Everyone is always excited to get their first working experience after completing their education. While some have been lucky enough to have gotten some experience even before completing their education, many of us were not. For many corp members including myself, the place of primary assignment would be our first work experience after completing our university education. Hence it was a very exciting but anxious moment for me when I got my posting letter in National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp on the day of our passing out.
Knowing Nigeria as a country filled with injustice and nepotism, I have always been pessimistic about my future place of primary assignment while in the camp. While many of my roommates in camp boasted of how their parents/guardian have been able to secure top organizations as their place of primary assignment right before leaving camp, I remained my humble self knowing that I have got no one to push my own case. I had no option but to wait for organic posting - a posting without any influence.
On one hand, my excitement could not be contained when I received my posting letter and I was posted to Zenith Bank Plc, on another hand, the prospect of being rejected (because I have got no one) filled me with anxiety. Nevertheless, it was quite satisfying to see my posting being better than many of those that have boasted about their potential place of primary assignment earlier. Many of them were posted to schools which are seen as the lowest tiers of all places of primary assignments.
The following day, I dressed up in my NYSC kit and headed to the head office of the bank to present my posting letter. I met many of my fellow corp members at the gate and we were directed to the human resource department. On getting there, we were told to submit our posting letters, return to our homes, and wait to be contacted. A few days after, I got a text inviting me for a chat with the head of human resources - my first interview.
On the day of the chat, I dressed up like the noob that I am - oversized suit, flying-collar shirt, tie-less, shining new shoe. Looking back now, I am certain the dressing is more than enough to piss off anyone. We were told to sit at the HR reception where the air-condition was giving everyone a massive chill combined with the interview anxiety. Corp members were called in and interviewed one after the other. One can easily tell what the result of the interview would be with the countenance the individual came out with.
I have never attended an interview before now and never read a book about preparing for interviews. My turn came, and I strolled in amid the anxiety that was consuming me. I was told to sit and asked a few questions a couple of questions. I never knew that the interview had begun. Hence, you can imagine my surprise when I was told to take my leave and that they will get back to me.
To cut the long story short, I was at the head office again to collect my letter of acceptance/appointment - I will be starting my career as a banker. I was posted to one of their branches in Lagos, about 10 km from my base.
I resumed to the branch a few days after collecting my appointment letter, did my documentation, and was directed to the cash and teller unit as dictated on my appointment letter. The unit is primarily concerned with cash handling, deposits, and withdrawals as well as handling the automated teller machines domiciled in the branch. I was attached to a cashier with whom I learned basic cash handling, debits and credits, and how to balance one's till at the end of the day from.
It was an exciting and pleasant first few days until it was time for me to start posting debits/credits like a normal cashier. I was given my login credentials and allocated a cubicle where I started attending to walk-in customers who want to withdraw from their personal accounts or cash third-party cheques. My first few days as an independent cashier went without any issue. I had a near-perfect turn-around time for a noob and balance my till as at when due. My colleagues and the head of the unit were also very friendly. It was a lot of fun.
I had my first hitch when on this particular day I was supposed to pay a customer five thousand naira (about $10) but ended up paying him ten thousand naira ($20) instead. Perhaps the story would have been different if I had discovered the mistake immediately or just a few minutes after, but I only got to know it when I was trying to balance my till at the end of the day and I was short of five thousand naira.
Those who know about accounting know that even a penny is important. You might get into a lot of trouble if your book is out by just a kobo. I started hunting for the source of the error and discovered that I had paid a customer by an overage of five thousand naira. I called up the account of the customer on the system and discovered that he had nothing else in his account (not like I could have debited him without his permission). I called up his customer information and copied his phone number, gave him a call, and explained things to him. He just slammed the call on my face and that was it.
I had two options in this case. Either I report myself to the management and get a query in return or pay the shortage from my own pocket. Since I was still a Corp member hoping to be retained into the organization at the end of my service, I knew that getting a query would jeopardize my chances. Hence, I opted for the option of settling the shortage from my own pocket. A very painful experience.
I became more painstaking in my approach to deposits and withdrawal procedures and things went smoothly thereafter. I never had any issue until about a few weeks after when I had an overage of twenty-five kobo. Those who are familiar with accounting would also know that it is better to be out by whole numbers/lump sums instead of fractions. Before then, I witnessed one of the most experienced cashiers not been able to go home for the day simply because he was busy looking to balance his books by a few kobo.
I searched virtually everywhere for where the mistake could be. I checked all the tickets for the day (cheques, deposits, and withdrawal slips) in order to arrive at a reconciliation all to no avail. The entire unit crowded in my cubicle trying to solve the puzzle. It took almost 5 hours for us to locate the problem. We all left the banking premises around 10:00 pm when we should not have spent beyond 5-6 pm in the bank.
The source of the problem was a cheque deposit carrying a fraction (25 kobo). I obviously missed the fraction part and lodged only the lump sum. It was really a telling experience for everyone in the unit.
It was a total surprise to everyone when I received a memo from the human resources that I have been transferred to another branch just when I was settling in my original branch. I got to know that the main purpose of my transfer was to handle the automated teller machines of my new branch. I had gained some experience in handling ATMs within the short period of me working in the first branch.
I resumed to the new branch the following day and resumed work immediately after some minor documentation. I worked during normal working hours as a cashier and doubled up as the ATM handler. We had just 2 ATMs attached to the branch. I was usually the last person to leave the banking premises because I had to attend to ATMs after the normal working hours. I also had to come every weekend to attend to the ATMs in case they run out of cash, go offline, or develop cash jam.
The work environment in my new branch was less pleasant than the first. I had a female boss that was always breathing down my neck every minute. The branch was a relatively new one that was yet to break even. Hence, the working atmosphere was usually always tensed.
You are not smiling at customers enough!
Why are you sitting down to attend to customers? You should be standing!
Why would you go and eat when the ATM is not dispensing?
Even though I managed to complete my one-year youth service in the banking sector, the experience made me lose interest in taking banking as a career. Even though I was broke, I was in the middle of money I could not spend. I could not wait to call it quit at the end of my service. The human resource called me for a full-time appointment but I turned it down.
Never again will I be a banker.
Thanks for reading through.
