State Farm Reviews

Pros

Great opportunity to learn and grow

Pros

(At the time)

Fair pay and predictable bonus structure
They were pretty good at covering travel expenses and paying them back quickly
Diverse workforce & diversity initiatives
Fun and funny coworkers
Opportunities for growth
Again, this was all four years ago and has likely changed

Advice to Management

When I was first hired to State Farm back in 2010, I felt truly blessed and fortunate. I felt I had found my work "home," and that I would be able to learn and grow over time, and watch my career develop. And guess what? It did. I held three different positions at State Farm, each "better" than the last in terms of challenge, growth, and pay. I used to brag to others about State Farm and actively try to recruit them. I was a true believer and evangelist.

State Farm was like an abusive relationship in that, there were times when things were good! Really good! And then, there were those bad times...

Even though my career was progressing, I was met at every level with some of the most hateful, spiteful, narcissistic leadership you could ever imagine. Egomaniacs and control freaks of the highest order. It was almost like they didn't want us to succeed, for fear that we may take their jobs someday. The behaviors got so bad that I even told one of my managers, "There's no amount of money in this world that could get me to do your job. You all seem miserable." This was toward the end of our relationship, of course. In each role, my managers found something, anything they could to harp on, and once I fixed that, something new would pop up to "fix." It was a moving target. They never taught, they only scolded. They treated employees of every age like children, from age 21 to age 61. It was disgraceful.

Others took the time to focus on my personality. My work product was excellent and above standard according to one, but they always shifted the focus to my "happiness." "Are you happy? You don't seem happy. Others are worried that you're not happy. Are you happy? Your happiness, or lack thereof, is affecting the team." When I'd ask clarifying questions like, "What makes you think I'm not happy?" "How is it affecting the team?" "Describe a time when you distinctly thought I wasn't happy..." they couldn't do it. Never could. It morphed into vague generalizations and hearsay (made up stuff). They could never give me actionable specifics, and therefore, I could never correct the "problems."

At the time, I did not realize that I was witnessing the beginning of the end. Everything that happened to me was symptomatic of a company preparing to enter into decline. Instead of leadership banding together and figuring out how to fix it, they chose to eat their babies. And they're paying for it dearly now.

The second part of this title is to trust your gut, and this is where I'll speak to current employees: When I quit State Farm, people thought I was crazy. I had a great title and pay. I had climbed through the ranks relatively quickly. The path was clear, but I wasn't willing to fight off psychopaths along the way. So I trusted my belief that I could do better for myself, and I did. You don't deserve poor treatment from anyone, and especially not your employer. Sometimes you have to vote with your feet. Although you will be brainwashed, threatened, and intimidated, State Farm is not the end all be all. There is life outside of SF. There are other industries. Regardless of what you do, you have picked up some valuable skills that are highly transferable in the marketplace. Don't give up on yourself. Start saving money and get out of there. You will survive and you will be better for it.

Pros

State Farm has good benefits and good people. There is an extensive training program.

Advice to Management

Listen to your front line employees-- the people actually doing the job. We are smart people and know what we are doing. We understand it costs the company money when our call times are 30 seconds longer than average. We understand that it means more people need to be on the phone. However, what management doesn't seem to understand is how frustrated the employees AND customers are with being rushed through the claim process. State Farm will more than make up for the handful of extra employees required to be on the phones by retaining more State Farm customers, making new customers with excellent customer service to claimants, and not having to retrain new associates when frustrated associates leave.

Pros

1)Work culture
2)Friendly and helping staff

Pros

Great company to work for because of the stability and good pay.

Advice to Management

Stabilize the procedure for basic operations.

Pros

Competitive salary, great benefits, stable company

Pros

It was very competitive but fun.

Pros

Lots of opportunity for growth if you’ll move to a hub (Phoenix, Dallas or Atlanta) or Bloomington IL.

Advice to Management

Get back to creating a family environment. Live/work/play isn’t reality in the urban jungle hub cities.

Pros

Easy work. Lots of data entry of checks

Pros

Name brand recognition, excellent financial strength, above average pay.

Advice to Management

Loyal clients don’t understand algorithm-decision making. They interpret disloyalty.