Bank Teller Resume Example & Writing Guide

Bank tellers are on the front line of a bank’s customer service experience. Responsible for helping clients with a variety of financial transactions, bank tellers and bankers ensure that all exchanges are completed accurately and fairly for both the bank and the clientele. 

Working as a bank teller isn’t just about counting cash. Bank tellers also need great interpersonal skills since this job is all about relationships with local patrons and helping them with a variety of financial planning services.

The best teller positions are growing increasingly competitive. As ATMs and online banking allow customers to have greater control over their own finances, bank tellers are increasingly responsible for more advanced operations.

To stand out from other candidates, you’ll need a resume that highlights your unique skills and motivations. Even with no prior experience, you can land a bank teller position by showing the right disposition and a willingness to learn. With this bank teller resume example, plus resume.io’s adaptable resume samples and resume templates , you’ve got all the tools you need to land the perfect teller position.

This bank teller resume example will teach you how to:

• Beat the ATS algorithms with the keywords hiring managers are looking for
• Craft an experience section that highlights your strongest skills
• Choose formatting that makes a great first impression
• Land a job as a bank teller, even with no experience!

What does a bank teller do?

Bank tellers handle a wide variety of customer needs in local bank branches, including but not limited to:

• Processing deposits and loan payments
• Cashing checks and issuing withdrawals
• Opening and closing accounts, selling cashiers and travelers checks
• Exchanging currencies, counting and packaging bills and coins
• Answering customer questions, cross-selling other products and services

How to write a bank teller resume

A resume for a bank teller is a delicate balance. On one hand, you’ll want to show off hard skills like cash counting, mental math and banking systems. On the other, you’ll need a variety of customer service abilities plus a strong sense of ethics and responsibility.

Each section on a resume is designed to serve a certain purpose. Your summary, for example, is the best place to show off your friendly disposition and create a personal connection with the hiring manager. You’ll want to use your employment history to demonstrate clear skills that are related to the industry or the duties of a bank teller.

Before we break down each section of your resume, let’s first gain a better understanding of the current industry and your role within it.

The job market for tellers

But before you slam your laptop closed in despair – there’s hope! While long term growth is projected to be slow, there are still many bank branches in need of tellers. According to Statista, in 2019 there were 76,837 bank branches in the United States. 

Banking is not going away anytime soon. The role of the teller is shifting, however. Bank tellers now handle more complex tasks like assisting customers with investment banking and loans. A new job as a bank teller is within your reach – if you know how to use your resume to position yourself. Below we’ll cover each section of the resume needed to put your best foot forward as a bank teller who is prepared for the future of the industry.

Other related resume examples from the same industry:

• Finance-director resume example
• Senior-accountant resume example
• Accountant resume example
• Loan-officer resume example
• Loan-processor resume example
• Bookkeeper resume example
• Auditing-clerk resume example
• Compliance-officer resume example
• Investment-banker resume example
• Financial-analyst resume example
• Financial-advisor resume example

Acing the ATS

Before your resume ever makes to the hands of a hiring manager, it must first pass – *drumroll please* – the ATS Challenge!

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System and you’re probably more familiar with these types of software than you think. They’re often built into online application portals like iCIMS, Taleo and Greenhouse. 

These softwares contain algorithms that scan your resume for keywords (usually from the job description) and rank them against other candidates’ resumes. Only the top ranking resumes are passed on to be read by a human hiring manager.

Getting past the ATS may seem daunting, but there are simple guidelines that will greatly improve your resume’s chances of success.

1. Understand the banking industry’s hiring practices and the needs of your branch
2. Use a wordcloud service to pick out keywords from the job description
3. Create clean formatting that can be easily scanned by the algorithm

In the following chapters, we’ll show you how to set up the perfect resume for a bank teller using the resume rules that hiring managers look for when evaluating top candidates. 

Summary example: professional perfection

Your profile summary is a 3-4 line description of your previous experience, skills and motivations for applying to the branch. It’s also virtually the only place on your resume where you’ll get to show off your personality and human side – deceptively important qualities for bank tellers.

A bank teller role might seem like a very serious position but much of the job is built on positive interactions with customers and other staff members. A bank teller should be trustworthy and ethical when it comes to handling money while still being friendly and helpful towards clientele. 

Begin your summary example with two key traits that define you as a bank teller, then add a sample of your most relevant professional experiences. Since bank tellers often aren’t required to have advanced degrees, add a line about your education only if you feel it helps differentiate you for the position. Above all, make sure your professional and polite personality shines through – a hiring manager can read all the other details later in your resume.

