Fastenal Reviews

Pros

It is a pretty easy job.

Cons

Like all retail, pay sucks. Plus part timers get hardly any hours. Fastenal has its own way to operate a retail store, which is pretty different than most retailers. Takes a little to get used to that system.

Advice to Senior Management

Look at how often you have to fill the sales support position. How much money is wasted in the entire new hire process.

Pros

Easy going sales environment. They train you to the best of their ability. They also promote from within and the company is very strong and secure.

Cons

Their are some bad apples that seem to put a bad taste in your mouth and the customers'. For the most part if you stick with it and get the help you need you will succeed at Fastenal.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the stupid Christmas bonuses that you currently have. It's dumb to have a health initiative then give out a box full of candy.

Pros

1) If your performance driven you will be successful.
2) Nice company truck.
3) New positions constantly added (Vending Specialist, Safety, Metal Cutting, Government, PT Sales etc...) numerous ways to move within the company.
4) Company is debt free with over 2,500 stores located within North America and abroad as well over 6,000 company paid for vehicles and on top of that the company was founded in 67' is amazing! We are the fastest growing Industrial Supplier.
5) Innovative company that changes with the times and sometimes even breaks the mold.
6) Within Canada plans to expand from 300 to 500 stores and double our workforce within the next 5 years.
7) Compensation is slightly above average compared to many other companies I've worked for.
8) Weekends and Holidays off.
9) Your constantly challenged need to improve this category or that one (if your not a achiever than this wouldn't interest you)
10) Prior experience Retail Mgmt. for over 10 years with exception to one company can never say I truly ran my store. Fastenal from Outside Sales and up you truly run your own business you dictate what will or will not work, you bring in the product you think will sell and you are accountable for your own business model. Just make sure it works and you will be rewarded!

Cons

1) The company loves to hire the young gun, see some of the self entitled comments below. This company is built on the backbone of hardwork and performance if you don't meet expections don't expect a rewarding payout. Not saying that's always the case there has been a great many young guns that have proven themselves and continue to do great things with the company, but they realize that you get what you give.
2) Benefits are poor compared to other companies I've worked for, doesn't even cover optical!
3) No expense account, give the rep's at least a small one to keep it in control.
4) PT model doesn't work, continue with everyone starting PT but dictate hours by performance.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall more than satisfied with the company, worked for many companies in the past and the changes in stress level are no different than any other company is asking for. Those that are crying it's unfair are going to have a hard time finding a company that is status quo.

Pros

I work at an in-plant which is hands down the best place to be as a sales/sales support employee. I am constantly learning and I interact with customers all day everyday in a laid back atmosphere. High autonomy as long as you get your job done. They don't micromanage me (this is not what I've heard about working in a store). Overall, great place to start your career right out of college. If you're intelligent and a hard worker, you can and will move up quickly although you will almost certainly have to relocate to do so.

Cons

They start all new inexperienced employees out at part-time which is great if you're going to school and can graduate and move immediately into a full-time position but if you're already out of school, it's hard to live off of part-time. It takes at least 6 months to get to a full-time position.

Advice to Senior Management

Move your stand-out employees to full-time more quickly. You want the best working for you right? Well the best can get full-time elsewhere and usually won't or can't afford to wait around in a part-time job. Overall though, you guys are ballers. Keep doing what you're doing and always strive for excellence. It's working.

Pros

You learn a lot about business and the way thing are handled in a branch atmosphere. If you are straight out of college and looking for a great place to help build your resume then Fastenal is a good start. If you are already in the professional world then it may not be the best place to go, the base pay and commission structure is really low. But a great place to help your resume.

Cons

Pay is really low for the amount of work performed. The commission structure is really difficult to explain and never really seems to work out to the employees favor.

Advice to Senior Management

Eliminate branches that are struggling and pay your OSP's more.

Pros

Greatly enjoy the guys that I worked with in the store.
Decent Pay for someone that is making this their first job out of college
Will hire just about anyone because of high turnover

Cons

park time only work about 20 hours.
not able to keep promises about future opportunities.
corrupt, will go behind customer back to make the most money.
how bonus(commission) are paid is a joke, they have started something new if you don't continuously improve your sales numbers as a store and outside sales person you are put on a watch list that you are not completing your job to the best of your abilities.

Advice to Senior Management

Take care of your employees so they don't leave.

Pros

- Flexible hours if you're a student
- good place to learn a little bit about inventory management/tools/fasteners
- Responsible for essentially running the store while OSP/GM are out on sales calls
- Looks good on a resume

Cons

- NO FORMAL TRAINING, this is seriously the worst aspect of the job. They expect you to learn things by yourself, or get taught by the online courses. 1.) there's hardly any time to pay consistent attention to the online courses when you're constantly answering the phone, sourcing/pulling product, and helping walk in customers. If you don't learn the minute details of the job then you get yelled at for not picking up the pace.
- the job can get VERY boring. Let's face it, fasteners aren't the most interesting thing in the world.
- Expected to do a lot with very little guidance.

Advice to Senior Management

offer formal training and motivation to PT sales support people. we're pivotal in helping OSP's hit their sales numbers on a monthly basis, lack of knowledge can lead to a terrible month for these guys who are underpaid already.

Pros

There is great room for advancement. If you have a strong work ethic you will succeed, if you don't...you won't.

Cons

The company is growing so fast that there are occasional managerial errors in the growth. Most of them are caught, some aren't.

Advice to Senior Management

The biggest distribution center is ran by everyone but the OM. This is a huge setback to the growth and progress. This really needs addressed in order for this center to grow in a positive way.

Pros

The job has a base salary.

Cons

50-60+ hour work weeks. No overtime pay. You will never get a raise from your base. Its hard to make the kind of money that people I graduated with make while I work there.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn that productivity drops sharply when I a person works long hours.

Pros

Nice trucks and a predictable schedule, it was a dream job. The pay was sub-standard for the industry. I would have stayed employed with them had they been willing to work through one small issue, but they wouldn't even listen to my concerns.

Cons

Won't hear out complaints from employees. They have no desire to try to retain employees with years of service to the company.
It's no wonder you currently have 5 driving jobs posted on your website.
You have forgotten how to keep the drivers happy, if you could keep them happy they would never leave.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop allowing "lateral shop talk" , tell employees if they have a problem with a fellow employee they can NOT discuss it with some one of equal employment, they must take the complaint to the top.
Since you are obviously having a hard time recruiting drivers, maybe call some of the old drivers who had more than 4 years with the company and see if they are willing to work through what problems they had , that ended in them resigning from the company, I'm not suggesting you call back terminated employees, just ones that voluntarily resigned, you might be surprised to find some of us still hold the company in high regards.