Pros
First, yeah the office is very nice and the cafeteria is great, but that is if you even have the time to enjoy it... As a Loan officer (LO) you are glued to your desk, because lets be honest, you are in it for the commission and they are pretty hard about performance (yeah yeah I get it, it's part of sales). Now if you are lucky, you do not get to enjoy the beautiful office for a good reason, because you are buried in leads and too busy trying to convince a borrowers to go with Lower.com. Now if you are unlucky, you don't get to enjoy the office because you are praying to all the gods in the world at your desk waiting for a lead to get to you so you can make some money. The company claims they provide warm leads, but it's really just a department that calls out to leads they buy online, and the moment a human voice answers, they transfers it to an LO. During that time it is your job to show your worth and try to battle objections, and win over the customer. It's NOT a bad thing, because once again it is a sales job. But don't sugar coat it to your employees, be honest with them. I will say one of the biggest pro they have to offer is that they hire people right out of college. This means it gives many younger people a chance to get their foot into the mortgage/financial industry. They also pay for the NMLS testing and provide really really really and I repeat, very very good training classes and materials at no cost. That right there is very admirable for the company. The training style, manager, and the employees there are all very friendly and upbeat. You will truly make some long lasting friends there, and for the most part, working there is actually really fun because the of the friendly people. Now the company is also booming, they just received $100 Mil in funding, established Lower.com field, and hopefully career advancement opportunities will start to increase in the company later on. They are experiencing some growing pains for sure, and divided the sales division into a team that makes commission based on the percentage of the loan, and another team that makes a flat fee per loan. This greatly affected compensation as LO, but it is too early in the stage to tell if it will have a positive or negative impact on the employees. If the company can keep up their end of the bargain and generate a TON more organic leads on the flat fee team, then yeah, it should be great. If NOT, expect lots of people quitting in the near future.
Cons
Please do something about the benefits offered at the company. The 401k/retirement match is very poor, if the company truly cares about the employees and want to retain talent, then you have to be willing to take care of your employees in the long run. And 401k/retirement plan plays such a big role in an employees future well being. Try a better matching system. The health insurance is very expensive and the plan is just over all poor. Either decrease the cost for health insurance or increase the base pay a little bit so employees can actually live a comfortable life style during slower sales season. Work life balance can be very tricky. You work Monday 9-7, Tues-Thurs 9-6, and Fri 9-4 all with an hour lunch in between. But you really do not have the time to take the whole lunch. Overall the company deserves a 2.8/5 if I can truly rate it. It's new and gives young people opportunities, but with how it is set up, once those younger people gains a foothold in the industry, they will leave if Lower doesn't change their benefit and increase the base pay. There is nothing there that attracts an individual to stay for the long run. Once again, it is NOT a bad company, but I can't say it is a good one either. Definitely pros and cons.
