A typical working day as a finance employee

As a finance employee your day typically alternates between scheduled customer meetings and independent case processing at the screen. You rarely have two identical days but there are some task types that recur and are worth knowing before you start.

§Customer meeting

A customer meeting is about understanding what the customer actually needs — not just what he asks for. A customer who wants to borrow for a car may also need a chat about budget insurance and savings. Your job is to ask the right questions listen properly and explain things in a language the customer understands.

Always prepare before the meeting. Read the customer's history look at the engagement and have a proposal ready. It signals respect for the customer's time and makes you more credible.

§Case handling and credit assessment

Time management

• 01Purchasing assistant
• 02Calculate available amount and debt factor
• 03Assess security (e.g. pledges in home or car)
• 04Write an assessment and document your evaluation

§Follow-up and the day-to-day

Between meetings you answer messages in the online bank, call customers, correct errors in cases and follow up on agreements. Many tasks have a deadline, so you need to be good at planning and keeping track of multiple cases at once.

§Cooperation in the department

You rarely work alone. Complicated cases are discussed with a credit officer or your manager, and you draw on colleagues with specialist knowledge in, for example, housing, business or investment. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness — that's how the bank ensures the customer gets a correct answer.

When you end the day it is a good habit to wrap up loose ends: what cases need follow-up tomorrow and what did you promise the customers? That discipline is what distinguishes a reliable financial worker from one customers lose faith in.