The Suitnoob Banker - Part III

Today marks one week since I began my slow rise towards actually doing my job. Had I the opportunity to work as long on the front lines serving clients as my fellow trainees, perhaps I would feel more confident in my abilities to perform the expansive myriad of daily tasks required to make me successful. The others have had a few weeks to learn the basics, but Due to technical hiccups however, tomorrow will mark only the first official week of part-time client serving. And what a week it has been.

My first week of on-the-job training has been severely bitter-sweet. It has thrust me into the public eye in a way I have never before experienced. Everything from angelic pre-teens to little old men with expectations of routine and sullen dispositions have marched through our doors. And how many have I had the opportunity to serve? All told, about eighteen. It’s been wonderful to learn, to have conversations with such a wide range of people, and to perform the duties I’m being paid to perform. But the unfortunate reality is, while my mentors are very good about guiding me while they are sitting with me, their first priority is to the clients. This is a great thing! But it lessons the amount of hands-on time I get learning the ins and outs of my job. And how I feel I need to learn. Clients are very patient nine times out of ten. But every once in a while a client comes along who wants his business conducted yesterday. That’s what my insecure sub-personality keeps telling me will happen anyway. While it’s true I haven’t run into that particular lady or gentleman yet, I know it’s only a matter of time.

By this point in my training, I am more or less comfortable doing basic deposits, withdrawals, dispensing and receiving of cash and bill payments. I feel like posting a sign at my wicket that says “training in progress, this way for basic transactions” or something to that affect. At least then I can get practice doing the basics while my mentor is otherwise engaged. Unfortunately I’m not yet permitted to handle even the most rudimentary transactions without supervision. And while intellectually and technically I understand the vast majority of what I’m doing, I realize that from a  visual standpoint I’m not yet ready to be on my own.

For one thing, people’s handwriting remains a serious obstacle. While I am slowly getting better about deciphering the layouts of cheques and bills, translating the squat and sprawling squiggles into a language my hampered eyes can actually interpret is very difficult. Their written numbers aren’t so bad so far. But their printed name, and the written-out numbers all cheques require are another matter entirely. I’ve found that by first reading the numbered digits and comparing them to their hand-written counterparts I can usually see that I’m looking at the same number. The numbers have to match too, otherwise there are steps that need to be taken to ensure the cheque is legit. By comparing the name on the account with that of the “payee to the order of” section, I can usually ensure the names are also the same. Reading signatures on the other hand is like trying to decipher words written by a child who’s never learned their alphabet.

Reading cash on the other hand usually ends up being pretty simple. I’m not very fast at it, but I’m usually accurate. That goes for Canadian money at any rate. Don’t even get me started on the nightmare that is American money. Sorry my dear American readers, but whoever designs your bills needs a serious lesson in the necessity of CONTRAST!

All in all, it hasn’t been a bad week. I believe I have a reasonable ability to interact with the clients. Most have been very understanding. One of them even shook my hand and called me by name, which was a nice gesture. I’m trying to train myself to focus on the client experience, rather than worrying about the speed with which I complete their transaction requests. Engage a client enough and they might not even realize you’re a snail. That’s what I keep telling myself at any rate. Everyone seems to say I’m doing a pretty good job. Barb, my trainer in New West has told two separate people that I am the best trainee she’s ever had. I think she’s just being nice. Maybe it’s because I talk more than most of them. Or perhaps she’s trying to give me a greater sense of personal security. Either way, it was nice to hear.

I have been able to install all the software I could possibly want in order to make my work station’s computer accessible however. There are many programs already available on RBC’s server which help me greatly. Unfortunately there’s an inordinate amount of beaurocracy to circumvent in order to get certain things installed. The decisions whether certain RBC programs are accessible by programs such as JAWS (A program which translates on-screen text into speech) and Zoomtext (which magnifies the computer screen to the point that even a blind man can see it) are made very high up. Certain programs are considered incompatible, even if I as a noob do not feel they are, or find ways to make them compatible. I’m sure that the people who make these decisions do the research and know what they’re talking about. But it’s hard to have others who have never experienced my eye condition for themselves make that decision for me. That said, I have a lot of access technology in place. My only hope is that I’ll be able to find a better way to read printed material. At this point that wonderful piece of hardware the Smart View works, but the closer I get to the screen the fuzzier the image seems to become. Perhaps it is due to the shadow I cast on the paper, but I really don’t know.

RBC continues to be a very nice place to work. If I can manage to find my way around (or dislodge) the personal and accessibility barriers that are impeding my progress, I think I will do alright here. After all, I’m not the only blind person doing this job. There are others, and one of them, a man named Michael has advanced to the point that he’s got a very corporate sounding name.