Great Job not a Great Career - Sales and Support Generalist McMaster-Carr Employee Review

4.0
Oct 10, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are second to none. Tuition Reimbursement, Profit Sharing, Premiums on Health, Vision, and Dental are paid, Gym Membership assistance, Day Care Assistance, First Time Homebuyer Assistance, Corporate Discounts etc. The job stays in the work place, you do not take it home with you. Paid time off, Holidays off with pay. Initial salary is higher than other places in the market

Cons

You cannot be promoted above a low level supervisor. All Mid-Level positions and above are recruited from Ivy League Schools and brought in specifically for management positions. Lateral Movement only and no pay increases for these "promotions" If you do not have children, you work the least desirable shift times and get trumped on first picks of vacation days. Your departmental management team will change frequently and so does the job expectation. If the company wants to "promote" you or move you to a new department, you do not have a say, go to the new position or leave. The computer system they run on was built in the 1980's so it is a DOS system and you must remember hundreds of 4 letter commands. Errors are subjective based on who is grading your work.

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

4.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Pay/benefits are incredibly generous - People are generally easy/nice to work with - Note that the Systems department seems to be fairly isolated from the negative issues discussed in other reviews (e.g. tension between warehouse workers and management) - I haven't experienced any of those issues within the systems department. In my opinion, Systems is a great place to work and develop as an engineer. - Hybrid work style (3 days in office). Personally, I like hybrid more than both fully in-office and fully remote styles. - Great cafeteria with good food and cheap prices. - Good work/life balance (outside of being on call, I can leave work at work).

Cons

- Work is not super interesting to me. I come from a highly technical, but very different (not ecommerce/industrial supplies), background where I was doing work I was much more interested in. No doubt there are folks in Systems who love the domain though. - While I'm not on call a ton (1-2 weeks every few months), I really hate being on call. I like to leave work at work. Note that joining at least one reliability team is expected within your first year or so.

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