senior underwriter

underwriter

mortgage underwriter

account executive

software engineer

When I started working at United shore I felt like a million dollars. That was after 6 applications later after being denied over and over again. The hiring process should already tell you how the company already is. They say that they have opportunities for you and you don’t need experience but it’s all lies. But that’s how they get you with the whole interview process making you feel special. The pay is extremely LOW and not worth for all the work and hours you put in. And to be warned I was told I was getting paid $13.25 an hour  which was a lie till I saw my check stub and was getting paid only $12 to some it’s not a big difference but $1.25 adds up on a check. When I confronted them about it they couldn’t do anything and didn’t try. The people there don’t even get me started the people there are like high schoolers in a big university. Everyone sleeps with each other and cheats on their spouses with coworkers. Not only that they talk behind your back and bring you down to lift themselves back up so don’t fall for that innocents they show you the first month because that’s how they get you. You can’t trust anyone there and everyone is always in your personal business and when your ONLY 2 mins late back from your break they yell out on you. If you’re a nice person they will take advantage of you and make you work more hours than you’re scheduled. I had an 11am-8pm shift sometimes in our department we would be short on workers and they would ask me to come in at 9am but told me I couldn’t leave early and had to stay till 8pm (mind you by 7pm the company completely dies down) I thought doing this would show my leader (manger) that I am wanting to succeed in this company and move further but that’s how they get you. I asked my leader if I could join courses (which was offered by the company) to help me learn more about the mortgage Industry and succeed and she completely ignored me and didn’t give me a reason why I’ve asked her 5 times. And when I achieved major accomplishments my leader wouldn’t even notice but the whole department was kissing face. So if your looking for a place to succeed within the company and get further within your position stay away from here it’s the worst it’s full of empty promises I asked in my in person interview “so where can this position lead me to within a promotion” they’re response was “any position you want after working 4 months in the position you are currently in you can choose to pick” and when that time came and I wanted to switch to a different position they denied, ignored, and completely erased the thought of me switching departments. The hype is not real it’s all false advertising don’t fall for it. It’s a company filled with workers who are like those kids in high school who never left high school behind. Everyone is so immature and childish it felt like I was working at a daycare filled with grownups with a five year old mentality. I know how bad you might wanna work there and you might like that environment but trust me I am not over exaggerating. Some people may enjoy that type of environment but trust me, the mangers and the coworkers are terrible and have no boundaries. Ohh and lastly to add the only pro is the security why? Because they actually do their job, I almost got hit by a car that was speeding while backing up onto the side walk and the security guard jumped right in front of it and practically saved my life. So if you have an interview and you’re starting your job and reading this good luck walking to your car without almost being ran over by a speeding car in the parking lot this has happened to me more than 3 times.... THIS IS THE TRUTH they cover it up so well by giving out free snacks, ice cream, dance parties, and pizza to keep us shut. And there’s only so much of that a person can take till they realize they’ve been in the same position with the same pay for 3 years. As for Matt ishbia he is an amazing person however he doesn’t realize that he needs to get new management before all his accomplishments that he has reached will vanish and the company will go downhill. Matt Ishbia is a creat CEO and has even came to work in each department for a day to see how we make his company work he is an amazing worker and I have respect for him. As for his management he needs to really see the damage they are doing before it’s too late.

Operations was less stressful than underwriting. They both have Production (how many loans you do) it constantly goes up. If there is too many loans they will do a thing called quiet hours. Where no one can talk and you bust out loans 

I moved to underwriting for the pay rise. The actual job itself was not terrible. You got a couple weeks training then they put you on your team. They give you job aids to know what the guidelines are and how to do things. But sometimes they are not accurate because guidelines can change everyday. 

