Get your experience and get out. - Sales Support Fastenal Employee Review

2.0
Aug 12, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Better than an office environment. Work with blue collar customers. Get to get on the road. Good networking opportunities with all the businesses you work with. It does look good as experience to future employers due to all the responsibilities taken at such a high demanding career.

Cons

Confusing commission structure - constantly changing in order to keep salaries predictably low. Very cheap company, CEO has been voted the cheapest CEO in america. To get above the general manager position requires lots of politics. No air conditioning in the summer, no heat in the winter. Constant micromanaging. Unfair profit margins, the markups presented to us do not reflect the actual markup. As good of a salesman you can be, competitors flat out get the products to the customers cheaper. Often times customers will only come in as a last resort - causing morale to be low. You have to do inventory on thousands of products on a constant basis amongst juggling the actual task of sales.

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

3.0
Jun 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They offer training programs through their internal “Fastenal School of Business.” A few good mentors to guide you should you find one and if you’re willing.

Cons

* Work/Life Balance - No official WFH opportunities. Branch employees were told to report, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. 15 days of PTO (10 for vacation and 5 for sick). You don’t earn additional PTO until the start of the year following your 5 year anniversary. * Pay - pay is inconsistent and they find reasons to change your pay by eliminating and changing titles. Pay is below industry standard and is a base + bonus program for most roles. * Boys Club - Especially in MN/WI area. Positions created or filled for cast off tenured employees to find them another spot rather than termination. Promotions based on political moves instead of merit or opportunities for growth. Positions posted for new roles internally but sometimes not shared with teams to allow for those politically motivated decisons to fill a spot. If a role is only posted for 1-week vs 2-weeks, it usually means they have a specific candidate in mind to take that role. * Cheap & Tacky - Required to travel but not all meals are covered. Welcome to stay at hotel that offers free breakfast but no per diem for lunch or dinner. Some meetings or trainings might provide lunch. When traveling for team meetings or trainings, usually required to share rooms - sometimes with other employees you’ve never met. Encouraged to book rooms using discount codes provided by customers. There is a target room rate they’d like you to hit and sometimes it means driving out of the way. They’d rather the expense hit elsewhere such as fuel and travel versus the room rate.

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