Great place to develop as a manager with top-notch pay and benefits
Pros
The pay is at least 25% above average for the work you'll be doing, and the benefits can't be beat (profit sharing, retirement savings, full medical/dental/vision, and tuition reimbursement are the big ones). You'll be working with talented and professional folks at every level of the company, and every employee who has been with the company more than a few years is an expert at what they do. People do great work and get paid well for it, and the company has been successful for 100+ years for that reason. If you enter the company on the management development track, expect to immediately be given responsibilities in the operation and/or project work to improve the operation. You'll have the chance to move around every 6-12 months depending on how you perform to give you experience in a variety of departments and roles. You'll be expected to supervise/manage top-performing and experienced folks in your department, but don't be intimidated, especially by the age difference. Your job isn't to tell the employees what to do or how to do it as they've been here much longer than you and will be here long after you've transferred to another department. Your role is to improve your operation in the time you have, come up with new ideas and new ways of doing the work, and handle all of the bureaucracy and red tape so employees don't have to. Listen to what the experienced folks have to say, implement the good ideas you and they come up with, and get out of their way so they can do the day-to-day work of the company. The employees are the reason McMaster-Carr has top notch customer service and end users respect and love the company. You are here to innovate and help the company evolve over time to keep up with changes in the industry and technology.
Cons
A lot has been said in some reviews on this site about the company having a tough, cold culture and folks talk about being afraid of losing their job at any moment. Another important thing to remember is that folks are more likely to leave bad feedback than good and folks who get fired are more likely to leave a review on a site like this than those who left on good terms. For the record, I left the company to pursue opportunities elsewhere, and I left on good terms. Everyone in the company is expected to perform at the top of their game and to get a lot of work done and do it well. Folks that can't/don't meet those expectations aren't with the company for very long. My reviews all gave a frank assessment of my performance, and I felt like I knew where I stood during my time there. If I had questions about my performance, I asked for explicit feedback and got it. If you stick your head in the sand, don't expect your boss to tell you over and over that you aren't meeting standards. Objectively look at your contribution to the company, and stand up for yourself if you think you're getting a bad wrap in a review. More often than not, your performance speaks for itself. That being said, I think a more progressive vacation policy (15 days instead of 10 to start off) would be a big help to those of us with family across the country. I heard that some changes are coming in 2014, so they might already be on it. The company also has a strict clean desk policy, so keep your area professional and don't treat it like a locker or your desk at home. For the salaried folks, there is some pressure (mostly from your peers or immediate manager) to work long hours and "do whatever you have to do" to get all of your work done. Challenge the parts of your work that aren't worth doing and keep a healthy work/life balance. Those that don't either burn out or start to resent the culture. I worked an average of 40 hours/week across a number of departments and roles and received several promotions during my time there. Constantly prioritize your work and make sure you're spending time on the things that are important to your department and don't waste your time on the tasks that aren't. It's ok to not get everything you're given done, and you should be regularly working with your boss to design new ways to do work and stop doing the busy work that doesn't serve a purpose.
