General Manager - General Manager Fastenal Employee Review

2.0
Mar 24, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are only a few... As a general manager at Fastenal you are exposed to every aspect of running a business. To be successful you must be able to manage your sales team, manage your part time employees, manage and grow your book of business, be able to collect money from past due accounts, contact vendors and create purchase orders, run the retail part of the business. Some of the people I worked with are good people, others not so much.

Cons

MARGIN?!!!?! It is a mystery as to how your commissions are calculated. A phrase I heard a lot at district and regional meetings is "Smoke and mirrors". I had the pleasure of having a district manager that had no idea as to what he was doing. He was almost impossible to reach when you actually needed him. Another con would be that weekly the parts you have ordered from the hub either arrive damaged or dont arrive at all. Micro managing is huge in this company. Nothing is ever good enough, you could have record sales and margin and the bosses would find something else that could use improvement. Was never recognized for any accomplishment. Also, dont give your employees a box full of junk food for a "Christmas bonus". To be honest I'd rather have nothing. Just a POS company.

Explore other reviews about Fastenal

5.0
Apr 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

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.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All