I definitely resonate with those reviews who describe MCM as cult-like. If you decide to work here. You're either all in or all out. Buying into the culture and world-view of McMaster-Carr is mandatory. If you don't you'll be pushed out.
To further define this culture, McMaster-Carr and those who buy into it (the lifers), believe that McMaster-Carr is an extraordinary business filled with extraordinarily talented people who are ethical and upstanding.
To be honest, this is not the case and distorts reality quite a bit. Most management trainees run for the hills after a year because of how awful and unethical McMaster-Carr is.
The people who work in management and rise to the top are the some of the most shady and unethical people I have ever met. I feel that the company has extremely unethical HR practices.
I feel that HR deals with workplace conduct complaints very shadily. I also feel that recruiters will lie and mislead you about how good the benefits are to get you to join.
Amongst those of us who didn't buy in fully. We felt that nobody could say that the McMaster has a good culture with a straight face. Abuse, backstabbing, and gaslighting is common place here. Because of this, I feel like mental breakdowns and panic attacks amongst management trainees are common. At least I observed many of my fellow MT and Managers suffer them while I was employed here.
Also, you will likely regress in your intellectual development and problem solving ability at this company.
All in all, McMaster-Carr also suffers from a terrible reputation and I believe that is worsening amongst young professionals. To be honest, this stigma is well deserved. To be successful at McMaster-Carr, higher management is looking for people like them - those adept at misleading. While I was employed here, I observed the career trajectories of many people above me in the MT pipeline.
In my view most long-term alumni of McMaster-Carr can't find jobs outside of McM or usually get fired pretty quickly at other companies.
McMaster-Carr believers aren't good at collaborating or solving problems. They are talented at abusing others and playing politics.
