First American Title Reviews

Pros

Good employee benefits
Flexible working hours
Supports working from home

Cons

Meetings in US timings ,stretching

Advice to Senior Management

Discuss new recommendations with employess

Pros

Benefits package and pay and typically very good.

Cons

Outsourcing causing layoff's as your work is being sent off shore to save money for the Company.

Advice to Senior Management

Need more positive employee feedback.

Pros

on site cafeteria and place is a ghost town after 5. Also free polo shirts were handed out in lieu of raises.

Cons

constant off-shoring of IT jobs
ridgid ITIL practices that contradict themselves and leave the customer stranded
vendors make the decisions for technology implementations, not mgmt or IT architects
severe layoff in june 2011 affecting IT
if you absolutely must take a job...go elsewhere.
benefits are not competitive and are below par
in short its a cluster of an IT dept.

Advice to Senior Management

get direction and accept reality and not pie in the sky promises of vendors
invest in onshore people
give the facts instead of lying to your people that all is fine

Pros

Great benefits (medical, dental, etc)
401k

Cons

Little room for advancement in department

Pros

Great place when you have the support to do the project and are given the lattitude to do it. Good people there trying to make it better.

Cons

Inter-office/departmental politics and communication can be horrible. Its all about who you know not what you have done. Executive managment says they value employees but seems to be if you are in the favored group and/or Escrow or Title officer. HR is a mess. Benefits are average. The lack of an overal strategic plan is clear.

Pros

First American was a great stepping stone for me in the Title Industry. I have gained much knowledge and experience in my five years at First American. For that, I am grateful.

Cons

No room for advancement, some decisions made by immediate management were impulsive, irrational and just plain illogical.

Advice to Senior Management

Ask employees what works for them, don't just assume you always know what's best, just because you're a manager. The people doing the work day in and day out have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't. One of the most important things to remember.... Don't micromanage. That's how you lose valuable people. Employees are adults, the are not toddlers.

Pros

work independence is a great thing

Cons

lack of communication with management is poor

Advice to Senior Management

learn the industry better

Pros

Transparency, Benefits, Culture. ambiance, Encouragement

Cons

it was the beginning of the company which had all the requisite tools for smooth functioning

Advice to Senior Management

NA

Pros

For those who truly wish to pursue a professional career, who are willing to be completely commited and who are able to apply their drive to supporting a company vision, First American is a fabulous place to build a career.

Cons

The company has high expectations for professionalism, productivity and dependability that can seem, at times, to be unreasonable. There have been a significant number of changes in the last 10 years and the work environment is less employee friendly than it once was. Senior management has transitioned from industry experts, to wall-streeters, and back to industry experts again. In spite of an over-commitment to off-shoring initiatives, and a very slow real estate economy, the company maintains it's top position in the marketplace.

Advice to Senior Management

Happy employees = productive and customer oriented employees. Off-shoring is not the solution for everything. Focus some of your attention on creating the employee friendly environment that was once recognized as your strongest attribute by customers, the public and the industry.

Pros

-Title Ins benefits
-Big name on your resume
-Friendly employees

Cons

-Large caste system of managers
-You feel like a small piece of a big puzzle and may go unnoticed. (Like working in a "tie factory")
-The managers are under-educated
-Does really poorly during recession
-Offers secret benefits to certain employees

Advice to Senior Management

Offer better benefits. (Perhaps even a casual Friday.)