Careers at the OCC:
Entry-Level Bank Examiner Careers

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Ideal Candidate

Do you enjoy solving problems and analyzing numbers? Does the idea of travel appeal to you? Are you comfortable meeting and working with new people, and do you have the ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing? If so, you may be an ideal candidate for a position as an entry-level bank examiner. These positions offer the opportunity to develop the knowledge and expertise necessary to meet the challenge of ensuring the safety and soundness of the national banking industry.

The Job of a National Bank Examiner

The assistant national bank examiner, an entry-level position, assists or conducts bank supervisory programs and procedures in community banks. Program assignments include all areas of bank supervision such as loan review, interest rate risk, capital/liquidity and consumer protection programs such as compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.

The assistant examiner:

• Organizes and analyzes selected data.
• Completes related supervisory procedures.
• Checks compliance with laws and regulations.
• Draws conclusions and recommends corrective action to an examiner-in-charge.
• Under supervision, prepares written reports and work paper comments.
• Participates in discussions with other employees to gather information.
• Discusses findings with other examiners and bank management.
• Learns how to draw conclusions and make recommendations. 

Do I Qualify as an Entry-Level Examiner?

To become an entry-level bank examiner, you will need:

• Bachelors degree with major in accounting, banking, business administration, commercial or banking law, economics, finance, marketing, or another field closely related to the position, or
• Three years of work experience in accounting or auditing in a financial institution or in work related to a financial institution, or
• Equivalent combinations of education and experience, such as a CPA certificate.

Competitive Salaries

The OCC offers competitive salaries under a performance-based pay plan. Generally, an entry-level examiner earns $45,650 per year, plus additional geographical pay in certain areas.

Benefits

The OCC offers an exceptional benefits package. Our health, insurance, and retirement programs exceed those offered by most other government agencies and are generous in comparison with private companies.

Not only do we offer health insurance and retirement benefits, but we also provide free dental, vision, and long term disability insurance. In addition, we offer a 401k, supplemental life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and a transportation subsidy.

One of our most popular benefits is the "Flex Day." This allows employees to work the standard eighty hours in nine workdays, providing every other Friday off. In addition to this, we offer ten Federal holidays, and two and a half weeks vacation. We also provide you with a laptop computer.

How to Apply

The OCC conducts fall and spring recruitment campaigns every year for entry-level bank examiners. We accept resumes only during the months of September (for fall) and February (for spring). During our open season, we will provide specific details on what to submit and where to send your details. We will also provide hiring locations. Please do not send your information except during open season.

Work Environment

The OCC has a diversified workforce of 2,700 people and a work environment that promotes creative and thoughtful contributions by people in all positions. As an entry-level examiner, you will spend 30-to-80 percent of your early career traveling to banks across the country, depending on your work location. You may work in OCC field offices, at banks, their boardrooms, or their branches.

Examiner Jobs in Mid-size/Community Banks

Entry-level bank examiners begin their careers in our Mid-size/Community Bank line of business. This area of OCC provides the foundation for learning the practical aspects of bank supervision.

You will work mainly in cities that are home to community banks. Assistant national bank examiners work mostly out of one of the 53 field offices in 40 states.

Community bank supervision focuses on banks that typically conduct traditional banking activities and generally have banking assets less than $1 billion. There are some large, more complex community banks with assets between $1 billion and $8 billion. We have four districts, each with a district office and deputy comptroller.

Mid-size bank supervision generally includes banking companies with national bank assets totaling between $8 billion and $25 billion, either in a single banking charter or aggregated among several charters. While mid-size banks are located throughout the country, oversight is centralized under a single OCC deputy comptroller located in Washington, DC, to facilitate consistent supervision.

Career Advancement

The OCC is a gateway to opportunity. An entry-level examiner spends approximately eight months on a training team participating in bank exams, meeting with bank managers, and making recommendations and suggestions. Several years of formal and informal training lead to the Uniform Commissioned Examination (UCE). Successful completion of the UCE means a commission as a National Bank Examiner and opportunities to manage an entire bank examination in the role of an examiner-in-charge (EIC).

For community banks, the OCC uses a "Portfolio Manager Approach" to bank supervision to foster ongoing relationships with bankers and to build examiners' in-depth knowledge of banks and their operating environments. Local examiners, who exercise substantial judgment, oversee a group of institutions and directly participate in ongoing bank supervision activities. This fosters effective and consistent communications between examiners and bank managers, assures continuity in supervisory matters, and enhances the OCC's responsiveness to bankers' questions and concerns.

For midsize banks, the OCC assigns a dedicated EIC to each bank to develop and implement a supervisory strategy, with assistance from other examiners who also are involved in the supervision of either community or large banks. Having one examiner assigned overall responsibility for continuous supervisory oversight assists the OCC in the prompt identification of supervisory issues in these growing and increasingly complex institutions.

Some examiners go into specialized areas, such as asset management, bank information technology, international, capital markets, compliance, credit, and retail credit.