Basic Job Skills: Working With Money (1976)

one of the basic skills required in many jobs is an ability to handle money to make calculations record sales satisfy cash customers arrange credit [Music] and make change [Music] thank you as a bank teller ham handles money every day Pam was the first of six people interviewed including Tim a cab driver Kathy a waitress Martha a supermarket checker Debbie a saleswoman in a record shop and John a Salesman in a men's store these people all work with money on their jobs in a bank almost every transaction concerns money either cash or checks my job is basically cashing checks taking savings deposits checking deposits and loan payments and there's a form for everything I do I have to keep track of every penny most people just don't trust you with their money they keep their own records so in front of the customer we make out a receipt and on the same machine at the same time we record the transaction we have to record everything we do with the machine or on general ledger tickets in order to avoid any error I have to check everything on a savings account say I check the balance and signature it's where the customer's own security so no one else can get money out of the account each night we end up with a certain amount of cash in our cash box it's called our closing cash we also open with that amount the next day of course we're responsible for the money we handle when you're working with money you need enough cash to start the work day Pam's closing cash will provide her with enough money to start the next day's work Tim on the other hand has to provide his own change yeah that Cab Company recommends we start off with at least ten dollars and change but I usually keep a little extra in my wallet just so I don't have to stop someplace to break a 20 if someone gives me one the first thing I do is check out the cab then I count my money and read the meter I marked down the mileage so there's a record of how far I go and how much I make at the end of the day I have to check the meter again fill out the form and hand it in to the dispatcher I'm pretty careful of filling out the forms you see I get a percentage of everything on the meter but I can get docked money if there's a mistake once I'm on the street I'm on my own I work with money all day taking fares and making change oh yeah sometimes it works out even say two dollars on the meter but that's not always so good for me you see when you're driving you have to depend on tips to make a living a buck 65 ferromite hand me a couple of singles and tell me keep the change but a two dollar fare it might be easier not to tip me at all that's no problem though some days are good some bad it all works out I have to split the money on the meter with the cab company so I've got to keep a record of where I take people and how much the fare was I usually do best downtown short hauls with business people Shoppers that racks up money fast on the meter sometimes I have a long haul like out to the airport and get a nice tip that helps especially if I can get a fair coming back downtown [Applause] another thing I have to do is keep a record of all the tips I get so I can declare them on my income tax the tax people are pretty strict believe me so I have to do some careful paperwork but I guess that's just like any businessman really you're working with money all the time [Music] [Applause] in many ways Tim's job is like Pam's job in the bank he has to handle cash keep accurate records and work with the public foreign [Music] have service jobs [Music] he has a service job too she's a waitress and handles money but her job involves more than that the many work involved in my job is mostly collecting money returning change and keeping track of each customer's check you've got to make sure that your checks are all perfect you've got to be accurate [Music] [Applause] [Music] you have to get accustomed to the menu and learn the prices as soon as you have the prices in your head you can save yourself a lot of time when you write up the order you have to be honest and accurate you try to be calm methodical orderly then when people order you'll be paying attention to what they say and it'll be registering in your mind foreign of your shift you have to go to the cashier and sign out your checks your customer receipts they're all numbered you have to account for every receipt in the pad [Music] you have to be careful with your check it's pretty easy to lose when you know if you lose a check or if somebody walks out without paying you'll have to pay a fee for it in our place besides taking money in some restaurants a waitress may also handle the cash register and credit cards as well as her own tips a retail sales job selling products also involves skills in handling money Martha is a checker in this Supermarket every Checker has her own cash drawer and to start the day we get two fives fifty dollars in ones a roll of quarters a roll of Dimes a roll of nickels and two rolls of pennies for making change the office takes readings of total sales rung up on my cash register several times during my shift to make sure there aren't any discrepancies and then just before I go off I'm a checker so I handle money all day and most of my job is using a cash register you get better with a cash register after a while punching the right numbers just seems to be automatic you just know where the numbers and keys are like you would on a typewriter but while I'm working the cash register I look at the amount on the item and I look at what I ring up I make sure it's correct to avoid a possible misunderstanding you keep the customers money in sight until you've finished making change you have to be quick so you don't make people wait but you have to work at your own pace if you hurry you're bound to make mistakes like charging too much for an item an overring then you try to take it off another grocery item but if you can't you have to cancel the wrong price out and correct it at the end of the bill then you have to write up a cancel report sheet and have it okayed by the office in our state you have to figure in the sales tax too after the items are totaled we ring up the amount of text on the register Debbie handles money for goods too but she needs different skills and knowledge in her retail sales job you sell records and art supplies and like I really enjoy it you have to learn about the things you're selling and about your store and you have to ask questions it's the only way to keep up with your stock your inventory [Music] I guess you could say that money is half of my job and the customer is the other half your attitude is important [Music] you realize that you have to make money for your store we accept checks up to fifty dollars but we need a person's identification and phone number a driver's license is the usual identification we also accept returns and give the customer credit on a new purchase it's our store's policy [Music] please Debbie knows her job handling both customers and money [Music] let's take a look at one more retail sales John is a men's clothing salesman to make a sale you have to find out what the customer needs what he's looking for and you try to help him quite a few customers ask my opinion you tell them what you think and you know what it does for them the more you know about Styles different fits and the customer's needs the better you'll do and that's where the money comes in for convenience a lot of our customers use credit cards to charge their purchases very often the customers will spend more with their charge cards than they do with cash in our store if you don't know the customer or if he's charging a large amount you call in and give the number of his card to make a credit check anyone can make a mistake so just as a customer will look over the bill and count the change we check credit cards if the card is okay the store will give you an authorization number to mark on the form you can also check the revoked card list to make sure the card wasn't lost or stolen or out of date by following the rules both the salesman and the customer are protected foreign each of the jobs we have looked at as well as many hundreds of others require us an ability to handle money accurately safely rapidly and honestly this is one of the most basic job skills foreign