It used to be that if you didn’t have a college degree, being a bank teller was about your only option for a foot in the financial world. Now high school grads have more opportunities for good paying jobs in the industry.
David Rosario used to make his living operating a forklift in a warehouse. Now he carries a laptop to work. And he is about to take a new job that comes with a 30% pay hike.
Like a growing number of people, he’s figured out a way to climb the corporate career ladder without a college degree.
“To get an entry level position in the banking world, financial services world, I don’t think you need college at all,” said Rosario, who dropped out of college after one semester.
Bank teller used to be the industry’s go-to entry level job for anyone without a college degree. While those jobs are now on the decline, new opportunities in banking and finance have grown. And investment in skills-based training has opened up opportunities for high school graduates to move directly into career-track opportunities.
Rosario, who lives in Warwick, Rhode Island, made the leap from the warehouse to his first job in banking with the help of a training program through the nonprofit organization Year Up United. After training and an internship at Citizens Bank, he was hired as a full-time employee to help maintain the bank’s payments platform. It all took just under a year.
“There’s plenty of opportunities in banking — whether it’s in the consumer bank or in technology or in operations or in finance — where you don’t need a degree to get started,” said John Galante, managing director of Year Up United.
The organization, which partners with major banks and companies in finance, said half of all entry level jobs with its partners don’t require a college degree. With relatively low unemployment, banks and financial firms are prioritizing skills — not degrees — to compete for qualified entry level talent.
Citizens Bank recently announced a commitment of $10 million to support workforce development programs across the country. Andrea Cooper, a vice president at Citizens Bank, said the bank encourages people without college degrees to look at their past experiences such as work with a volunteer organization.
“You may not have particular skills just yet, but you can grow, and you can be developed, you’re someone that’s willing to go to classes, you’re willing to work on the job to understand that you’re open to feedback,” said Cooper.
While many Year Up United graduates start in customer service and continue on in consumer banking, Galante said some companies have a pathway for employees to progress through further certificate training or licenses needed to rise through the ranks of banking and financial services.
“They have milestones on how they can get ahead and get promoted, and how they can move from maybe an associate banker to a relationship banker and maybe from a relationship banker to a business banker or a financial advisor,” said Galante.
Annual starting salaries for most Year Up United graduates are close to $50,000, and entry level jobs for software engineers in banking start at $70,000, he said.
The Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges, which partners with the state’s Be Mass Competitive program, also offers free training for jobs in finance and banking and helps with job placement. There’s also workforce training available through nonprofits like the Asian American Civic Association.
The top jobs in banking and finance still need that college degree, but many banks and financial institutions offer tuition reimbursement.
Sikkim Limbo dropped out of college because he couldn’t pay his tuition and lost hope that he’d ever reach his goal of working in cyber security in finance. He’s now immersed in IT training at Year Up United.
“I feel like I can still make my dream come true,” he said.
This story first appeared on GBH.org.