Overall:
-you will have multiple classes you have to take (which they do not lessen your production). Which will have tests with it. Sometimes in person or on the computer 
-you will have “yourtimes” every month with your leader. Where they will tell you things you did good and need to improve. I did the training for leadership. They have to put something as a con they cannot leave it blank so don’t take it too personally 
-everyone has call coaching as well. They record every phone call you make and receive. You have to make sure you hit certain points in every call or you lose points. They will listen to one or more of your calls with you and give you pointers to work on next time
-never get too comfortable. Nothing is permanent. They can change your team or make you move departments without asking. On that note every 9 months in a role you can apply for another department if you qualify and you have to have your team leader’s permission 
-Make sure you document everything. The LQ department audits loans to catch your mistakes. If you have a lot of errors or depending on how bad the mistake is, you get put on a personal improvement plan (PIP). If you keep getting errors you get let go
-when they let you go, your leader will bring you in a room. And the  leads learned a script they say to you. Down to the movements of their hands. While security and Team member services are packing up your stuff in a box. So everyone knows what is happening. They then walk you out with your things. 
-you will have daily huddles with your pod
-make friends. It’s all about who you know. But don’t get too nice. Everyone talks
-you cannot really use the amenities on the clock because you have so many loans to do in a day. You won’t really have time besides lunch. In the beginning it’s easier cause you have less loans
-there will be mandatory over time. When it’s really busy you sometimes have to come in early or stay late but they do supply food. Usually jimmy johns
-they have an amazing cafeteria. They also have random food companies that come in and you can buy from as well. Woodchips is so good
-brokers get really mean. They cuss at you and scream. They never want to wait turn time for loans. Some are really nice though
-depending on how good everyone does on the pod, your leader gets points. After so many they can pick a team outing for you guys. You all get to go to wine tasting or top golf or the hub - uwm pays a certain amount so it’s free but after the certain amount for the whole team you pay. 
-they have a holiday party every Christmas. They have an artist come out and perform while you get food and drinks and dress fancy. You get the first two drinks free. No guest can come though only employees. 
-They also do a fair every summer. You can have guest come to this
-There is also a company rally in the summer. Sometimes special guest as well 
-they have a doctor on site you can see 

This should definitely be a starting job to get experience. You get paid good but compared to other mortgage companies, even work from home ones, they do pay less. They paid underwriters $20,000 less than other mortgage companies I’ve seen. The turnover rate is Horrible. The company has been through soooo many employees in the last 5 years I’ve seen. The amenities and events are amazing. Definitely felt like a college experience. And I’m so grateful for what I learned and the co workers I met. But for me the leadership, production and stress was just too much for me to handle mentally. Ended up having a mental breakdown and quit

I joined United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) with high hopes and excitement. As someone with over 20 years of sales experience and a decade of training expertise—including creating workshops, instructional materials, and online courses for over 54,000 students worldwide—I believed I could bring immense value to UWM. I was eager to help brokers grow their businesses and to contribute to a company that seemed to have a promising future. Unfortunately, my time at UWM turned out to be one of the most disheartening experiences of my career.

Let me start with the positives: the people in my new hire training were incredible. My fellow new hires, the trainers, and even the training materials during the first week were top-notch. The structure was well-organized, and I felt like I was part of something special. But that feeling quickly evaporated when I transitioned into the Account Executive-specific training.

This newly restructured training program was riddled with issues. Slides didn’t match the workbooks, trainers spoke too fast, and we were forced to write entire paragraphs from slides while trying to listen to lectures simultaneously. AI-generated images on the slides were distracting and poorly done, with incorrect fingers and garbled text. Tests were ambiguous, and in one instance, the entire class got the same answer wrong because we hadn’t been taught the technique yet. Trainers were constantly sidetracked by irrelevant questions, and there was no cohesive structure to the program. Even ex-Rocket Mortgage employees admitted that Rocket’s training was far superior.

As someone with extensive experience in both sales and training, I saw these issues as opportunities for improvement. When the trainers asked for feedback, I provided detailed, constructive suggestions, including implementing a proper Q&A system, using a Parking Lot for off-topic questions, minimizing writing during lectures, and adding daily overviews, recaps, and a syllabus. I even included links to studies and resources to support my recommendations.

Instead of being met with appreciation, I was met with hostility. I overheard a trainer sarcastically say, “Since he knows so much, why doesn’t he stand up there and teach?” My team lead later confirmed that this comment was directed at me and warned me that I was “accumulating enemies.” I was shocked. How could trying to improve a company I was falling in love with be seen as a threat?

A long-time friend at UWM warned me that the sales department was egotistical and that employees could be let go simply because someone higher up didn’t like them. I didn’t believe it—until it happened to me. After filing a complaint with HR to document my concerns, I was pulled aside by a leader and let go. The reason? My feedback didn’t “match the culture” at UWM. This felt like retaliation. 

I was devastated. I had joined UWM with the best intentions, hoping to contribute my skills and experience to a company I believed in. Instead, I was punished for speaking up and trying to help. UWM doesn’t value creativity, innovation, or diverse perspectives. They want “yes men” who will sit back and say, “Everything is perfect.”

If you’re considering working at UWM, please reconsider. Find a company that will value you as a person and an employee. If you’re a broker, think twice about partnering with a company that may not value growth, feedback, or doing what’s right.

As a Buddhist and a stoic, I believe in always doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. But at UWM, doing the right thing is not part of their philosophy.


