Citibank Reviews

Pros

Managers are great and understanding and feedback is always given to help you improve. They don't tolerate slacking or rule breaking and you have to work hard to keep your job secure, which I like. Flexible schedules - managers work with you. In my department at least, praise is definitely given for a good job. Good team environment, they help you to succeed. You may not be passionate about the work you're asked to do, but in my opinion Citi DOES take care of their employees and do hire people who are friendly, caring, and enjoy helping others. Their pay may not be the best, but you get benefits from day 1, overtime is readily available, and you get a lot of time off, as well as bonuses for working nights or on weekends, full meals for working holidays, etc. I think they make up for it.

Cons

It is a financial institution, so you constantly have to make decisions that are unfair for the client to benefit the business and some information you are asked to give can be misleading, especially when you are asked to cover up flaws in Citi policy and put the fault on someone else. Many times a client will be impacted due to a bank error and we will do nothing to fix it. We manage risk in my department, so closing accounts and decreasing credit. We don't take the customer's situation into account at all - it's purely numbers, and little sympathy is given. They stress and judge your performance on 'putting the client first' when the work they ask us to do is purely putting the company first. Scoring can sometimes be unrealistic and unfair. You may do a spectacular job, but if you forget to say 1 line your score is dropped automatically. Also, in many departments handle time is more important than quality time spent with the customer, and unrealistic sales goals are implemented which results in a high turnover rate.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop thinking purely as a financial institution and actually consider your customers, aka the reason your company exists. Focus on quality and relationship building between rep and customer versus pushing through calls without actually solving the problem in the best way you can. Otherwise, honestly, Citi is NOT an awful place to work.

Pros

Health benefits, salary, dental, 401 (k)

Cons

Pressure to sell, working hours requirements

Advice to Senior Management

Discuss strategies for assigned tasks

Pros

Great benefits and good working environment

Cons

Too many changes too often.....not like it used to be years ago

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the employees

Pros

If you are in a good location or have a good Manager, then this is reason enough. This position gives you the freedom to develop your clients the best way you see fit. However, if you work in the branches, it is a completely different job bc you are told what to do every minute of the day.

Cons

The goals are very unrealistic and therefore affect the way you do business. You end up just looking to increase your numbers instead of working the clients at a normal pace which in the long term allows you to build a stronger relationship with that client. From what I know, many of these larger banks work this way and I think top management has no clue on the negative effects to the company in the long term.

Advice to Senior Management

Top management needs to bring out realistic goals. The Company expects you to build relationships with clients, but then want you to hit ridiculous goals and do so many different tasks, that you have no time left to deal with clients, much less develop a relationship with them. They want to increase service, but are now looking to get rid of the Service Officer positions. It seems that the CEO and Executives in NY have the right ideas to concentrate on quality, but when these ideas are executed, they change and began focusing on quantity instead. All of the sudden, all the good ideas are destroyed by the Division Managers, Area Managers, BM, etc.

Pros

The pay is good, thats it.

Cons

Lack of team work, disorganized, know one knows what they are doing, people are rude, no training at all, sernior management is rarely seen, problems are often shifted from one place to another rather then solved, dictate how you take your vacation time, no communication amongst teams...etc...

Advice to Senior Management

Develop some kind of training for employees! No one knows what they are doing!!! Hirer within the firm and groom employees with better training to take over departments they know how to do the job.

Pros

The money you make at Citi is ok. I have heard some people say they are flexible with schedules if you are going to school.

Cons

There is no communiction at Citi. You never know when you are going to get fired or laid off, the news usually reports it before you find out. There are no opportunities for career advancement and it is very hard to get time off.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate to your employees. Most of the time we have to get our information from the news. Offer opportunities for advancement.

Pros

-Decent pay
-Flexible schedule
-Surprisingly good benefits for a part time job
-Good training program
-Paid vacation for part timers

Cons

-Apathetic and degrading management - they treat you like cattle
-Pressure to make unnecessary and sometimes unethical sales
-Can be extremely stressful
-Unbearable customer service interactions

Advice to Senior Management

Perhaps it is only the branch in particular that I worked at (extremely high volume of customers due to cultural reluctance to use the self service machines), but management was extremely degrading and will throw you to the wolves at first chance. Corporate favoritism bled through even at Citibank's retail level.

Pros

Global scope for international business

Cons

Downsizing makes it difficult to maintain dedication of staff

Advice to Senior Management

No advice to Citibank at this time

Pros

benefits, ability to move around the country within the company

Cons

Uncertain future about your position within the company

Pros

Entrepreneurial culture, opportunity to learn new skills through diverse and unexpected experiences

Cons

Bank in constant reinvention mode, doesn't seem to ever catch up to competition despite thinking of itself as "innovative"

Advice to Senior Management

Keep innovating, but shift priorities to getting the basics right... integrate systems so that the whole relationship is visible down to the branch level. Chase and Wells have had this capability for years. Build branch presence in the highest growth states. Seems odd we haven't built out some states in the west that have some of the naton's highest population and job growth.