Breaking into banking: Newcomers hit the ground running in ‘fun,’ fast-paced jobs
Photo / Tim Greenway
University of Maine alumnus Caleb Grover, a junior mortgage loan officer at Norway Savings Bank, says his favorite part of the job is building relationships with customers.
Caleb Grover may be new to banking, but the 22-year-old is already in his second role after a recent promotion at Norway Savings Bank. He started as an entry-level customer relations representative in May 2020 after graduating from the University of Maine with a degree in business economics and was recently promoted to junior mortgage loan officer.
“It’s a whole new ballgame,” Grover says of his new job during a “very busy time in the mortgage world” that he clearly savors. He says his favorite part is building relationships with customers, and he sees possibilities for further advancement.
“If you get into a good bank and show you’re a good employee, the sky’s the limit,” he says. Describing his own job as “fun,” he adds: “A lot of my days go by so fast it’s amazing.”
At Camden National Bank, 19-year-old Kyle Howes has also had a running start. Originally hired as a part-time teller in Kennebunk, he later went to full-time.
More recently, he was hired for the call center in Bangor where he talks with up to 100 customers a day, including many from outside Maine.
Though Howes put his community college studies on hold since working at the bank, he hopes to continue at some point, saying, “When I go back, I’ll know a lot more and it will be a lot better.”
If you get into a good bank and show you’re a good employee, the sky’s the limit.
— Caleb Grover
More than lenders
Grover and Howe are newcomers in an industry ripe with possibilities for career advancement, as Norway Savings Bank CEO Patricia Weigel can attest.
“It’s not uncommon for bankers to start in one part of the bank and then opt to transfer to another as their interests are refined,” she says. “Because of the many roles inside a bank, many banking professionals spend in excess of 30 years in the industry.”
She’s living proof of that, having worked her way up from post-college bank teller to one of Maine’s only female bank chiefs. Today she sees the industry in transition, driven by rapid-moving technology.
“Tomorrow’s bankers might find themselves in jobs devoted to data analytics, or focused on building automated platforms employing artificial intelligence, in addition to the more traditional banking roles such as lenders, finance professionals and customer service representatives,” she says.
Sheryl McQuade, TD Bank’s regional president for northern New England, says both retail and commercial banking offer diverse roles for ambitious individuals.
“If you have a thirst for learning how the ‘sausage is made’ across a variety of industries and products,” for example, “you will be poised for a phenomenal job in commercial banking.”
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