There are two main sectors within a clearing bank – retail and commercial. Logically retail involves the sales and service floor, relationship management and mortgage arrangements. Commercial means the management of the relationships with local businesses and corporate customers. There’s a real focus on customer service and most banks encourage continual improvement and sharing of knowledge.

You can get into this kind of banking from school with at least 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, including Maths and English. If you have A levels or a degree, you will probably start further up the career ladder. As with many sectors in the finance industry, if you know your way around Excel and Word, you will be in a good position for a job.

Bankers rate common sense high on the list of attributes for employees and they want people who are committed and enthusiastic about their jobs and their colleagues.

These days, customer service underpins almost every function in the banks. Specialist roles exist too, including cash management, human resources and treasury (dealing with foreign exchange and currency transactions).

The scope for progression is impressive and the variety of jobs available means that most retail bankers find something engaging at every step of their careers. The fundamental element of the job is working with people and sorting out their financial needs, from savings to investments and loans to mortgages. Then there’s the contact with businesses on the corporate side and the ability to move into financial planning on a broad scale.

Gone are the days where you will stay in one branch. Many of the local banks are part of global networks and the chance to travel is always there. The banks also encourage training and have excellent established routes to promotion.

There’s the buzz of helping people buy their first house and getting real knowledge of interest rates and facilities available.

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