Great job to get into the industry - Don't stay longer than 2 years (Basically, quit while you're ahead!) - Anonymous employee Fastenal Employee Review

2.0
Oct 24, 2009
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Health benefits are probably good enough that Obamacare will tax them as a "Cadillac Plan"! Fast promotion from Outside Sales to General Manager. Not much other than that.

Cons

10+ Hour Days (no OT) plus weekends sound fine when you start, because you are idealistic and see huge potential for advancement. They get tiresome after a couple of years of banging your head on the same walls over and over. Don't think you have autonomy over your branch - you don't. You have several bosses who micromanage your time and activities each day - not just your district manager, but your regional auditor, regional finance manager, and regional VP as well. Imagine trying to do your most important job (selling), while having to deal with probably 5 emails requiring urgent action each day from all of these bosses. Imagine filling out the same forms over and over again. You eventually stop believing all of the hype about Integrity and Core Values when they require you to raise most of your customers' pricing for the 4th time. Imagine making a handshake agreement with a customer of 10+ years (i.e. one of your branch's first customers) that, as long as your costs don't skyrocket, this will be their pricing for the next 6 months on a commonly-used product "concept" (say fasteners, one where you're making TONS of margin) - then the next week being FORCED to lower their discount because they're spending a 3-month average of $2000 instead of $2500. What do you say to that loyal customer? The people I see that have risen fastest here are those that specifically try to juice their numbers for 18 months so they can make District Manager. My advice? Quit while you're ahead - when you've hit goal for 3-6 months in a row, make the change - start interviewing elsewhere!

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5.0
Apr 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Good job to have during college. People are easy going and easy to get along with. Overall really good experience

Cons

Gets repetitive after a while

2.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I like my coworkers and my GM is a good .

Cons

The business model and lean staffing is simply unsustainable. Entry level pay, part time, little training, no commissions. Fastenal is focused on the sale rather than the customer. The wing it mentatility leaves customer service lacking. It's a roll coaster of putting one fire out after the other. They sale the position during the interview process but after your in there's empty promises with no real timelines for when the advancement is coming. Upper management seems out of touch with the day to day business. If you ask for help they simply say you have a good schedule. It's extremely disappointing that it has turned out this way because I was excited about the prospect of becoming an Account manager.

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