First American Reviews

Pros

Good retirement benefits like 401(k) and ESPP, a lot of "HR" type programs and medical benefits. Management seems very progressive now in the face of a changing real estate market.

Cons

A lot of uncertainty around jobs. Everyone walks around waiting for the other shoe to drop. Decisions on who stays and who gets laid off are sometimes illogical.

Advice to Senior Management

Your employees are your strongest asset, from the lowest examiner to middle management. It's no secret that the highest executives are getting tremendous RSU and other bonus type packages while lower level employees are getting very little if anything.

Pros

The benefits are very good at First American. They try to plan fun things for their employees. It can be a very good company if you are in a stable position.

Cons

There is alot of favoritism.
There is not much of a work life balance.
Management in my department is rather jaded.

Advice to Senior Management

remember that employees do have a life outside of work. also understand that our familys are the reason that we are working here in the first place.

Pros

It is a solid business that is generally well-managed. The company has a long history of success and growth and I believe that senior management genuinely has the best interests of the employees in mind. There is a pretty good adherence by management to an "open door" policy, and new ideas are always welcome.

Cons

The business is subject to the cycles of the mortgage market, and thus is currently in a belt-tightening mode. There is an increased push to move jobs offshore, and this has created a sense of unease among the workforce. Frequent restructuring of business units makes it difficult to get a sense of the company being settled.

Advice to Senior Management

While restructuring to face changes in the business environment is to be expected, you eventually have to put the tools down and let the machine run for a bit. In more plain terms, too much change can be counterproductive.

Pros

Excellent food at the cafe. Also, if you are good at sucking up, you will do well here so long as you don't do any actual work.

Cons

If you tell people about all the work you supposedly do, you are recognized. If you are the one actually doing the work, forget it. HR is a joke. Going there is an excellent way to end your career while the person you are complaining about keeps their job without so much as a slap on the wrist.

Advice to Senior Management

Actions speak louder than words. Look at what your employees are doing as well as what management is not doing.

Pros

If you want a "Big Company " name on your resume, this is a great place to start. There are plenty of great opportunities for the right person, if you are willing to apply yourself. Employee morale is just like any other place - you either fit in or you don't. I will say that they have great benefits.

Cons

Way too top-heavy. Since it is a fast paced environment, management frowns upon excessive time off. Of course by excessive, I mean more than 3 or 4 days off in a row. There is A LOT of nepotism throughout mid-level management and above. The work / life balance is not that great. Many times you are asked to work late and on the weekends for no additional pay.

Advice to Senior Management

Care more about doing what you say you are going to do and stop treating people like numbers.

Pros

Large company, decent benefits, opportunities for advancement. It definitely teaches you alot about the industry and there is the opportunity to gain massive insight and experience to move up or switch to a different company. The team atmosphere is nice and many of the co-workers are friendly and willing to assist each other to make an overall goal.

Cons

low pay level, job security when market hits a down turn. Definitely the low pay, especially for management with a requirement to work overtime. Should definitely pay more to retain more.

Advice to Senior Management

is a good opportunity but there are better employee friendly companies to work for. They should consider higher employee salarly scales to encourage promotion and career growth opportunities.

Pros

First American in a solid, large company that has been around a really long time. It is certainly a leader in its industry but that also creates layers of bureaucracy.

Cons

It is also such a large company that employees can be minimized to simple resources to the business (i.e. expendable) when it serves its purpose. Headcount resources can fluctuate greatly depending on what the market is doing.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to the voice of the employees.

Pros

The people that you work with at First American are great. It is a very good feeling to know that you can rely on your co-workers to do their jobs and be as commited to getting the work done as you are. No slakers here.

Cons

The way Sr Management cares about their US employees. The US employees are the ones that get laid-off, with little or no notice. Don't expect a 60 day or even a 2 week notice of lay off here, you'll be luck to get enough time to say good bye.

Advice to Senior Management

Sr Management should think about the morale of their employees. Happy employees are more productive and provide better customer service, and better customer service leads to happier customers. They should also think about the true cost of hiring offshore employees and sending wages overseas to people who don't purchase houses in the US. These dollars are being paid to people with no chance of them purchasing First American products and therefore contributing to the income side of the corporate balance sheet.

Pros

Lots of opportunity for advancement if that's what you're looking for. I was promoted twice in 4 years, but felt that after that promotion, there was only limited opportunity to grow from there. Benefits are pretty good - PTO system rather than sick/vacation days was good because you could potentially have 3.5 weeks of vacation a year if you don't get sick often. This also can accumulate and doesn't expire at the end of each year, which is nice.

Cons

Very very low pay - As a manager (with exempt level status), making 35K per year with 5-10 hours of OT a week required doesn't seem right to me. I could almost make more as a supervisor since they can be paid OT.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the lazy people so the hard workers can be paid more

Pros

Decent benefits, great family atmosphere of day-to-day workers. People "on the floor" are a great resource and completely willing to help.

Cons

Senior management leadership, industry respect. Employees can be cliquish. Senior management simply does not see the stratus of emplyees and therefore fails to accept responsibility for it or do anything to resolve it.

Advice to Senior Management

listen more and ask for genuine feedback. Be willing to take bold action...a gold mine exists in this organization.