Fannie Mae Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae full-time

Pros – Most individual contributors are smart people who care about their jobs and the mission of the company.

Cons – Senior management said it values new ideas, but the truth was very different. Those who got good reviews and promotions are usually the people who had best learned to imitate their bosses. Individual thinkers were most often punished for not conforming to the party line. Fear and bullying were used to keep employees in check, rather than collaborative management styles.

Advice to Senior Management – Be honest about what kind of culture you want, and brave enough to implement that culture from the top down consistently. If you want command-and-control leadership then say so. Don't say you want collaboration and new ideas and then punish those who bring them to you.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Fannie Mae full-time

Pros – On a down trend, get much as you can

Cons – Good benifits with many vacation days

Advice to Senior Management – Too much politics

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae full-time for more than a year

Pros – Some parts of the company provide very real and helpful services to US families.

Cons – Politics are crazy. Hard to get anything done. Significant changes in management and leadership create churn and constant re-engineering.

Advice to Senior Management – Respect and listen to your employees---REALLY.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – * You get to learn about the mortgage industry.
* Lots of talented, hard-working people
* You get experience which helps build your resume

Cons – * Company has gone downhill the past few years, and there is a lot of uncertainty on where it is headed
* Many employees stretched thin and stressed
* Expect to be on call 24/7 and work overtime on a regular basis, and with no additional compensation or comp time
* Incredible amount of work to be done by too few employees who have limited access to resources
* Very little time to learn the applications and train
* Too many processes with too much dependence on a few key people
* Too much complexity in the applications
* Management seems to want to push their work onto the employees
* Toxic work environment with lots of bickering and tons of office politics
* Management wants to create a barrier between contractors and regular employees
* Turnover is high with many people leaving in less than 1 year (no surprise given the above points)

Advice to Senior Management – * Staff projects with sufficient number of employees
* Make sure people are properly trained and have enough time to learn
* Never mind who is a regular employee and who is a contractor - they all work for the same company so they should all work together
* Simplify things

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good work life balance; excellent benefits

Cons – Insecure senior managers and tremendous waste throughout the organization.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in new Executive Mangement. The company just reeks with cronieism....Unless you're a "lifer" at Fannie - you have no chance to advance with the culture there. Back stabbing is the coping method of most employees - it's not a good environment for most professionals. Good for young college graduates who want to make lots of $ - then move on. I'm glad to be out of such a dysfunctional environment - I've moved on to a more professional environment and one where you are treated with respect ---AND - one in which your opinion matters. I only lasted a year there - just not the type of company I wanted to be associated with - my values did not match with the culture ther- .and - employers in this market all know how bad it is there.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – There are lots of smart, hard working people there that you can learn a lot from. The compensation and benefits are among the best in DC.

Cons – Morale is terrible. Senior executives tend to build their empires with like-minded people and differing opinions, push-back etc. are not well tolerated. The place is crawling with know-it-alls that take credit for everything good (whether they had responsibility or not), but blame others when their own ideas blowup or fail. Most people who advance more by Will than Skill and Confidence over Competence. Turnover and restructurings are constant. In 8 months I had six managers.

Advice to Senior Management – Welcome differing opinions; stop playing personal politics; reward people for their contributions to the company, not because of their popularity with senior management. Stop wasting taxpayer money.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – If you are looking for a stable office enviornment, Fannie Mae is a good place to be. Established during the great depression to give potential homebuyers credit when the banks were not willing to lend money, this company is not going anywhere.

Cons – Do you really want to tell your friends and family that you work for Fannie Mae? Also, not a good place for contractors looking to get hired on.

Advice to Senior Management – Figure out how to better manage contractors.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Fannie Mae full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Work life balance if you want it.

Cons – Leadership (lack thereof), the cronyism, the disgusting focus on diversity, no raises in three years, the culture

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Fannie Mae full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great people, dedicated to the company's mission.
Tremendous opportunity to help millions of people.

Cons – Conservatorship leaves little room for innovation.
Unlikely to emerge from current troubles.
Culture of survival is hard to navigate.
Talented leadership does not last.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop worrying about survival and embrace the company's mission - strengthening the housing market and serving those who need it most.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Fannie Mae full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Moderately competitive salaries and benefits; mission of company has merit.

Cons – Government set on winding down company; job security is nonexistent for many technology workers who may be targeted for outsourcing; many employees stretched thin and stressed out; generally an environment where it is hard to identify a hopeful future.

Advice to Senior Management – Unlikely you can make lemonade out of these lemons.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company