account manager

area manager

sales representative

business development representative

credit analyst

Westlake Financial

Work-life balance
Work-life balance at Westlake Financial Services depends on the position. Management takes the position of running at lean staffing levels. This causes backlog, long hours and added stress during busy stetches.

Pay & benefits
My pay and benefits at Westlake Financial Services are sub par. In a salary/commission environment, the "uncapped" commissions are limited by the stringent and inconsistent underwriting standards. You spend more time trying to sell dealers to underwriting and management than you do selling the product itself.

Job security and advancement
In terms of job security at Westlake Financial Services, I think it falls within the expectations of what corporate America has become. It is a turn and burn environment better suited for the younger less experienced candidates. Relationship building is part of the vernacular, however not supported as business grows. There were individuals who were top of their respective territories that were expected to spend more time continuing to build up sales versus maximizing their current portfolio. I saw many dealers leave and/or stop utilizing their line because of lack of interaction with reps caused by not enough time for the rep to maintain communication though already working a 70 hour plus week.

Management
In general, managers at Westlake Financial Services push down to field. There are questions asked about how they can help, however many requests from field were not addressed as that is how "Westlake operates". "It is what it is" was another common response. True help is not available.

Culture
Collaboration with my colleagues at Westlake Financial Services is frequent however not fruitful as the limitations were almost always above colleagues pay grade.

Overall
My experience working at Westlake Financial Services was disappointing.  They have some fantastic tools and really could lead the industry, however their overarching fear of loss truly limits their growth possibilities. On one hand, they want to position themselves as a nationwide finance provider. On the other hand, they institute policies, procedures and ever changing underwriting guidelines that generally position themselves as the secondary and/or backup finance company to their competitors.

 My Day at Westlake Financial

**A Typical Day at Work:**
At Westlake Financial, my day as a Dealer Account Manager mostly involved making a ton of phone calls to car dealerships. I'd chat with dealers, build relationships, and make sure they were happy with our financial services. My tasks included negotiating loan terms, processing applications, and providing excellent customer service.

**What I Learned:**
Working there taught me a lot about managing relationships, negotiating deals, and the ins and outs of the auto financing world. I also got pretty good at analyzing financial statements and making smart decisions based on data. Plus, my communication and sales skills improved a ton.

**Management:**
The management at Westlake was awesome. They were supportive and really encouraged us to grow professionally. They provided all the resources and training we needed and were always open to feedback.

**Workplace Culture:**
The culture was dynamic and fast-paced, with a big focus on teamwork. Everyone was committed to reaching common goals, and there was a strong sense of camaraderie among us.

**The Hardest Part of the Job:**
The toughest part was handling a high volume of phone calls and making sure each dealership got the attention and service they needed. Balancing the demands of different dealers while hitting performance targets required some serious time management and prioritization skills.

**The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:**
The best part was building lasting relationships with dealers over the phone and seeing how our financing solutions helped their businesses grow. It was really rewarding to help a dealer close a deal and watch their success
If I could have moved closer, I would have definitely retired at Westlake Financial. It was a fantastic place to work with a great team and a really fulfilling role.

Specifically, they have had entire departments walk out on them multiple time in the last four years.  The reason for the four year time window is that that is how long the second-most senior developer has been there.  The average is a year.  As mentioned in the title, there are reasons for this.  Foremost among these is that the management refuses to address the problem, or even acknowledge it, when one attempts to bring the issue and its possible causes to their attention.  The company culture is that of a used car lot, with similar prospects for advancement.  Low-level employees are used as scapegoats for the mistakes of senior management with depressing regularity.  In the most notable instance of this, a developer (whose name has since been forgotten) was saddled with the blame for dropping a database containing eight years of business-critical archived data.  The manager who gave the order was promoted shortly after a solution was offered by the company hosting the data (they had fortunately archived everything they hosted).  Given this, it should not come as a surprise that unrealistic expectations and deadlines abound, and every development effort comes bound in enough red tape to bring a hardened bureaucrat to tears.

I am aware that this comes across as the rant of a disgruntled employee, and I am in fact most disgruntled.  Thus, I urge anyone reading this to research the company for themselves, to determine the truth of my claims.  Please do not make the mistake I did in rushing blindly into their grasp.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Outside Reps (Field Reps) have a certain degree of autonomy without necessarily needing to punch a timeclock. The money is OK until the payplan changes. Work/ life balance is reasonable. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Funding. It seems like there's a breakdown of communication anytime a deal doesn't sail through automatically. There's a lot of pressure to hit goals, with writeups for certain benchmarks not being hit, even in traditionally slow months. Upper management preaches "family," but their actions are anything but. If you're not in the "Top 25," they don't have any idea who you are. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
For Outside Reps, it's all about time management and learning the program. Most of the time, it's easier to handle issues the best way you can than asking management for help, unless you have 3 days to let a deal wilt away in your funding queue while you wait. The work/life balance is pretty good, unless dealers are open late. It's all about building relationships between you (the Rep) and your dealers. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Check your funding queue, note deals, contact dealers about funding issues, upload stips or documents, then hit the road. Plan to visit a minimum of 8 dealers while making phone calls to total a minimum of 40 activities daily. Train dealers. Find opportunities to get more applications. Seek out potential new dealers to sign up. When you get home at the end of the day, recheck your funding queue and resolve any issues. Typically comes out to between a 9 and 14 hour workday.

