Fannie Mae

[Anonymous]

I was just offered a position with Fannie Mae (after 3 years as SAHM, phew!). The job itself sounds great, a good match for my skillset. I like the people I've meet so far, the boss seems very cool. I mentioned it to a friend today and he made some negative comments about FM -- the role in the economy downturn, etc. So that made me start to question whether this is a good move for me. Will having this on my resume be a good or bad thing down the line? Is there a really negative feeling about Fannie Mae in general?

What are your thoughts about FM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just offered a position with Fannie Mae (after 3 years as SAHM, phew!). The job itself sounds great, a good match for my skillset. I like the people I've meet so far, the boss seems very cool. I mentioned it to a friend today and he made some negative comments about FM -- the role in the economy downturn, etc. So that made me start to question whether this is a good move for me. Will having this on my resume be a good or bad thing down the line? Is there a really negative feeling about Fannie Mae in general?

What are your thoughts about FM?

During the financial crisis, having Fannie or Freddie on your resume may have counted against you. But, it's less of a negative. They are not on the evening news every night.

In the good ole days, you probably would not have been offered a job. They did not hire from the SAHM pool. They mostly hired young and bright people who did not mind working overtime, nights and weekends. But, they are getting ready to shut down/ morph in couple of years. Everyone there are leaving. So, a good opportunity for you. You need a job, to get another job. It's a mutually beneficial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just offered a position with Fannie Mae (after 3 years as SAHM, phew!). The job itself sounds great, a good match for my skillset. I like the people I've meet so far, the boss seems very cool. I mentioned it to a friend today and he made some negative comments about FM -- the role in the economy downturn, etc. So that made me start to question whether this is a good move for me. Will having this on my resume be a good or bad thing down the line? Is there a really negative feeling about Fannie Mae in general?

What are your thoughts about FM?

During the financial crisis, having Fannie or Freddie on your resume may have counted against you. But, it's less of a negative. They are not on the evening news every night.

In the good ole days, you probably would not have been offered a job. They did not hire from the SAHM pool. They mostly hired young and bright people who did not mind working overtime, nights and weekends. But, they are getting ready to shut down/ morph in couple of years. Everyone there are leaving. So, a good opportunity for you. You need a job, to get another job. It's a mutually beneficial.

They aren't really getting ready to shut down. People assumed they would, but now they've repaid all the money they received from the Federal Government during the financial crisis and are making money again, which they fork over to Treasury. It's a shitty stock for investors, but it may be around for a long time yet.

[Anonymous]

Haha - "the SAHM pool" - good one.

[Anonymous]

Current FNM employee here. I don't see having them on your resume as a negative. We deal with the largest mortgage portfolio in the world(multi- trillion). It's a good company that will be around in some fashion for the next 30-40 yrs, until that last mortgage pays off their books.

You may be in for a shock at the odd culture there. Lots of very smart people who can't make a decision. But besides that, good salary and benefits. You can always take the job,get back into the workplace and use it as a stepping stone if it doesn't work out.

[Anonymous]

Worked at Fannie for a number of years until recently. I left because of the coming wind down. The atmosphere is negative and the morale bad. It is the uncertainty of what is going to happen to the GSEs (that is inside baseball for government sponsored enterprises). All money is going to Treasury and they are not paying down the draws (the loans that Fannie and Freddie took). Too many issues. Agree with culture shock. You will be in meetings all day with no decisions made.

[Anonymous]

That you for the insight, PPs. Very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Both Fannie and Freddie are bleeding talent right now, the private sector is picking them clean. Still, they will be around for awhile and I don't sense any issue with having them on your resume. Just know that morale is crap right now and probably will remain so. And there is talk about moving the employees to a more GS system and reducing some of the perks, like lots of private-sector gifts, lunches, conferences, etc.

[Anonymous]

Former FM employee. PP's are right on about the inability to make decisions. Also, depending on where you end up in the company, morale is low to middling. Managers there are worried about their jobs and it trickles down.

However you can make it work. The work is challenging and relevant! Focus on trying to do things that can buld your resume and your brand. Also, do NOT get involved in the politics of the place if you can help it. It is brutal to be on the losing side of things.

[Anonymous]

Another former FNM employee here. Agree with PPs that I don't think it would be seen as a negative to have it on your resume. In terms of future prospects, I think having any job is better than no job, so I wouldn't hesitate unless you have another offer to consider. When I was looking to leave (about a year or so ago), one of the recruiters did tell me that he thought having Fannie on the resume could be perceived as negative, but I did not personally experience it. And judging from the scores of people I know who have left to go to better places/jobs, it didn't seem to hinder them either. As PPs have already mentioned, it is a very political and bureaucratic place, and it could take time to get used to, but all said and done not a bad place to be.

[Anonymous]

Thank you again. I'm going to go for it since it seems like a good fit overall for me. Glad to know about some of the issues going into it so thanks for sharing those.

[Anonymous]

I was at Freddie for a while. I imagine Fannie is similar. Bit bureaucratic, lumbering - not the most dynamic of companies, but an OK place to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you again. I'm going to go for it since it seems like a good fit overall for me. Glad to know about some of the issues going into it so thanks for sharing those.

Hi,
I'm in the similar boat like you now. I've offer from Fannie in hand, would like to know the feedback how things going considering bill seems to be heating up at hills? please share your experiences for the past few months working at job...

[Anonymous]

Would there be any impact on Fannie and Freddie performance based on recent political push on bills past few weeks? how the internal employees are feeling about the recent activity...? please share your thoughts...thanks.

[Anonymous]

Freddie just had layoffs. Fannie seems to be business as usual. Most internal folks are not too concerned with legislation. Seriously, our govt can't make a decision on a good day, let alone unwind two companies with more than $5 trillion in mortgages quickly. It's a huge gamble the govt is taking. Both companies are cash cows right now and even if they are dissolved, they will really just be doing business with the same employees under a different company name. I have absolutely no concern about the company going away as a whole. It's the day to day politicking that will wear you out.