Is Sweetwater a good company to work for?

Sweetwater has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5, based on over 571 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 19% over the last 12 months. 82% of employees would recommend working at Sweetwater to a friend and 74% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Sweetwater have been left by employees working as Senior Sales Engineer , Sales Engineer and Marketing .

Does Sweetwater pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Sweetwater employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Sweetwater. This rating has improved by 17% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Sweetwater?

82% of Sweetwater employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Sweetwater 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.2 for culture and values and 4.1 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Sweetwater?

Sales Engineer (137) , Senior Sales Engineer (19) , Software Engineer (13) , Marketing (10) , Sales (9) , Account Coordinator (8) , Customer Service Representative (6) , Customer Service Representative (CSR) (5) , Guitar Gallery - Guitar Handler (5) , Guitar Technician (5) , Inventory and Shipping Specialist (5) , Packer (5) , Customer Service (4) , Distribution Center (4) , Product Support Specialist (4)

What are the pros of working at Sweetwater according to real employee reviews?

"It is a pleasure to be surrounded by so many great people." ((in 67 reviews)); "Great benefits and plus's for being an employee." ((in 47 reviews)); "The culture of Sweetwater is great for the most part but often feels forced and not fed." ((in 34 reviews)); "Great coworkers" ((in 17 reviews)); "Sweetwater is an awesome place to work." ((in 13 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Sweetwater according to real employee reviews?

"micro management and cubicles" ((in 39 reviews)); "Low pay and no chance for advancement." ((in 29 reviews)); "Long hours if you want to even have a chance of making any money." ((in 20 reviews)); "Long hours are a must at the start if you wish to do well for yourself." ((in 12 reviews)); "Bad work life balance" ((in 11 reviews))

What are employees saying about Sweetwater layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Sweetwater layoffs and their outlook for job security at Sweetwater in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Sweetwater locations?

Fort Wayne , Litchfield Park , Fort Wayne , Arlington , New York , Glendale , Ann Arbor , Austin , Houston , Bloomington , Indianapolis , South Bend , Las Vegas , Charleston , Sandy Springs

Sweetwater reviews

4.2

82% would recommend to a friend

(541 total reviews)

Mike Clem

90% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (541 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

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Sweetwater has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 541 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Sweetwater employee rating is 24% above average for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

541 reviews

4.0

Mar 25, 2021

Great work, ned time to build book of business

Sales engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Really awesome atmosphere - surrounded by like-minded musicians. Employee discounts, on-site diner/coffee shop

Cons

VERY intensive and fast-paced. Most of your time will be spent on the phone (4-5hrs a day on average). Lots of outbound calls and some inbound. You won't start making any actual money until you build your book of business big enough. Luckily they start your base pay off strong during training (3 months) but lower your pay as your database grows. It is VITAL to put as many customers in your name as possible in order to make a considerable amount of money off commission, and that will take some time based on how many phone calls you can pump out a day. Management is very helpful and you don't necessarily need sales experience to do well here. Just a positive attitude and really good work ethic.

Sweetwater Response

5y

Thanks for the solid feedback. I also appreciate you being honest about the hard work that is necessary for someone to do well as a sales engineer. We never shy away from sharing this info during the interview process with candidates. As you mention, with a positive attitude and a good work ethic the rewards and the satisfaction that comes from taking care of your customers can be amazing. (And with that hard work we've also often seen SEs that are able to hit their 3 or 4 year financial expectations ahead of pace in just 1 or 2 years.) Thank you for being a part of making it all possible! - Jeff Ostermann, Chief People Officer

2.0

Jan 13, 2021

Good Ole Boys Club

Accountant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Enjoyed the work I did there

Cons

Was a good ole boys club and how you were treated there was very much dependent upon what department you're in

4.0

Oct 9, 2020

Tech Sales In The Cornfields

Sales engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits, colleagues with similar interest, Pay growth, low cost of living, hands off management style. Tons of learning!

Cons

Tons of calls are required to succeed, dealing with thousands of customers, POS system will crash during the day slowing down your work, endless communication. This is a a very "drink the kool-ade culture". lots of extra meetings and hours.

Sweetwater Response

5y

Thanks for your overall positive review and good feedback. I understand that any system crash can be a headache but fortunately our sales system currently maintains a 99.96% uptime which works out to less than 4 hours per year of downtime. Our IT team is always working to make that better but this level of uptime compares very favorably to other systems and industry standards. Another benefit of our in-house system is that we don't have to go through massive "system conversions" every several years which can cause even bigger headaches in many companies. For further comparison, here is one recent comment our IT team received from one of our sales team members: "You and your team are so rad. Thanks for everything you do. I spent years running stores for [another retail company]. The systems were crap, there were never updates, and I could count the calm and friendly folks in IT on 4 fingers. It was a freaking nightmare. I hope you hear this from way more folks than me. Thanks for making a HUGE difference." - Jeff Ostermann, Chief People Officer

Viewing 184 - 186 of 541 Reviews

Jobs at Sweetwater

Music Store Sales Engineer

Home Audio Copywriter

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