Like peeling off the layers of a rotten onion
Pros
Columbia Bank is very dedicated to the communities it serves, and is very integrated into their core, traditional footprint. Personnel at the branch and customer service level are some of the finest people I have ever worked with, and I'm not just saying that to make people feel good. Tellers, Branch Managers, CSR's, Loan Officers, IT support staff, call center employees, marketing specialists....to a one, these people care deeply about their customers, their teams, and everyone they come in contact with. If you care about delivering quality service to your customer, this is a great place to work, and you will be recognized for your success in that. With only a few exceptions, the branch mangers are wonderful to work with and for. In the core footprint (Pierce and Thurston Counties), there is simply no equal. Your customers will be fiercely loyal and welcome you as a friend, as soon as they see you in the branch. Carrying a Columbia Bank business card is like carrying the keys to the city; instant respect. Also, job security is high. The bank almost never lays off employees except when they acquire another bank and eliminate duplicate positions. And even then, preference is almost always given to the legacy Columbia Bank employee over the employee of the acquired institution. They do make strong efforts to re-hire displaced employees as soon as it becomes practical as well.
Cons
Unfortunately, much of the luster wears off once you start to look under the hood. First, understand that Columbia Bank is like an "old boy's club' in the most traditional sense. They are conservative and slow to innovate and change. How slow? Their technology is no less than 15 years out-of-date. The customer-facing stuff (online banking, mobile app, etc...) is adequate, but by no means cutting edge. But the back-office stuff (teller systems, HR, etc...) is nothing less than archaic. Electronic record keeping is almost nowhere to be found aside from those systems which absolutely require it (account history, loan payments, etc...). All loan and business client files are still kept in folders in filing cabinets, often spread around the bank footprint. That's just one example. There are more. HR systems, for example, are completely paper. Setting up direct deposit, benefit elections, tax withholding...those are all done via a paper form, which must be physically taken to the HR department. Same with the employment application. They are literally living in 1993 in that regard. Management is run like some sort of social club. Mid-level managers bicker and fight over territory and treat each other like enemies as they all vie for the next promotion, which isn't coming anytime soon, by the way. The only time anyone gets promoted is when someone dies or gets fired. The 7th floor in the Columbia Bank Tower (regional mangers, mostly), is a downright hostile environment where you will often hear conversations hush as you walk by a door, and then pick back up once you've passed. It's one huge rumor mill. One such rumor that went around was about a certain COO sleeping with a certain regional manager. That one turned out to be true, which ended up resulting in business decisions being made that were in no one's best interest, aside from Melanie's desire to bush it under the rug and avoid a lawsuit. Profitability and efficiency never seem to be high on anyone's list. Risk-avoidance is all anyone cares about, because that's all Melanie cares about. They would rather turn away 1,000 good customers than accept one loan that might go bad. Their pricing reflects their belief that people and business will not bother to shop them against the competition; which is still largely true, but becoming less so every year. Don't expect to manage anything more than your own desk until you're at least in your mid 40's. They respect age over ability, intelligence, and creativity. That is unless you are a skinny, blonde woman, in which case you can expect advancement a few years earlier, at best. Or if you have a parent or uncle in upper management. Nepotism isn't necessarily rampant, but there seem to be no policies in place to prevent it, which is occasionally taken advantage of. If you currently bank at Columbia Bank, consider switching your main checking account to somewhere else if you are hired. ALL employees have at least read-only access to ALL checking and savings accounts, which means they can see how much you are depositing each month and what you're spending it on. There are no controls whatsoever to limit this use aside from a pop-up window reminding you to use the system for work-purposes only. Pay is somewhat uncompetitive. I did loans for fellow employees and was generally shocked when I saw how little they were paid compared to what I saw elsewhere in the market. It's not a huge difference, but it was consistently lower. No one seems to complain about it, though. They do make up for it with fairly regular restricted stock awards, but the downside of that is that an ever-growing portion of your compensation becomes tied up in your being willing to stay a few more years. This is common in the industry, I know, but I also know people who want to quit, but can't afford to do so as a result.
