operations associate

teller

personal banker

HomeStreet Bank

I left Wells Fargo after 14+ years. I had various jobs at Wells Fargo ranging from customer service, collections, sales and loan processing. 
After so many years with the company, the opportunity to grow and move had become quite difficult. The pay was sub-par, so I left and went to work for Homestreet Bank. 

Upon arriving last summer, they were in the height of the refinance boom. All of the processors were over loaded with loans that they were trying to get closed. Each processor had a pipeline of about 50+ files. The programs that they were processing were programs that I had not used or processed previously. 

I learned so much just in the short time I was there. I was only there 15 months. I learned about the government loan programs, and built very good relationships with our outside sales people. I had previously been processing for Wells Fargo, but wasn't ever given the opportunity to learn various loan programs or given the opportunity to build relationships with the sales people. 

However, learning how to process the various programs/loan types we sold was something I had to do on my own. The training was severely lacking. I would ask my manager to help and he would pawn me off on another co-worker who had processed the program before. Or I was directed to the product manual. I self trained myself on many of the programs I was processing. 

I REALLY enjoyed working for Homestreet. The people were wonderful, no one, even though we were all very stressed about meeting deadlines, no one was snippy or rude or catty. 

The management was fairly decent. They were always willing to listen to any issues or grievances we had.

They recently had a company wide layoff. Sadly I was a part of this layoff. I would have been willing to stay and retire from Homestreet, once I make up my mind to work for a company, as with Wells, it doesn't cross my mind to job hop. 

I was very sad about their choice to lay people off. I was told during the interview process that they had never laid anyone off. So I was very shocked and surprised about this company decision.

However, even though they had to lay people off, I would come back again and work for Homestreet if the opportunity presented it's self. I LOVED my co-workers, and I loved my job. It was a very enjoyable job. And everyone was like family. Everyone cared about each other, and took care of each other, including throwing a party for someone who was leaving the company to work someplace else. Who does that!!? 

I really love Homestreet Bank.

I was hired as a processing assistant in the middle of a mass hiring blitz. Management was typical for a financial institution, friendly enough if you were in the right clique, but distrustful and accusing to everyone else. Very much the clock watchers.

When the smell of impending layoffs in the air became too pungent to hide, I was promoted to administrative assistant in the reverse mortgage department while the ladies I had been hired with were sent packing. The people who had filled a banquet hall only a few months before were cruelly laid off. It wasn't the layoff itself that was cruel, it was the way it was done. They weren't even allowed to gather their belongings. They were each personally escorted out of the building with only what they had brought with them that morning. Their other items were mailed to them later. Hard working and loyal employees were treated like criminals for absolutely no reason other than a paranoid reaction by overzealous legal and HR departments. Bad form.

During this time, the undercurrent of instability and fear only worsened. The powers that be spent what I can only assume was millions of dollars to have a commercial play during the superbowl, and were shoveling out propaganda connecting HomeStreet to the Seahawks for some reason. They even changed their brand image and colors to mirror those of the Seahawks. Meanwhile, we were being not so discreetly pushed to sign up for a HomeStreet Bank checking and/or savings account for the direct deposit of our paychecks. We were told that unless we did this, we would not be paid. It didn't take long for that illegal idea to fall flat, but they did indeed try it. The whole thing reeked of desperation. 

I was finally laid off months later, right after the holidays, by a manager who had been at the company for two weeks compared to my two years. She spent a half hour prior bragging about her recent European vacation and didn't even bother to hide her wolfish grin as she said to me those four magic words, "we're letting you go." I was, at least, given the opportunity to pack my desk and walk out on my own accord. The only show of humanity that I had experienced.

I learned nothing from HomeStreet Bank. I gained nothing from HomeStreet Bank. I would recommend HomeStreet Bank to no one.

As previous reviews state, there is no clear direction. Sr. Management does not communicate a vision. They do not communicate the future of the company. 

Branch personnel is sitting on the edge just waiting for the next shoe to drop. FTE is cute to the bare bone, even with extended hours. Yet, we are told to grow our business, which is difficult to do with 2 or 3 employees in the branch. We are expected to help cover other branches, which is even more difficult, We just sold off our mortgage group. The tension of this process was and is very difficult, however Sr. Management never listens. 

Sr. Management Admins, talk down to employees and managers. Their communication skills are worse than Sr. Management, yet they get promoted and continue to treat others without respect. 

This just leads us trying to understand and continue to try and do a good job. The lack of support from our back office is even worse. They say they want loans? However, getting a consumer loan approved is less than 25 %. Commercial lending is even worse, the policy is a moving target. Each market is different.

Advise to Sr. Management:
Get a grip. You hear, but you don't listen. You talk but you don't listen. The communication or lack thereof, fix it. In the branches, we are just waiting for the next buyer. You have positioned us to be sold. In the first quarter, we had many opened positions that we could not fill, being told let's wait. Wait for what? All of this puts so much pressure on your teams. If the support departments give us deadlines, and we don't meet them, it's not because we are not trying, it's because we are trying to cover our customers first with the bare minimum of employees. Remember, without our customers' none of you would have jobs. That's the bottom line. Try and remember it

