Pros
Pay, benefits, opportunity, and the people. Ferguson is a huge company with multiple branches in each state across the country. This makes the opportunity for advancement/ relocation very real and all the current job openings get posted internally so associates have visibility and the freedom to apply to any position they want. If you are willing to relocate it will give you the opportunity to advance quicker in the company because many times, there are going to be associates ahead of you for the next management or outside sales job in the current market you are working. I started at Ferguson as a trainee after graduating college and had the opportunity to learn the business from the ground up. Gaining exposure in everything along the way from operations, purchasing, distribution networks, inventory management, credit and sales that have all been building blocks and valuable in shaping my understanding of how a business works, a 15+ billion dollar company at that! I find it funny when reading some of the other posts and people complaining of the long hours. It’s not like these people are on salary so I guess they don’t like money as much as I do and the overtime pay is where you bank. I mean yes, you are going to work 10+ hours a day when you first start but as your career progresses you will have flexibility and more freedom with your schedule depending on if you go into outside sales, management, etc. I’ve been out of school for almost 10 years now and if you feel entitled after graduating and looking for a glamorous job to coast by then I would move along. Dealing with contractors daily is far from glamorous but for the most part you are dealing with good hard-working people. I think it’s safe to say that Ferguson didn’t become the leading plumbing and HVAC distributor in the country by working off bank hours. Bottom line is that Ferguson is a great company that has more resources at its disposal than any of the competitors out there. They are continually putting money back in the company and investing in the future whether it’s with acquisitions, infrastructure or different platforms to do business like Ferguson Online. If you have a good attitude with a willingness to work hard to get the job done there is no doubt you will be successful.
Cons
While I finally think it was becoming stable, the continuing adjustments to the outside sales comp plan I went through was very frustrating and the lack of visibility at year end on sales numbers must improve. You will know how you finished the year, but you won’t be able to see how you stacked up with everyone else because for some unknown reason the running totals that are visible all year don’t get updated the last month of the fiscal and just moves on to the next one which this has been the case the past 2 years. People move around a lot and change is the most certain thing at Ferguson. All markets are different and in some areas Ferguson is dominant while others struggle so someone’s experience can be quite different from one part of the country to the next.