State Farm will shove "work and home life balance" down your throats more times than you can count when you are in training. However, you will quickly find that they don't practice what they preach. The unforgiving attendance policy will sadly terminate any employee that has an unexpected illness more than once a flu season. If you have kids, be sure to expect that if they get sick, you will put your job on the line by taking off to care for them if it isn't an FLMA protected absence. There is absolutely no leniency with the attendance policy, including if there is an accident on the interstate and you are 15 minutes late to work; expect an occurrence for things which you cannot control.
Micro-management to the extreme- State Farm will be the helicopter mom of your life, always hovering over your shoulder. The metrics are crippling the company and driving away customers and great employees with an emphasis on quantity over quality. The company expects 110% out of you, but doesn't give you the opportunity to perform at such a standard. If you provide amazing excellent service, satisfy the claim handling, but forget to mention a customers name twice, you fail. They monitor/record calls, take screen shots of your screen, watch you, all without you even knowing. Everything you do is monitored by someone, all of the time.
Schedules are a nightmare- If you are a single parent or have kids, this is not the place for you. Expect to work late nights and weekends for most positions. You are required to participate in "shift bids" and when you are brand new, you have little say in the shift you get slotted. If you can't work it, you should pack your stuff and leave because State Farm does not care about your personal problems or your family. They will invest money into your training, licenses, education, benefits, but will force you to walk away from your job because you have a family or a life outside of work.
Management/training- management is easily described as horrid. So many managers are on power trips all day long, or busy playing favorite to those that make their way into the "in crowd" of supervisors/management. Sadly the decent management is very few and far between.
Quality of employees. One great thing about State Farm is they love diversity. However, they allow employees to look, dress, talk, etc however they choose. Often times you see co-workers come in wearing the bar clothes they wore the night before on a night out on Mill Ave. and bystanders and customers coming to the offices are appalled by what they are paying for. Needless to say, several bystanders have asked about our "dress code" for our company. If you have red & green hair, have 10 facial piercings, and like to dress like a bum -- come work for State Farm.
