Career Changes Support Group
This community is dedicated to the difficult challenges of transitioning from one career or job to a new one. Especially as we grow older, it can be very difficult to acquire the skills and relationships and take the financial risk to make the switch.
My name is Shamona Patton. I have a degree in Computer Information Systems. I want to go back to school to major in Finance. I want to work in a bank. What kind of experience or education do you have to have to work in a bank?
It really depends what kind of work you want to do - banks are huge organisations as a rule and you can do pretty much anything :) I'm guessing you might like to work in a branch, in which case experience is usually more important than education - I always look for customer service experience whatever position I'm recruiting for. If you want to take on an advisory position then a finance qualification will definitely help. Another option is to start as a teller and work your way up, it is a great way for you to suss out what type of job you want to end up in and also a more gradual way of learning everything you'll need to know so might suit you better, banks generally prefer to promote internally so you will probably find this an easier way to get a foot in the door.
Alternatively, most banks offer graduate programs to fast track people educated to degree level into advisory or management positions. But take it from one who knows, life as a bank manager can be ridiculously stressful :(
Sorry I've waffled on so much, feel free to ask any questions, but I'd suggest checking out the careers section on a couple of banks websites, they're usually very informative.
Good luck! :)