American Express reviews

Not that this is a con per se, but it's a bank. Make no mistake about this fact. This is a bank holding company that has a large adversion to risk. If you're looking for somehwere to fail quick and often, this is not the place for you. They feed on sure bets, and if it's not a sure thing, they have no problem crashing projects over and over to make them look successful in the end. Unfortunately this really affects the project management and technical staff and their morale, it makes them look like they aren't doing their jobs correctly, however, in reality, they are doing their best to make it all work. Amex is becoming more technologically driven but blocked by legacy midsets. Most of the tech management here are middle aged guys(and women) or older who are used to legacy IT project, operations and engineering development. When they attempt to implement development techniques like Agile methodologies(by decree of upper management) it looks gangly and disorganized. They fail to realize that a mindset change must occur across the whole organization in order to become a high tech, fast moving, technology-based company, not simply introducing a bunch of mis-managed and disjointed methodologies that are trying to be forced into place. Advancement is a tricky thing here at Amex. Politics play a large role. SVPs choose VPs, VPs choose Directors and Directors choose managers based on unpublished and many times intangible criteria. Again, if you are a top performer, you WILL be recognized, but you may not even be close to getting a promotion. There is a standing mandate for preference towards women and minorities(if applicable) however, in my experience, the pool for outstanding women and minorities is very small compared to other demographics. However, the biggest CON is the lack of a documented path to advancement. No one can tell you exactly how to move up. They will tell you what they "think" is the way, or maybe the way "they" did it, but there is no documented or accurate way to plan your development. The real answer, as someone already reviewed, is to build sponsorship and followership within the company and hope that a well fitting position opens under a leader you know.

The hiring process is very difficult and drawn out but the pay and benefits are excellent BUT PLEASE BEWARE. When you are hired, you are told that this is not just a job; it's a career and that you are now here for life...you are now PART OF THE FAMILY. You are given the impression that you are a permanent employee from day one. Unfortunately, that is not the case. You must go through a training process and instead of basing your permanent hire on how well you did in the training program or how well you grasp the systems or procedures. No... your permanent hire is based on two things: 1) how much you kiss up to the management training team because you final hire rest solely in their hands and has nothing to do with your skills or performance; and 2) surveys that you receive in a very, very flawed system. You will receive bad surveys from card members you never even talked to or regarding issues like...American Express making a corporate decision to remove an airport lounge access which has nothing to do with the service you provided that card member, just their dissatisfaction with a corporate decision that you took no part in but YOU will get that bad survey and they will constantly tell you that there is nothing they can do about you now being stuck with that bad survey although they listen to those calls and know that it had nothing to do with you but that one bad survey may very well keep you from getting a permanent hire. Also, keep in mind that in order to wipe out 1 bad survey, you must get at least 5 excellent surveys...yeah, that math makes no sense to me either. Additionally, with the mess they have with the company that manages their surveys, your surveys are sometimes held for 10 days and when 1 bad survey and only two good surveys in a week can destroy your possibility of being permanent, you can understand that they holding surveys back can affect you in the worse way. But remember...this all revert back to #1...if you didn't make good surveys but you kissed plenty of training management butt or if you're a man...YOUR GOLDEN!!! Their system frankly makes no sense because they spend all this money on background checks, training, paying into your benefits from day one, etc. and pay you a good salary just to walk 50% of a training class out of the bldg. based on surveys that you have no control over and have nothing to do with the customer service you actually provided. Someone at the top either doesn't know these dumb business decisions are being made or they just don't care to realize that this can only serve to breakdown what was once an amazing company to be a part of. You are even required to select your health insurance within 60 days of hire although you may very well be walked out of the bldg within the next three months and ultimately be left with no health insurance whatsoever because you cancelled the insurance you had prior to working there and now after Obamacare, you can't get it back. Also, remember all the above if you are considering leaving a permanent position you currently have to take a job with American Express. You may be leaving something solid for a very, VERY shaky possibility. Do you really want to risk your security that you've worked hard at, on the luck of the draw? The grass isn't always greener on the other side is absolutely applicable when considering a position with American Express. It's unfortunate because every actual permanent employee I spoke with told me it was an excellent place to work but again, to actually get to that point you have to walk on hot coals and glass. It's all a matter of luck and being liked by the training management and not experience or skill, which in the long run only serves to hurt the company and its card members. Additionally, if you are female; are even remotely attractive; are slimmer than the training management and/or you happen to dress more professionally or fashionably than the actual training management staff, they resent you and they will use this to hinder your final hire. After your first orientation day, no matter how cute or fashionable you may see some of the trainers dressed and believe me, some of them wore skirts so short the queen waved...DRESS DOWN...DON'T WEAR MAKEUP...NO BRIGHT COLOR...NO NAILS...KEEP YOUR HAIR AS PLAIN AS YOU CAN...NO HEELS...NOTHING FASHIONABLE...IF YOU'RE SKINNY, WEAR VERY LOSE CLOTHES...IF YOU ARE EVEN REMOTELY ATTRACTIVE, PLAY IT WAY DOWN...DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT WILL RUFFLE THE MANAGEMENT TEAM BITTIES because that will be the end of you!!!! None of this applies to the men because the men can do whatever they want.