A Future to Bank On (1951)

[Music] hi Jimmy come on we're late what do you mean we'd hi Pat been waiting for you this is Jim Williams he's in my class school gym yesterday brain my brother-in-law I'm sorry late for our point well how can I help you well right yes I've been trying to figure out what to do when I graduate from high school I'm well most of the kids have the same problem we all want to get jobs I know I want to work lease until I'm married and I know I have to work even after I'm i know i have the same problem myself i guess everybody gets the willies worrying about what to do when he gets out of high school well I know Pat is kind of interested in working here and well frankly I've never thought about working in a bank well neither did I until I began looking around when I graduated from high school I i knew i wasn't going to college I couldn't afford to so I wanted to find something with a future I wanted something good solid and secure something something I could grow with what do you mean well as long as there's money they have banks to handle and service it I I figure both are gonna be around for a long time so I figured that a bank was a good permanent place to work I would think so and banking isn't just a job it's a career I hadn't thought of it that way and besides being a secure comfortable place to work you well I don't know you feel good working in a bank and why shouldn't you the people you work with or friendly and happy because they share a common interest they're doing a job that's well respected in the community in which they live in the whole country for that matter they've got good jobs and plenty of chance to get ahead they know it and they like it it's kind of stimulating to work in an atmosphere like that and you like working in a bank because banks help millions of people save for a better future you know large or small every man's bank account is a personal and important thing to that man it's nice to be trusted with it and banks lend people the money to buy that house they've been dreaming about also lend farmers and people in industries the money they need in time of war banks lend millions in fact billions of dollars to help finance companies that make the materials we need in order to defend ourselves big and little banks serve and help everybody mm-hmm that's a wonderfully interesting day but I still don't see what jobs there aren't banks for me or gym or anybody hmm I'll tell you what I'm gonna do let's um let's take a look over there that's duty parish she's a teller now but she hasn't always been one she came to work for the bank right after she graduated from high school started by doing clerical and messenger work then Judy was given a simple job of arranging checks in alphabetical order she learned the importance of accuracy by running the proof machine but sorts and adds checks all in one operation [Music] soon Judy moved into the book evening department at first she did simple but important jobs such as adding short lists of checks then she was assigned to the posting and filing of checks for individual customers she quickly learned the customers signatures she'd know a forgery if she ever saw one she began to see what was behind all the steps she was handling and she was getting a good fundamental knowledge of the banking business so by now she was ready to advance into a teller's job it's been a kind of natural growth into this job for Judy she learned to recognize signatures and names and now the names and signatures are alive she's meeting people and helping them personally each job has taught her a little something about the next one so you see everything you do helps you to learn and everything you learn helps you to move ahead in your banking career you grow and learn as you work yes one job sort of leads into the next one that's right you're always in training for the job ahead that's why banks promote from within their own groups of employees take me for instance when I came from high school I was a messenger for a while like Judy worked through several jobs and got to be a teller quicker than I thought I would also handled the job of general bookkeeper for a while gave me a wonderful bird's-eye view of everything that goes on in a bank then I was back on the human side of banking opening new accounts meeting the people who were beginning to build for their future and when I was promoted to my present job I I got an officer's title now I spend a lot of my time interviewing borrowers making loans but of course all this didn't happen overnight you have to plan and you have to work it takes time to grow and learn well I can see but gee how do you get started what do you have to know to get a job in the bank well banks don't hire just anybody Jim what if you're honest have a high school education did pretty well in arithmetic hey I'm pretty good at figures well there's a lot of figuring in a bank on this there's a lot of contact with people to working in a bank so you should like people not only that they should like you well sure let's put it this way working in a bank appeals to people who like a dignified secure job with good pay at a place that has a lot of prestige in the community mm-hmm of course it would be nice if everybody could have a college education but even if you haven't got one you can't help yourself get ahead by studying banking what do you mean the American Institute of banking what's that it's an educational service within the banking system to help bank employees grow and learn while they work american institute of banking courses teach you the fundamentals of banking give you a good solid basis for moving up the banking ladder right from the start in several hundred cities or towns in the country there are chapters or local schools when i was in the service i kept taking aib correspondence courses so when I got out of the army I not only came back to a job with a good future I came back a little ahead of the game well there's one thing certain it isn't hard to sell the bangs product everybody likes sure sure but banks don't really sell money the thing banks have to sell is services your knowledge your ability your honesty and taking care of people's money you know all of a sudden I'm kind of interested banking's good to be interested in banking isn't a flash in the pan it's a solid lifetime career the opportunities to advance to move up or as good as you want to make me for yourself and well if you if you work hard do your best you'll find as much true happiness and as much real security in banking as you will in any other business in the world hmm I don't know what could be better than that but what about people like me I'm not gonna work all my life well even if you're just working it back for a while Pat the things you learn about checks about money about people those things stay with you will help you later on hmm yes one of you two metal excuse me I've got a shop