American Express reviews

- Pay lower than direct competitors and can vary wildly between employees doing the exact same job - Tons of processes and redundancy with little training other than baptism by fire - Pre-Amex experience is not really valued and not a lot of focus on external competition - Poor performers at all levels and out of touch senior leaders are retained and rarely asked to leave - MBA hires aren't treated consistenly at all; some move up to director in 2-3 years and others get stuck in multiple rotations. - There are no clear rules regarding performance management or promotion - ratings are simply based on having 1 big (and often heavily self-promoted) accomplishment and being well liked rather than comparison of standard metrics; analysts and managers rotate to new positions based somewhat on ratings and interview performance, but who gets the job/promotion is based more on what more senior employees do behind the scenes aka "informal sponsorship" - putting in phone calls/e-mails, vouching for your skills aka "likeability". This has led to a lot of frustration, particuarly on who gets promoted to Director and Vice President. You can have more years of experience at Amex and "stellar" performance reviews but others are hired because of personal connections they've developed - and the company does not apologize for it - May be difficult finding a balance of time to network with employees and getting your actual work done

Slow to promote, strict process stifles innovation, team build events are usually self funded, not enough strategic direction in emerging fields, directors/VPs typically ineffective, company ethic can often be exaggerated which is a little embarrassing.