loan officer

call center representative

financial specialist

financial representative

intern

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

I joined this company after being referred by a current employee, hopeful for a fresh start and excited to leave behind a toxic work environment. Initially, I was optimistic about the opportunities for growth and the potential to thrive in a supportive workplace. Unfortunately, this position has turned into a similar environment, filled with broken promises and unfulfilled potential. Along with inefficient and unhelpful management, these challenges have become the primary reasons for my decision to leave.

I was assured there would be opportunities to advance into a role where I could excel, but those promises were never realized. Despite my efforts and demonstrated abilities, I was held back by near-impossible adherence and cross-selling goals, making it nearly unattainable to move forward. This experience has been disappointing, as I was eager to grow within the company but was met with roadblocks that felt insurmountable due to systemic issues.

While there are positive aspects of this workplace, my experience has been overshadowed by these challenges.

Pros:
One of the standout advantages of working here is the excellent benefits package, which the employer covers unless you choose elective benefits. The hybrid schedules offer a great work-life balance, and the flex time allows for more personalized scheduling, making it easier to manage personal and professional responsibilities. The dress code is business casual, with the added perk of being able to wear jeans and tennis shoes, creating a relaxed yet professional environment. Additionally, having an on-site café is a convenient bonus that adds to the overall workplace experience.

Cons:
While there are many positives, several areas need significant improvement. Managers often lack the support and knowledge employees need to succeed, particularly when it comes to explaining the breakdown of required metrics and goals. Employees are left unclear about expectations and how to achieve them. Additionally, managers frequently fail to follow up on questions, leaving them unanswered. This lack of communication and accountability can create frustration and confusion among team members.

Promises made by management often feel empty, as they rarely lead to actionable support or meaningful change. Compounding this issue, managers seem disconnected from their employees' specific job responsibilities, skill sets, and needs. They also demonstrate a lack of basic HR knowledge and proper protocol for handling certain scenarios, further eroding trust.

A particularly concerning issue is the response when employees attempt to seek clarity or answers by breaking the chain of command. Instead of fostering open communication, management often makes employees feel as though they have disrespected their authority. This is especially problematic when questions pertain to critical topics like pay, schedules, or adherence goals. This culture discourages employees from seeking the support they need to perform effectively.

Additionally, the workplace culture feels cliquey, with more emphasis on fostering friendships than on supporting professional growth. The use of terms like "fris" (short for "friends") highlights this focus but detracts from a career-oriented and inclusive environment.

Addressing these issues—particularly by improving management training, communication, and support—would greatly enhance the overall workplace experience and employee satisfaction.

This is a very stressful job that, despite the company's enthusiasm and promises, does not offer a satisfactory route for advancement or raises, which is ultimately why I left. For anyone looking, here are my biggest takeaways: the culture is pretty good, and they treat you very well. If you work in branches, time off is plentiful but can be difficult to get scheduled, as they don't staff their branches to comfortably accommodate for absences (and are reducing their workforce intentionally). You will likely be overworked as a result. Your lunch is 50 minutes and you don't get any other scheduled breaks, which can be tough because the hours are quite long and the job is very mentally demanding. The policies are moving in the right direction, but don't firmly support employees yet, so making decisions in your role can be very stressful. Promotions are not firmly structured. They like to get you excited about advancement, but in order to advance you need to work out of class for an undetermined, non-standardized amount of time, meaning you will be performing the duties of the role above you with no extra compensation. I knew employees that had been providing the credit union with these additional services and skills with no additional compensation for over a year. They do a fabulous job of training managers, and the workplace is overall very respectful as such. However, if your manager isn't strong enough to stand up for you and uphold expectations of your team, you will be overworked. The harder workers will naturally take the brunt of the workload and thus be taken advantage of. Annual merit raises are very small, considering they start you out at 18 an hour (you *might* get 3.5 to 4%). I had two years of banking experience opening accounts and such, and they offered me 18.50 to start. Overall, you likely can't survive living on your own and working this job, even when they promise advancement. Additionally, they like to get you excited about moving to a different career within the credit union, but unless you're very lucky, it is extremely unlikely unless you have years of experience at the credit union. This was my original goal, but ultimately I couldn't justify waiting years at 18-20 dollars an hour with the economy the way it is and the work load being what it was. Even with the health insurance perk, it's way too much work for too little pay. That being said, if you are not the primary breadwinner in your household and can sustain the lower wages, health insurance is free for you and your family. It is excellent insurance, they use Blue Cross Blue Shield. I would recommend this job to those who want to start a family, provided you can work some lengthy and often unstable hours. I almost never got out of work on time and frequently had to cancel evening and Saturday plans, as customers would rush into the lobby five minutes before closing and we had to help them all.

I can't say enough good things about the culture and people at MSUFCU. They really put the extra time into ensuring this is a place that people want to come to work every day. My team was great and I knew that I was valued and appreciated by my coworkers.

Where MSUFCU falls short is its middle management. At the end of the day, no compensation package or coworker relationships can beat out the impact of your relationship with your boss. This is the single most important factor for many people in the workplace because it impacts your career trajectory and day-to-day.

