How to hire tellers

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines.
• Cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds.
• Count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank.
• Enter customers' transactions into computers to record transactions and issue computer-generated receipts.
• Examine checks for endorsements and to verify other information, such as dates, bank names, identification of the persons receiving payments, and the legality of the documents.
• Monitor bank vaults to ensure cash balances are correct.
• Receive checks and cash for deposit, verify amounts, and check accuracy of deposit slips.
• Resolve problems or discrepancies concerning customers' accounts.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent]
• Strong active listening, speaking, critical thinking, monitoring, reading comprehension and mathematics skills
• Working knowledge of customer and personal service and English Language
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $20.69 an hour ($43,030 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for tellers

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to enter customers' transactions into computers to record transactions and issue computer-generated receipts. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
7. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What tellers do

• Balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines.
• Cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds.
• Count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank.
• Enter customers' transactions into computers to record transactions and issue computer-generated receipts.
• Examine checks for endorsements and to verify other information, such as dates, bank names, identification of the persons receiving payments, and the legality of the documents.
• Monitor bank vaults to ensure cash balances are correct.
• Receive checks and cash for deposit, verify amounts, and check accuracy of deposit slips.
• Resolve problems or discrepancies concerning customers' accounts.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingMonitoringReading ComprehensionMathematicsCustomer and Personal ServiceEnglish Language

Education, experience and outlook for tellers

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: Up to 1 month (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Short-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: -13.2% over ten years, declining · about 26,800 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay tellers

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See tellers pay in every state

Related hiring guides

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• Billing and Posting Clerks
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• Gambling Cage Workers
• Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
• Procurement Clerks
• Financial Clerks, All Other

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.