Banker : Career development

Retail and commercial banking careers can progress in linear terms, taking on responsibility for more sales, on to team leadership, assistant manager of a branch or department, a branch/department manager role, manger of a group of branches or departments, and on to regional or head office management.

Progression is determined by results and drive, not time, experience and qualifications, so movement up the ranks can be swift, or can take a lifetime. With each step up there will be more competition for the role, and the expectations that the banker needs to meet will also increase too.

It is also possible to move off the management career ladder into one of a number of areas; these may be banking specific such as credit control, risk management or product development; or more generic, such as marketing, procurement or training.

It is possible to move between banks as well as within banks; while this was once very unusual, it is now common practice, as is moving into other financial roles, such as insurance, other retail roles, such as supermarket management, or general management, e.g. of a call centre.