Dealing with banking frauds

There is also the risk of coming across frauds carrying counterfeit money. If a bank teller misses that, it can be very problematic for them. Or dealing with people who have strong 'contacts' and expect to be treated like they own the place, making it impossible to work with them for whatever reason they are there. People can be very hard to deal with in a bank. If a bank teller has dealt with twenty different people (some patient, some frustrated, some downright rude and some who fail to comprehend at all what they are being explained) and their problems, and the last twenty-first customer they are dealing with refuses to leave till all their cash is 'crisp' and fresh money notes, anyone would have break down!

The stress of targets & deadlines from bank

Other than the difficulty and stress of dealing with customers, the pressures of the bank can also be stressful. There are deadlines or branch goals to be met. With the competition in banks being so tough and so many people applying for this post, it can be stressful to keep meeting all the requirements on a daily basis without any fall outs. The list goes on. As a conclusion, being a bank teller is stressful. But we are not here to demotivate you. All the jobs come with different pros and cons. You need good managerial skills to deal with workplace stress and workload.

Stress management for banking job

Now the question is how do you deal with stress at bank's job? It is easy to manage stress of bank tellers job.

• Exercise is a great stress relieves, so do the workout regularly.
• Stay calm and avoid conflicts and fights at workplace. void negative people around you and if you have to interact with them, try to be positive.
• Organize your work and your workstation. 
• Prioritize tasks. Do what is important today and leave the rest for tomorrow.
• Listen music while driving to and from job.
• Create a neat and clean, tidy and comfortable environment at your desk.
• Don't waste time doing something you don't know. Immediately seek guidance from your supervisor for better output.
• Learn to relax through meditation, deep breathing, laughter, jokes and enjoying meals and tea.
• Take breaks from work and enjoy life. It certainly recharges employees and increases their productivity and creativity.