McMaster-Carr reviews

McMaster-Carr prides itself in hiring smart people. Come to think of it, the company aggressively searches services like Monster to find candidates who know nothing about industrial supplies, but are smart. There's a good reason for such a strategy. While there is some problem solving involved, be it with a customer over a phone, or trying to solve an issue with a purchase order, smart people are probably hired to deal with an outdated system. McMaster-Carr uses a system from the 1970s that is plagued with command prompts. While the system is somewhat reliable, it takes a lot of training to know every command and every screen. Worse, the system occasionally--at times frequently--crashes, which causes headaches and panic for everyone in the office. Such a system is frustrating, especially if you're on the phone with an angry customer, and it takes you five steps to get you to the needed screen to check an order, invoice, etc. Also, while the company strives to improve constantly, no one has improved in areas where it matters the most. In all fairness, the website and catalog are, overall, great, but the catalog needs to be read at an advanced level. With so many supplies, McMaster-Carr has to group certain items under one part number, and the customer has to specify a "missing specification," be it a pressure range, bore size, etc. Customers fail to specify, so instead of figuring out ways to improve the catalog or website, to make the process easier for the customers, the company decided to create an entire department of people hassling customers for more information. When you reach a customer for the 1,575th time asking for the pressure range of a pressure gauge, the work feels meaningless. But because there are people willing to contact customers for such trivial information, no improvements have been made on the website or catalog. Next, management, management, and management. Contrary to what others may say, I came across some very hardworking supervisors--many of whom I found terrific, and I even grew to appreciate the ones rough around the edges. At the same time, you will not have the same supervisor for more than three months. At one point, I received an email from a new supervisor a year or so older than me, telling me everything I did wrong with a note. My first thought was, "And who are you?" If you're hired as a generalist, and not a supervisor, you will probably never get promoted, and instead, you'll have at least 100 supervisors, if you work there for 30 years. To the company's credit, the culture in the office is partially based around respect and understanding. You will never get yelled at, and if a crisis arises, management is terrific at accommodating your schedule and needs. But the company thrives off of negative feedback, or "errors." Employees need such feedback to improve, but sometimes you wonder if the only thing you receive is negative feedback. At times, I sincerely did not know how I was doing, because the feedback I received was largely negative. Look, as in-depth as these cons may be, I still have a lot of respect for McMaster-Carr, and I don't want to come across ungrateful. But after leaving that company, I mostly just miss the money and benefits, which is somewhat telling. If you need money, or a steady job, I wouldn't discourage you from taking a job with this company. Again, there is some great stuff going on, and there are very good people who work there. But others nailed it on the head: The company offers benefits, which are really golden handcuffs. Also, be warned that if you work there, work hard, and then decide to quit, the company does not give out personal references. Only neutral references (they'll just tell a potential employer when you started, and when you left).

If you get the feeling you don't belong, RUN. Not everyone is MCM material, and your life will be miserable if you aren't. Advancement is tough to come by, and work life balance is non-existent. Need a sick day? That's going on your review.