Employment history example: format to impress

The employment history section is where you’ll break down the details of your previous positions, tasks and achievements. If you’re a recent graduate, you may want to check out other resume formats, but for most career professionals with at least some degree of work experience, we recommend reverse chronological order. The resume format starts with your most recent place of employment and works backwards until you’ve listed your most recent 4-5 positions.

Each job listed on your resume should contain 4-5 bullet points describing your most impressive duties and any significant results you achieved. Here are some tips for developing each description:

Following these tips will help you make the most of your limited resume space and increase your chances of catching a recruiter’s attention as they scan your application.

Education example: a foundation for success

Bank teller positions are great entry level jobs and launching points into the finance and banking industries because they often require little more than a high school diploma or GED. Candidates for bank teller jobs should also be prepared to pass a background and/or a credit report check.

If you do possess a college degree, it doesn’t hurt to include it on your resume, especially if you want to position yourself for more specialized duties within the bank or if you have an educational background in a banking-related field.

Certifications

Some tellers receive certification through an on-the-job training program after they are hired, while others possess national credentials like the Certified Bank Teller designation from the American Bankers Association. If you have completed additional courses, training, certifications related to work as a bank teller, you should include these either within or following the education section on your resume.

Achievements

If you’ve worked as a bank teller before, you may have earned some recognition or achievements in your previous roles. You can create a short section to show these off if resume space allows. If possible, try to add a one-line description of your achievement that explains what you accomplished. For example, follow up “Teller of the Month” with a description of the number of customers you served or a notable transaction you helped complete.

Skills section example: show off your strengths

A bank teller’s skills are the essence of the role, but that doesn’t mean they need to be showcased in a laundry list on the bottom of your resume. Save space by incorporating the most important ones into the bullet points of your experience section. Your skills section can then be saved for a selection of the most important/specialized abilities.

The skills section is also one of the most important places to optimize your resume for the ATS. Use those word clouds and a careful reading the job description to place technical skills as well as personality traits into this section.

Hard skills

As discussed in the beginning of this example, the role of a bank teller is changing. For candidates with previous teller experience, banks may be looking for more technical abilities (also known as hard skills). If key software programs, investing or loan-related knowledge is mentioned in the job description, make sure to mention the same specific keywords in your skills section if they apply to you.

Soft skills

Your temperament and commitment to customer service make all the difference in a bank’s reputation and rapport with its clientele. Make sure to add 2-3 soft skills into your skills section, highlighting the most relevant based on the job description.

Choosing the correct CV format and resume template

Most candidates agonize over every word of their resume, but fewer realize the importance of carefully choosing each element of your CV formatting. Resume or CV formats can often say just as much about you as the words on the page – everything from your resume’s color palette to your font styles and size build an image of you as a candidate.

When choosing a finance resume example in the finance industry, professionalism is key. Since the financial industry is a formal one, you’ll want to convey a polished persona. Clean lines, muted colors (or no colors) and traditional font styles like Georgia, Helvetica or Arial are the best options for bank teller resume layouts.

The best resume template for a bank teller

Creating a resume layout from scratch can be frustrating, especially when using traditional word processing software which is too rigid to handle all the sections required in a resume. 

Resume templates make for easy alternatives, providing moveable sections and clean formatting right from the start. Our resume examples also come with pre-filled sample sentences designed to help simplify the writing process. 

Before choosing a template for a bank teller resume, make sure to consider your needs as well as the preferences of the employer. For example, will your employment history be the main focus or will you need additional space for your educational background? Does the bank’s branding align with bold fonts and bright colors or is a traditional, more subdued approach the way to go?

With Resume.io’s resume builder, you can easily try out one of professional templates and customize it to your taste. Quickly change between styles and save as a new version when applying to multiple openings.

Once you’ve crafted your resume and chosen a template with care, you’ll want to make sure your resume looks the same on the hiring manager’s computer as it does your own. That’s why we recommend downloading your resume as a PDF – the best format for emailing, printing and uploading. PDFs are also commonly accepted and easily readable by ATS systems.

Key takeaways

1. A bank teller resume needs to convey a variety of banking and people skills
2. The summary section gives an overview of your professional demeanor plus your most notable accomplishments
3. Your experience section should follow reverse chronological order with your most recent position listed first
4. Although bank tellers aren’t required to have a college degree, including relevant coursework or achievements can help bolster your education section
5. Formatting for a bank teller resume should be formal and professional. Use a template that aligns with the company image and branding.