After working for Mechanics Bank for 4 years, I decided to take on a new challenge and applied for the Financial Service Representative (FSR) position in San Francisco. Working from 8:30-5:30 every M-F, I quickly adapted to my environment and upped my sales from my previous position. As an FSR in an office with no tellers, I would spend part of my time at my desk and part of my time behind the operations counter. When I worked the teller lines, I maintained balances of my drawers and would use that point of interaction to develop new business. I worked with new and returning customers to open new personal and business checking accounts and savings accounts, helping them to secure loans, lines of credit, credit cards and home equity lines of credit. During the times I worked with my clientele, I would review their portfolio(s), and if they showed growth or a need for a more hands-on approach, I would work with them personally to ensure they were receiving the maximum benefits Mechanics Bank had to offer. At times when I would interface with  my clients, I would gauge their personal or business needs, and if they were looking to secure a different type of investment, or if their business called for a higher focus to ensure their company's growth, I would refer them to the Wealth Management department or to the Commercial Business group.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Worst company to work for. They don’t care about their employees an Managment is horrible, they would talk to us like we were incompetent and less than . We were all Over worked, and unappreciated. Computer system is glitchy and equipment should have been replaced since nothing ever works but apparently that wasn’t necessary to upper management. Just a bad work environment all together. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Managment made Everything we did stressful and more difficult then necessary. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible. Stressful. Chaotic. Do not recommend at all. If your not a manger they don’t care about you at all! If u complain about upper management nothing is done. Even if u go to HR. Nothing happens. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Cash counter never worked made businesses  wait forever just to make a deposit since 5 tellers were sharing one cash counter, computer system was super glitchy an Managment did nothing about it. Even though it affected deposits an withdrawals. Lines were huge an we were always short staffed. Rushed and never able to complete our full transactions since we had to hurry up an help the next person. Makes it easy to mess up when ur stressed out and being rushed constantly.

Mechanics Bank is not only a horrible bank to have your money in but it’s also a horrible place to work. The management is a joke. They’re so worried about profit. They cluster multiple departments together and give you the workload of five people while giving you unrealistic quota expectations. They do not care about the people who bank with them their excuse for everything is a go to the branch they’ll take over your account lock your debit card and if you’re disabled and elderly write up a questionable activity report if you can’t identify yourself properly, using this ridiculous system called LEXIS-NEXIS that pulls information from your credit and ask you questions like how many full bathrooms at an address you had at the time of sale back in 20 years ago and if you don’t get it right, they refer you to the branch put a failed ID on your account and sometimes these people are 8090 years old they literally do not care you cannot close an account same day. You have to jump through hoops because they want to try and charge you a service fee and hopefully you’ll go overdrawn and they can charge you more fees. This place is a complete joke and an embarrassment, and the worst mistake I ever made was excepting a position  at Mechanics Bank

Typical day at work includes taking loan applications, working with processing teams, underwriters, clients, and agents. 

It is tough here, as the rates are NOT competitive, which is one of the reasons why I left HomeStreet Bank.  Any of the larger banks, i.e. Wells Fargo, BofA, CHASE, Union Bank will ALWAYS beat the rates at HomeStreet Bank.  You really have no chance of closing a loan if you are up against any of these other larger banks.

There are way too many layers of management, and way too many pieces of management, who do nothing, and who do not take care of the employees on the front lines.  This leads to a workplace culture that I found to be very negative, especially within the branch itself.  The Sr Management culture is protective of the branch upper-management, which I felt, disregarded lower management and employees at the branch level. 

Under the current leadership there is ZERO room for advancement, and there are no fast-track programs available for those talented employees who wish to move up within the company.  

HomeStreet Bank would not be my recommended place for any loan originator to work.

Homestreet is an average mortgage environment. They take care of the loan officers first and foremost. Everyone else is disposable. They work you to death and expect it. There are a lot of nice people who work there. (I liked quite a few) There are a lot of awful people who work there too (this I think was reflective of being overworked for some and just being mean for others). The work atmosphere is typical.  No team work for a lot of the staff. As mortgage companies to work for - if you need a job - TAKE IT. I think there are a lot worse places you could work.  See what you think. I am one person (although, I know people who left that felt the same way). Remember, there is drama in every job. Keep your head down and to yourself. Good luck. I hope your experience will be excellent. The help desks are excellent as well as the pricing desk. All kind and patient staffing. Loved them all.

I absolutely loved this company when it was CRB Auto, they cared about the employees and they would show that and rewarded you if you met your metrics, once Mechanics Bank stepped in I noticed all the upper management started leaving and good employees started leaving as well, but I stayed and I was with the company for 5 years, I was getting harassed because of things I wore, had to get human resources involved and was told there was nothing wrong with what I had on, but the crazy part was my supervisor didn’t have my back and had been my supervisor the whole time I was there, she knew I was being harassed by upper management and didn’t step in not one bit, and they HARASS EVERYONE ..... it reminded me of middle school and they talk very crazy to you through email but once your face to face they play nice, they don’t communicate when policies have been changed and when you advise them and multiple employees advise them they weren’t aware of changes they will still write you up, company had lost its touch and going downhill, a few of my coworkers quit after I left it was the best thing I ever done!

We start the day by coming in early before open to open the night drop vault, money vault, open scanner, and getting anything done that needs to be done before opening. I do daily transactions for customers while assisting with questions and concerns that a customer may have. I also assist with opening new accounts, wire transfers, phone transfers, and notary services when needed. As a head teller and CSR, I have other duties such as keeping up with my branches time management as far as every employee that works at my branch to be sent in for payroll, manage our cash pan, and balance the account for this branch. We never know what a customer might bring in or have a question about during the day, but we always strive to do the best or answer the best we can with that certain situation, and if we are not able to assist the customer then we will find the right person to assist that customer. I take the responsibility of managing the other tellers and letting my supervisor know of anything that is to happen with each teller or situation that goes on.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Operations associate 4 salaries reported	$25.13 per hour
Teller 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Personal banker 1 salary reported	$47,880 per year

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