I worked for UWM for slightly longer than 5 years. In that time I watched UWM slowly change from a pretty excellent place to work to a churn and burn operation like Rocket Mortgage. 

I was in the IT department. IT was far too bureaucratic.  If someone came up with a good idea it'd be immediately referred to some committee where it could die. It's amazing--for a company 1/10th the size of Ford or GM they've got all the corporate infighting and personal fiefdoms.

The people at the top were a sort of clique.  If you were in good with that clique you were fine; if you weren't part of that clique then good luck to you. 

They had a central software package that they couldn't get rid of and they really didn't want to support.  They kept working on wrapper systems so people didn't have to interact with this old system. For five years I was there they were going to retire this internal system and for five years nothing happened to it.  It's like so many places that have old COBOL or Fortran systems which they can't get rid of and they won't ever update. 

In the time that I was there one of the most common complaints was the lack of a clearly defined career path for people.  They still didn't have a very good idea of career paths when I left but it's been a while so perhaps that has changed.  Unless things have changed dramatically I wouldn't expect lots of promotions.

They have monthly All IT meetings where they spend lots of time patting themselves on the back.  It gets a bit tiresome to sit there and watch while various team leads drone on about some new initiative they're going to roll out.  I wish they'd give those TL's some public speaking lessons.  

Another reason to avoid UWM--no work from home for any reason.  Need to stay home for someone to do work on your house?  Burn a vacation day because you're not permitted to work from home.  Kid's sick and you need to stay home with them?  Another vacation day burned.  They went from around 9,000 employees during the pandemic (when people could work from home) to about 6,000 today--and a significant portion of those people left because of the strict "No WFH; No Exceptions" policy.  They are the epitome of "quiet firing." 

They didn't return everyone to the office  as soon as it was allowed but they didn't wait long either.  And due to them getting everyone back into the office there were sporadic cases of people getting COVID-19.  Thank goodness by that time people weren't dying from it like they were at the start of the pandemic.  I was acquainted with a VP who had to be out of the office for probably 6 weeks due to COVID-19 that he got _after_ we all returned to the office.

There was such brain-drain from UWM that they came up with a plan to give people loans that they didn't have to pay back provided they stayed at UWM for some number of years.  When you have to bribe people into staying that way (but you won't give people the ability to work from home even occasionally) that should tell you something about their lousy culture. 

Everything seems amazing during the hiring process, they show you everything "Cool" about the company. During your first week you will go through a basic mortgage training, then for whichever job you were hired to, they will separate you after that week one is over into your respective groups. I was an Underwriter and I hated every single second of it. We had to go through a five week training course, classroom style, and it was beyond terrible. There were 10 quizes, a mid-term and a final. Everything was open note and open everything pretty much. That was the only way I could have passed the class. Yes, some people in the class got everything and had a better understanding of the underwriter industry.

For the most part, out of the 50 or so people in this class, Im going to take a guess and say that by the end of the third month working at UWM, only half remain. It is a revolving door company. I can only speak about the underwriters, and yes I know people that have worked there for a year or more, but they select those out for you to meet. The worst, the worst part of underwriting is that they do not give you enough time to train and learn how to underwrite, they throw you into the fire and they do not care if you burn. 

When I first sat down in during mentoring, after you pass the 5 week class, I had no idea what to do. Most mentors now work from home and you have to be in the building, what made it hard was that I had 1,000 questions a day, I was lucky to have a mentor in person, but if he was busy, I had to wait. They all say "Did you check the job aids?" (A PDF file), and reason I asked was because I had no idea what to look for or my question was not answered in the job aid. During mentoring, its not THAT bad, but once you hit the floor on your own....get ready to ask even more questions, be ready for people to say "Give me 30 min". If you pester them enough, they will be mad but answer it. They do seem to want to see you succeed, but that is only because if your pod does not hit the mark they did, people need to stay behind. 

During the underwrite, you need to clear conditions, some are easy and some are just plan hard. The splitters don't split the files correct or label them right, and then you cannot find what you need...if you know what to even look for. If I left a condition on, or added a condition that I though I needed, the broker would call and tell me to clear it, and I would have to figure out if I could or not, and usually I needed to ask someone but that took more time away. They "Ramp" your commitment up from 5, 6, 7...every week you got a higher number. This was very hard to do in 8 hours for a newbie. 

If you can handle stress, pressure and headaches then you can do this. There are hundreds of people who can do this...but there are over 2000 underwriters, maybe more. They keep expanding but the company is just so big now, its hard to be appreciated, and which covid...its like a dark zoo. 

For someone just starting out in their career or job experience journey, I think UWM is an alright place to start. For example, someone that is becoming a software developer, with little to no experience, I think the amount of learning, training, and light productivity expectations make for a great environment for a junior developer to grow.

Though, you'll be forced to sign a contact that keeps your PAY VERY LOW for 3 years and adds a LOAN that becomes a bonus only if you fulfill the contact. A junior dev doesn't need to fulfill the contract. Just invest (don't spend) the loan money, grind for a year (learning and contributing), then move on to a higher paying job at a better company.

The loan starts accumulating interest after you sign the contact, so yes, while you're working there. Breaking the contract means an employee either quit or was fired, then you'll have to pay the loan either as a lump sum or in increments with interest. How the repayment occurs is up to the company.

External hires are also required to sign the 3 year contract with the loan. Obviously for external hires, they have more room to negotiate their salary and benefits. Employees who make the decision to stay around for years, get to train external hires who are not better developers (or whatever role), but they are definitely making more money. The point being that employees that have stuck around DO NOT get the respect or recognition they deserve.

Employees who have stuck around had an option to sign the contact. Those that didn't sign obviously don't have a loan (bonus), but they're still not getting yearly bonuses and raises during promotions are the same as employees that signed the contract.

This company is the type that advertises to its employees that they're a family. There is a very cultish mentality that is very apparent during their new hire training. And they have slogans like "All in", "Better together", "Never relax".

They say they do not layoff their employees, but what they do instead is change payment structures (less pay), but still demand the same (or more) productivity. The obvious disrespect and difficulty makes a lot of people quit.

Because of the strict in-office only mentality, there were a lot of COVID outbreaks. You can imagine this place has very high turnover, and it does. This place preaches family, but what kind of place treats their family like this?

I definitely recommend NOT WORKING HERE if you have experience in your career role.

When and if you come to work for United Shore, you will be given a "team" and a "leader". There will be nothing unique about your leader as they all server the same AVP and have no real input or thoughts of their own. They have little to no power. They cannot approve time off, change your pay, fire you, promote you, amend your quota (they like to call your quota a commitment. I don't agree with this as I have never once committed to any number, they are assigned to you. Anyways.. ) or ratify the bonus structure. They're only real purpose is to serve as a buffer/mouthpiece between the worker drones (you) and the department head. Together, leads have daily meetings where they are TOLD what information to release to the masses and what negative changes (any change at UWM is negative for you, the drone) have been implemented. 
One reoccurring example of negative change is the pay cut you WILL receive every 6 months as the bonus is "restructured to align with current production".  Its important to note, that at $12 an hour, a very large portion of your income will rely on your monthly bonus. Its equally important to note that that bonus WILL be slashed by 30-50% every 6 months with no apology, explanation or warning.
This is where the "leaders" really shine. You see, as simple mouthpieces, they are not to blame. According to them, the pay cut comes from some mysterious ether that makes life changing decisions on a whim. As such, there is nowhere to take your grievances. Of any kind. Ever.
Another brilliant ideal that comes from the ether is the "Incentive weeks!" In this fun game, you are given the opportunity to recoup some of that lost bonus money by going over your current quota by a set percentage and earning double bonus. The best part of this game is, when they restructure your quota the following month, it will be set to match what you hit during the incentive. Forever. Gotcha'!
I could go on about the leads continually breaking their own rules, or should I say the AVP's rules, and screwing their entire teams by cheating the system for points and leaving the worse orders to the drones (again, your the drone), I could complain about the leads complete and utter lack of knowledge in the very task's they're supposed to be leading you to accomplish, or how the leads use their "power" to have advantageous relationships with their female drones,... but Ill just leave you with this:
Everything at UWM, from the "6 pillars" to the Christmas party to the basketball court to the Starbucks is designed to fool you into thinking they care about you and you matter. They don't. You don't. Just know that going in.




Cult-mentality - hiring and rewards is based on favoritism, not on merit.  'Perks' are a joke.  No options to work from home unless you're in leadership or in IT or have special permission from a higher up that usually has nothing to do with seniority or whether you've earned it - just whether they like you or not.  People who do the bare minimum and then do a little bit more one month are given MVP while people who constantly work hard and always go the extra mile are taken for granted.  I cannot wait to leave this place.  Team leaders are hired when they have no knowledge of what they are doing.  Pay is a joke and I have had to try to get a second job in order to make ends meet.  When I started we would have a late night once a week for one extra hour - it has now increased to two nights a week for two extra hours each night.  What happened to 'firm 40'?  Extra 'incentive' is sometimes offered for people to process loans over their commitment and are given so much money per loan they complete over their commitment, but for the people that already have an extremely high commitment because they go above and beyond on a regular basis - this really is kind of a slap in the face for them.  The people who do the bare minimum even when they are capable of doing more daily, then do more and end up getting all the benefits.  It's unequal and it seems like laziness is rewarded.  They badmouth other lenders which I think is just in poor taste - you should never bad mouth competition in order to make yourself look better.  That just makes you a bully.  Make yourself look like the best choice based on your own merits, not on the backs of others.  That was one of the very first things I ever learned when working in a competitive financial environment.  The Super Bowl commercial made me ashamed to admit I worked here.  Disgusting.  They say that they're a 'fun' workplace but the only 'fun' things they do for special events (super bowl, holidays, march madness, etc) are all based on production, and nothing is ever truly just for fun.  At Quicken, we would actually get to step away from our desks to just play games that leadership had set up for us to just bond as teams and friends that were TRULY just for fun - had nothing to do with production and they would do it for super bowl, thanksgiving, etc.  They would bring in paczki for Fat Tuesday, non-alcoholic margaritas for Cinco de Mayo - stuff that was truly just for the team members to show that we were appreciated.  Can't say I've ever felt that here.

It all depend who you work for. My team lead was terrible.  I hit productive and did my job well everyday and did what was asked of me.  My team lead told me to do something and didn't like it once I did what she asked and sent me an email of stating in her own words "I meant for you to...".  I told her I can't be held accountable for thing that she "meant" to tell me otherwise I would be rich because I would be a mind reader.  The next day I get an email from HR telling me I was terminated from employment and was not given any information why besides that they are an at will employee.  I worked for many at will employees and HR is still obligated to share reason of termination.  I never had a verbal warning from HR or any written notice from HR.  I even emailed the CEO and got no response besides a call back asking about the same information that I shared several times.  Also, if you want to fit in you must participate in the horseplay the team lead did and just because I was humored by it I was the negative team member and if you shared anything remotely close to hard times you may be dealing with you were told "fake it til you make it" so if you having a sick or dying parent of close family member, pretend that don't exist but when it was my team lead with those very same type of issues, she would bring them up in huddle because of course her problems is not considered negative.  The hours are long so if you have a family and live a little distance away, I suggest you think that through especially when they have required OT days.  If you are single and have no kids, go for it but I have a young child so there were time where my daughter have not seen me for days and nights.  If long hours was on a Tuesday, my daughter would be sleep when I leave for work and when I get home, the same on Friday, and my daughter would finally see me on Saturday morning.  The pay is not great, but many do it because people need work which was my case at the time so if that is the case for you, if you can hold out until you can find something better than do so.  I now have a great place of employment, in my field, close to home, great hours, great pay, growth opportunities, a really fantastic atmosphere, great coworkers, and great understanding leaders.  3 days after being termed there, I was offered my current job.  God is good.  I was wrongfully terminated by a team lean in her feelings and thank God I got the blessing,

If you like to be treated like a number, have your every move micromanaged, enjoy walking a half mile from the parking lot to the building in the cold and snow, work under high pressure and not feel appreciated, be lied to and back-stabbed by people who aren't qualified to be in leadership positions, forced to work extra hours every week, despite them constantly talking about "firm 40" then this is the place for you.The company cares only about becoming the number 1 mortgage lender in the country at any cost. They don't care about employees. Everyone is just a number and every employee has a rating. Loan quality takes a backseat to everything. I had a team lead who laughed about serious errors he made. They hire inexperienced people by the hundreds, walk them through the building and show them all the wonderful amenities (most of which you have no time to use), and constantly talk about the great culture. If someone keeps bragging about how great they are, chances are they aren't. Same goes for this place. The paid classroom training is ok. But then they give you and another newbie only 2 weeks to work on actual loans with a mentor, who has only slightly more experience than you and they slap an Underwriter II label on you. After that you're on your own. They tell you to check the job aid if you have questions. They give monetary incentives for underwriters who go over their commitment, shout them out in daily huddles, and give them extra little gifts and perks. They never give any incentive or praise for loan quality. Not only would I not recommend anyone work here, I wouldn't recommend anyone get a mortgage from here because I can only imagine the number of errors made just so the underwriters can get a bonus. They record every single phone call and score several each month. You have to say specific things in every call, even if you just spoke to the client a minute ago. If you miss saying something like, It was a pleasure speaking with you, your call score goes down, which is frowned upon greatly. They pride themselves on having a person answer every single phone call, yet they want them to talk like robots. I felt like I was in a weird cult the entire time I worked there and only stayed as long as I did for the money, until even that wasn't worth it anymore.

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