-My work day consisted of filing paper work, making mail runs, assisting other co- workers with documents, making sure information is accurate in the system, processing car titles, and data entry.

- I learned how to be proactive doing multiple tasks at time, learned how to meet deadlines, learned how to pace myself when working so nothing gets over looked.

- Management at west lake is superb that is why i want to work there  so i can move up and learn great work ethic because i potentially want to obtain a position in human resource

- My co-workers are very informative and know how to do there jobs and i really liked how to were willing to assist me with what i needed and i learn a lot from them business wise.

_the hardest part of any job be knew to the company and not knowing how things work. and i am some what of a slow learner so it took me a minute to understand the system and how things operate but, everyone was really patient with me and everything ended up working out.

-the most enjoyable part of the job is knowing how the real world works i have had high school positions for a while but, after i graduate from college i knew i wanted a better job so i can apply for the job i want which is working in human resource

I'm not smarter that a $2B company with great growth, great IT systems, and a solid product line (priced accordingly based on a FICO score) If you work in a very high volume auto sales market, and want to commit to the same hours as your full-time auto clients, you may catch lightning in a bottle and make a 5 figure monthly paycheck. I was surprised to find out (after I was hired and trained) that 25% of my small market, producing dealers were attached to phone reps working at Corporate in LA (I was told I'd be one of two reps for my area). My team celebrated a first monthly 5 figure paycheck for a team member with 3+ years in her market - my partner was 4+ years and still hadn't made "the check". MLM sales culture comes to mind. Once you build your downline you'll be fine, if not you'll starve and spend your own cash.  Trainers were great at the process. Management was available to help. There is no hiding of facts regarding who profits if a dealer decides to fund through Westlake. Full spectrum rates and terms exist. Keep in mind that "the check" is available after 2 or 3 mos. in an average management position at a retail car store.  I'd never be asked to sign a waiver of Company liability due to employee actions at an annual meeting, but I was naive to think that employees act like adults when away from home and spouses.

Working at Westlake was a constant struggle, not due to the nature of the work itself, but because of the toxic environment created by upper management and the tenured employees. There was no real opportunity to grow or be recognized unless you were part of the “inner circle.” Constructive feedback was rare, and instead, staff were often belittled or scapegoated. Directors and managers routinely passed their work down the line, set unrealistic deadlines, and claimed full credit for team efforts. One of the biggest issues at this company was the lack of proper training. You’re expected to know everything from day one, with little to no training or guidance. When you inevitably run into problems, upper management tends to gaslight you, making you feel as though you're at fault for not knowing things that were never taught.  The bad reviews for this company are to the t! Do not oversee them. 

The lack of camaraderie and the prevalence of favoritism made it hard to stay motivated and loyal. If you're looking for a supportive workplace where you can thrive and grow, or have a healthy work/life balance, this may not be the place. The culture needs serious improvement starting from the top.

I use to work for Weatlake for 2 years first year was amazing I been up and down with the department worst ones were Csr and collections managers are never there and supervisors are always busy and know so little and don’t even show interest in helping you. Always being written down for mistakes you make and say because your calls are being recorded so very annoying. No proper communication or help being given to improve. No strategy plans how to work efficiently and reach goals no motivation. They expect you to motivate yourself and that dies out overtime. Most people there are miserable and tired of but don’t do anything about it cause they either have kids to support and put up with it but it can affect them at home with there loved ones. So Westlake also doesn’t care about the customers we have rude employees and I would take my time With people and explain to them about whatever they needed and they wanted me off the phone quick. And customer always cursing us because we would call them days before a payment is due and every single day.. so my experience was terrible especially with paid time off they didn’t accommodate for anything I requested. Unless u want to be miserable then u can work there


I worked in the portfolio acquisitions department working directly with the in house car dealerships. The estimated income for this job is no where near what you will make. The management doesn't care about the people and you get talked down to all the time. They changed the pay structure twice and last I was informed almost all of the outside sales reps quit within a 6 month period. 
The environment here feels very secretive and not trust worthy from upper management. I never felt like this was a place people liked to come to work, I know personally several people walked out and didn't even have a job to go to. Currently I hear they are at almost a 100% turn over rate within the last year. I am not sure what's going on now but I have yet to hear anything good about them. When I was there the company purchased Western Funding and we competed with ourselves on business in the same market at the same time. They are not looking out for their people and have no desire to hear anything said from the "little people".

They set you up to fail. If you have a brain, you are expected to not use it. They set standards of work, in writing, but that is not what is expected. And they will constantly be hiring in your area to replace you. Even when you are succeeding it isn’t enough. You are expected to still work even when you are on PTO. If you make century club, which is an amazing accomplishment, does not make you safe. because if you fall the following month, you get written up. If you fall short of quota, they take money away. But if you exceed by the same amount, it doesn’t  weigh the same way. Even if u get deals, YOU are financially penalized huge if one goes down. Constant battles with internal reps and they like it that way. You literally fight over dealers. They will try to put two or three more people in your area. And if you do take the job, be prepared.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account manager 75 salaries reported	$193,171 per year
Area manager 21 salaries reported	$67,948 per year
Sales representative 32 salaries reported	$177,109 per year
Business development representative 14 salaries reported	$65,000 per year
Credit analyst 5 salaries reported	$18.11 per hour

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