The Scoop

During the banking and savings and loans crises of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the FDIC and the related Resolution Trust Corporation were thrust into the spotlight when they bore the burdens of the faltering industry. As the banking industry stabilized during the late 1990s, the FDIC began offering employee buyouts and limited hiring programs in an effort to downsize. When the downsizing is completed, the FDIC will have cut its workforce in half.

Getting Hired

The FDIC hires college graduates primarily as compliance examiner trainees, who examine insured financial institutions to figure out if they are in compliance with the consumer protection and other regulations. Contact information for careers with the FDIC can be found at the agency's web site, at www.fdic.gov. In recent years, however, the agency has seen major layoffs and a hiring freeze; in 1998, the FDIC hired its first new examiners since 1992. The agency also hires into its Division of Supervision, which examines state-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System.

Claims one FDIC insider "the interview process is not stressful." Once hired, compliance examiners are initially assigned to a field location in one of the agency's eight regional offices: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis, New York and San Francisco. During their first 30 months, trainees get together to attend core schools for training in Arlington, Virginia. Non-competitive promotions occur on "each of the first two anniversaries assuming a satisfactory performance record." In their third year, bank examiners who pass a multiple-choice test and have trial assignments in which they serve as "examiner-in-charge." Depending on one's performance in these tests, an examiner may then be promoted to a commissioned bank examiner status.

Our Survey Says

Life on the road

Get ready to live out of a suitcase if you become a compliance examiner at the FDIC. Reports one bank examiner: "Overnight travel is required - it averages 11 to 15 nights a month." However, the "extensive travel schedules" are offset by "generous expense accounts." Examiners are reimbursed 31 cents per mile when they use their own cars.

Quick moves up the ladder

One insider notes that at the FDIC, there is "lots of room for advancement." Another contact claims that "government service can be rewarding, but the compensation is not commensurate with that of the industry." As an FDIC bank examiner, "in four years, you will have nearly doubled your annual gross pay," reports one insider. "You will start in the low $30Ks as a bank examiner trainee and end up in the low $60K." Insiders are generally pleased with the culture at the FDIC. "It's highly professional, very friendly, not very bureaucratic at all," says one insider. Reports another: "I know of many former colleagues who seek to return to their jobs in the FDIC and regret their decision to leave."

Formal dress; good diversity

While "business suits for men and women are the norm," the agency's dress code has recently been "under assault" by younger employees. When in the field offices, and not out at banks, "examiners don business casual attire."

When it comes to considering diversity issues, insiders point out that the recently appointed chairperson of the FDIC, Donna Tanoue, is both a woman and a minority. Reports one insider: "This is an exciting time for women and minorities to be employed in a company that is sincere and committed to providing equal opportunity."

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Products and Services

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