I saw for years that department managers are rarely qualified to actually manage people. They're often selected because they were promising tellers in the branches and then just end up getting promoted over the years, sometimes moving to back office areas that don't relate to their previous tasks at all. Just because someone had a history of good lending decisions does not mean they're prepared to coach a team, work on projects with other areas, or communicate appropriately across departments. The vast majority of managers are stressed beyond belief because they're promoted beyond what they are capable of and basically left with a team of 15+ employees that they don't even have time to properly manage. The employees suffer from the lack of needed support to develop and grow their careers, contributing to the lack of advancement available at MSUFCU.

This could probably be fixed by hiring more managers to spread out the workload, but there seems to be high turnover for that position, likely because of everything stated above. If MSUFCU were willing to invest more in training and hiring quality management, they'd likely see more employees choose to stay at their company.


I can only speak for the call center, but it is absolutely miserable. I thought the most important part of the job would be providing great customer service to members, but that’s not even something you’re measured on. Your calls per hour, availability, cross-selling goals, and QA results are all that matters. And if you don’t cross-sell something on a call, you get points deducted. You get rushed through training and then thrown back on the phones, even if you don’t feel ready. I’ve experience micro-managing and being tracked like never before. The call center is busy, expect to take calls back-to-back for your entire shift without much down time. Members aren’t always pleasant, either, but all they tell you is “don’t take it personal”. I’ve been here for almost a year and have started developing anxiety from this job. The rude members, unrealistic metrics, and constantly being hovered over are really taking a toll on me. It’s a shame because I love the credit union and took the job in the CC with the hopes of moving to a different department, but I don’t know if I can take it much longer. After watching co-workers interview for several positions in other departments and not get them, I’ve realized it takes time to get out of the CC.

I was hired into the CU in 2019. Myself and other new hires were put into a 4 week training program, which was excellent! But after spending time working in the Call Center my stress and anxiety became to rise for a couple of reasons. 1) management was inconsistent and who your manager was greatly impacted your experience as an employee. Some were supportive and encouraging then others were very intimidating and unapproachable. 2) individual goals (calls answered per hr, etc) became very unrealistic, especially when the pandemic hit and the calls waiting were very high. 3) people seemed to get let go at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason. 4) the hours we worked ranged from 6:45am-9:15pm and the amount of people we talked to each day didn’t match our compensation. The Credit Union is a good place to work and they have a great benefits package but I wouldn’t recommend the Call Center after my experience.

MSUFCU is very, very good at "selling" themselves. One of their selling points is "CU Succeed", which is laughable, you quickly find out that it is all just smoke in mirrors. Should you get paired with a manager that doesn't like you, there is no "CU Succeed" in your future. Do not expect any assistance with help on succeeding. You are told that you are to give exceptional customer service to members, but its really about numbers and quantity over quality. Upper management of the departments really seem to have huge chips on their shoulders, and impressive opinion's of themselves. They preach transparency, but when you are truthful, it will be used against you in the future, again, all depending on how your manager feels about you. The pay is minimal, the asset amounts are bragged about heavily, my experience was a toxic work environment, that in hindsight(which is always 20/20, right?) I would run far, far away. 

I worked for MSUFCU for a couple years and went in with significant experience. I was told that I would have fast advancement from day one and could be hired in at a higher ranked position due to experience. I was hired at square one and continually looked for advancement opportunities and worked tirelessly to achieve them. I admit in my time I did enjoy the work I did but I was also in a position that was not in line with the work I was doing and even after multiple applications and interviews I was told that “I didn’t have enough experience” even after industry experience of almost a decade and exceeding my leaderships experience. I say it is a great place at square one but if you have outside industry experience you will have a better time looking into other opportunities.

Worked on a daily basis with members face to face, have also worked with them over the phone.  I gained many years of experience working within the credit union, having the opportunity of working within various departments.  The Credit Union provides employees with various trainings, keeping them up to date on products and services.  Have an excellent benefits package. 
I loved my coworkers, they are/were a great team of people to work with.  
One of the most difficult parts of the job for me was even though there is an open door policy at times it did not feel this way.  Some employees were given projects to work on, while others were overlooked (they were just as capable) of performing projects/tasks as others within the office.    
The most enjoyable part of the job were the many personalities and getting to know many of the members by name.  I loved seeing all of them.

There is a lot of favoritism and if a manager likes you, you might go far, but if someone decides that they'd rather not have you around, they make your life miserable and are allowed to continue their behavior. I've seen them try to push people out who are very hard workers and deserve better. If you're lucky enough to have a good manager, they're usually moved to some other position shortly after starting with you. Very hard to build manager relationships. The culture has changed greatly in recent years. What used to be a somewhat friendly and happy place to work has turned into the 'those who have everything handed to them' and 'those who are blacklisted for life' with no reasoning involved.

As many others have shared the benefits here are fantastic with no insurance premium paid out of the paycheck and fantastic paid time off. However, it seems this comes with not receiving competitive pay. Being non commission based in banking is fantastic, however the overall pay at MSUFCU is around 15-25% lower than other institutions for the same positions. The annual increases barely keep up with inflation(or lag behind). This is likely a fantastic job to have if you are not the primary income in your household and you don't mind feeling underpaid compared to competitors or if benefits are the most important thing for you. However, if you are the primary or solo household income it may not be the best place for you.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Loan officer 4 salaries reported	$28.13 per hour
Call center representative 7 salaries reported	$19.09 per hour
Financial specialist 12 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour
Financial representative 4 salaries reported	$18.88 per hour
Intern 3 salaries reported	$17.08 per hour

Working at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union: Company Overview and Reviews

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union Ratings

Popular jobs at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected