Countrywide Financial Reviews

Pros

The particular Countrywide group I worked in was great, senior management was extremely knowledgeable and had a great track record of success. Additionally, we were compensated well and given room to grow.

Cons

There wasn't a path to management within the company. Additionally, the crisis proved that things were not as well as they seemed.

Advice to Senior Management

Too late now..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pros

The only reason I would ever want to work at Countrywide again would be the fact that they got bought out by Bank of America. The company name "Bank of America" would be a good stepping stone for people to move into smaller companies with better pay.

Cons

I could go on forever about how terrible this place was. The managers never had any work to do, yet they tried to act like they were really busy. The same went for most of the employees here. We were given lots of "drive around the parking lot" work. I felt like I was becoming dumber every day I went in. The work that we were given was hardly ever challenging. The salary and bonuses were also terrible. I would avoid this place at all costs. Bank of America made a dumb move in acquiring this run down company.

Advice to Senior Management

Cut down the number of VPs and SVPs you have in the company. A 3 to 1 employee to manager ratio is just ridiculous.

Pros

great advancement opportunites and compensation, very collegial workforce, a number of long term employees, pride in the company, growing fast

Cons

very fast paced, never enough staff to do the work needed, seems as if all communications, programs etc were focused on the LCD (i.e. lowest common denominator) employees, short cubicle walls

Advice to Senior Management

to many levels of VPS

Pros

Most people were good people which made the environment nicer. The salary and benefits were in line with similar jobs both in the banking industry and outside.

Cons

Lack of direction by upper internal audit management. Huge disparity between groups within internal audit from everything to quality of deliverables to time off. The department was very top heavy with lots of elevated titles for people who were doing administrative tasks.

Advice to Senior Management

Maybe if all internal audit groups were held to the same standard, some of the things that caused the collapse may have been uncovered sooner.

Pros

Met some nice co-workers that I've remained friends with.

Cons

Worked Holidays and never received doubletime. We were paid hourly. Management would tell you you could take a day off another time to make up for the extra day. It was a payroll nightmare.

Advice to Senior Management

The only people that made money here were people in top management; otherwise, you are used for the most part.

Pros

laid back environment in some offices,

Cons

Some offices are like cattle farms, there are too many VPs, SVPs and other middle managers, many of whom don't even have anyone reporting to them

Advice to Senior Management

improve quality of work environment for lower level workers (below SVP level).

Pros

During the housing boom, Countrywide was one of the fastest growing public companies around. Senior management was probably the most knowledgable about the mortgage industry.

Cons

The different divisions (e.g., mortgage, banking, insurance, etc.) and overhead functions did not work together in the most collaborative and effective way; instead, performance was based on individual achievements. Professionally managed companies make sure that divisions and functions work together, sharing resources and intellectual capital. Countrywide, unfortunately, was not quite there.

Advice to Senior Management

Better risk management and more focus on long-term growth is needed rather than the desire to chase market share.

Pros

Once BofA Purchased (errrr saved) the company, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted too during the transition. Decent manager, but couldn't answer tough questions

Cons

This place was poisen from the time I walked through the door. The only reason why I even accepted was the market was in the tanks and it was the best option at the time. Sr. leadership was a joke made up of diciples of Angelo Mozilo (ie. the Orange Man).

Advice to Senior Management

B of A folks weren't much better, they just have deep enough pockets. My advice, don't think becasue someone is a Black Belt in Six Sigma, they have any clue what they are doing. Some of the biggests fools I've ever met had a black belt.

Pros

They pay at high rate compared to others.

Cons

There was poor communication with senior leadership
They did not follow through on quality
There was not a bias for action
They did not care about employee retention
Countrywide's Benefits are weak relative to others in the industry
Senior Leadership needs to back up employee suggestions and fight for them
Vacation is low relative to others in the industry

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees.
Use facts to make decisions instead of using your gut
Senior Leadership needs to back up employee suggestions and fight for them
Senior Leadership needs to focus on employee rentention

Pros

CW pays better than its competitors. You can expect to get paid in average about 5,000 more than other companies. Depends on what department you work for, it could be very intense but you get what paid for working hard.

Cons

lack of communication between management and employee. Management like to keep what's going on under the carpet and wont discuss with employee until it's exposed on the news.

Advice to Senior Management

communicate more with employee. create a mentorship for to help employee grow