Working at Key Bank — Reviews by Employees

I left Key in fall 2006 on my own accord.

Pay-adequate and living wage for the work expected. I did not leave because of money.

Respect-I worked for some great people who were concerned about me and my family. I was given opportunities to succeed and excel. It's not always a bed of roses but what job is other than florists?

Benefits-Good 401K match with a cash balance pension. Health club, flexible work environment and competitive health care, etc. Five weeks of vacation is nice.

Job Security-When I joined the bank my co workers told me that Key was going to be acquired and there was no job security. I stayed 11 years and right now wish I was still there.

Work/Life Balance-I worked my tail off because I liked what I was doing. The place, for the most part, was 8 to 5. Extra effort and time was recognized and appreciated.

Career Potential/Growth-I worked in 3 businesses during my tenure so my job always seemed to have a "newness" that stimulated me to learn and explore. If you work for a good boss, life is pretty okay at Key.

Location-Downtown was great for me. I'm a fan of public transit and that's what I did for my commute to avoid traffic. Sometimes I felt locked into the Tower. I also did some time at Tiedeman Road and that is a long commute and the fact that it's more operational and I was a line of business employee made it challenging.

Co-Worker Competence-Hey, we're talking about people hear. Some are gems and others are marginal, just like in a real company.

Work Environment-A little "cube farmish" but nice, clean and quiet. The people are polite and considerate. On balance my take on Key, in comparison to other companies I've worked for, is it is up there.

Pay: The only outstanding thing (and probably only because of working myself pretty high up w/good connections into Union State Bank before our merger with Key) was the "bump" up in pay I was fortunate enough to receive when the merger with Key finished.

Respect: From those who were from USB and who I was able to work with regularly from Key, respect was no issue. Those higher up the Key ladder and lacking any communication etiquette it was sorely lacking.

Benefits: Became somewhat of a joke after the merger, with high pay-in amounts taken from your pay, (forget it if you have a family), this was doubled up because of the cost of living here in the southern Hudson Valley area.

Job Security: Due to the hemorrhaging of vast amounts of staff one could be comfortable in the knowledge that their job was secure so long as they wanted it (ex. didn't decide to resign) and didn't severely step on the wrong toes.

Work/Life Balance: This sort of perplexed me. Key touted "team-drive" and total support for staff. Yet seemed unable to meet this goal due to....
1) Staff quitting daily, and no new staff being hired (which is definitely something to be taken up with HR, since I tried to help and they never even called candidates back.)
2) Their take on NO over-time, or over-time exemption coupled with a lack of "comp." time, which to my understanding was also either lacking or completely foregone in some cases...hmmm...legal (This is more for the tellers and hourly persons who got screwed)?
3) The expectation that everyone would "make-due" despite the fact that they had literally no support to run there job divisions (In my case an Operations Supervisor unable to complete regulatory reports and supervisor requirements, due to the attempt to also be a teller, pc trouble shooter, maintenance guy, and ultimately getting in trouble for not having everything done...no thanks!)
4) The above combined with constant sat. and no days off being able to be scheduled (need a doc. appt., not happening!), made for hectic home life trying to cram things in where one could (wish Sunday had a few more hours).

Career Potential/Growth: There were chances for growth and development. With so many people leaving there was a literal vacuum of space and positions that needed to be filled, the problem being that those brought up weren't supported because no one was being hired to support underneath them. (Kinda like a temple with no base)

Location: The Hudson Valley, especially the areas I've worked for Key are beautiful. The only limit to this is the winters which can be harsh, but I enjoy a good drive through the snow in my Wrangler : )

Co-worker Competence: This is were my old team shined they were quite literally the BEST. Everything took it's toll though and these fine individuals were either shuffled around or took off for greener grass elsewhere. Still there are some quite fine people down at the branch level of Key. It's just too bad they don't have the Corporate support they need.

Work Environment: In a word...laughable, the ideas brought in, the aggressive sales in the economy we're experiencing, the unrelenting fees being thrown on unsuspecting customers. This is all adding up to one of the worst banking environments as well as the worst banking experiences possible. It is quite simply the opposite of what the area Key invaded needed...we already have the Chases, Wachovias, BoAs, etc. Just from the above the work environment has gone from one of subtle enjoyment to enter in the morning, to one of chaos, anger and a complete lack of personality or compassion for worker and customer alike.

I stepped into Key out of a merger with what was previously Union State Bank (USB). I have to say the merger was strewn together about as well as a three year old with legos could do. Everything was fast-tracked and poorly planned out, training was literally 2 days of rapid fire seminar at USB's old HQ. The worst of it is the people who I became friends with and who trusted us with their money were side-swiped almost criminally. You want to see a mess ask Key who handles their mortgages...they sell all the personal banking cust.'s mortgages to Country Wide! All the old cust.'s got the shaft with that one when they started bouncing their payments due to royal screw-ups with that deal. So it is time to stop my endgame rant, and all in all, all that happened was that the Hudson Valley got Punk'D by Key. Have your laughs Mike, and Reg., heck even you too Mr. Meyers, and I am sure glad I got out of there when I did.

Pay was not bad. Wasn't great, but not too bad. Bonuses made no sense at all. There were times when I did great things and got no bonus and times they threw a ton of money at me for nothing. I think it had to do with internal politics from on high. So I guess treat your bonus as a roll of the dice.

In my first group at Key, I was in "IT". I was treated like dirt by the managers. However, I moved to a Risk group and was treated very well. So I would say that it depends upon where you are in the organization. Some groups treat you well, others not so well.

Benefits were OK. I liked the pension. After 5 years I was suddenly vested in a pension that was equal to half a year's pay. Also, my retirement matched up to 100% up to my first 5% of my contributions. It is really good for saving for retirement. Other benefits costed a lot.

Job security was OK. There were two major layoffs when I was there. But they did not do it lightly and the people layed off were done so with as much kindness as you can do such a thing. They were telephoned Friday night and told then. They weren't "escorted out" of the building in front of theic co-workers. Still, the bank has hit some hard times so I suspect that security is not what it once was.

Work life balance was not bad throughout the bank. 11 holidays and 20+ vacation days. If you took a day off, your boss was usually OK with it. Just make sure you get your work done.

Growth potential stunk! You rise up to a certain point and then literally you had to have friends in high places to be able to advance. That's why I left. You do a great job and get great reviews and you rise. Then suddenly you crash into a ceiling (around an 83 or 84). You must be really lucky or well connected to advance after that point. Nothing else to say about that. It's true.

Location in downtown Cleveland is really interesting once you get there. But the commute, traffic, road construction, and snow really stinks. Some bosses let you work from home. That's nice but not all of them will do that.

Co-workers were great in my department. We were like a family. We worked hard and everybody was really good at their job. We were also great friends. We dealt with another department that was not so nice and treated their employees and others terribly. Their treatment was mostly a mask to hide how poor their work quality was. I have learned that there was a house cleaning in that group so hopefully things got better. If not the cancerous pockets throughout the bank, I would have given this one a 5.

I still get together with my freinds there. Good times.