Career & application guide

Tellers

Get to know the work, the skills that matter, and how to prepare your next application.

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What do tellers do?

Receive and pay out money. Keep records of money and negotiable instruments involved in a financial institution's various transactions.

This describes a U.S. occupation, not a live vacancy. Individual employers may use different titles and requirements.

Job titles to recognize in your search

O*NET reports these titles for this occupation. Compare the responsibilities in each posting before treating titles as equivalent.

  • Account Representative
  • Bank Teller
  • Branch Operations Specialist
  • Customer Relationship Specialist
  • Customer Service Associate (CSA)
  • Financial Services Representative (FSR)
  • Member Services Representative
  • Personal Banking Representative

Core tasks to compare with a job posting

  • Balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines.
  • Receive checks and cash for deposit, verify amounts, and check accuracy of deposit slips.
  • Monitor bank vaults to ensure cash balances are correct.
  • Cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds.
  • Count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank.
  • Enter customers' transactions into computers to record transactions and issue computer-generated receipts.
  • Examine checks for endorsements and to verify other information, such as dates, bank names, identification of the persons receiving payments, and the legality of the documents.
  • Resolve problems or discrepancies concerning customers' accounts.
  • Prepare and verify cashier's checks.
  • Process transactions, such as term deposits, retirement savings plan contributions, automated teller transactions, night deposits, and mail deposits.

Prepare an application for this occupation

  1. Check the employer’s requirements, location, schedule and any licenses against your situation.
  2. Choose two or three tasks above that match the posting and your actual experience.
  3. Build a resume evidence worksheet using the skills and software relevant to that employer.
  4. Practice explaining your contribution, decisions and results before an interview.

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