Painful, but the Money is Good - Management Trainee McMaster-Carr Employee Review

3.0
9 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great salary, especially for those coming straight out of college. If you don't mind selling your life away to sell nuts and bolts, you'll go far here.

Cons

Your time at the organization is entirely dependent on who your manager/supervisor is. I started with a great manager, and literally laughed at all the negative reviews, and then was promoted and moved under a different manager, and very quickly experienced all the burnout/long hours/ridiculous tasks. I pulled all the long hours, met my deadlines, managed a team of 10, and was still let go because I "wasn't moving the business forward". They don't do layoffs, but you will see a large swath of firings when it comes around to bonus season.

Explore other reviews about McMaster-Carr

5.0
14 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

At least in the Systems department, it’s a helpful and collaborative environment.

Cons

3 days in office and potentially long commute from the city

4.0
16 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Pay/benefits are incredibly generous - People are generally easy/nice to work with - Note that the Systems department seems to be fairly isolated from the negative issues discussed in other reviews (e.g. tension between warehouse workers and management) - I haven't experienced any of those issues within the systems department. In my opinion, Systems is a great place to work and develop as an engineer. - Hybrid work style (3 days in office). Personally, I like hybrid more than both fully in-office and fully remote styles. - Great cafeteria with good food and cheap prices. - Good work/life balance (outside of being on call, I can leave work at work).

Cons

- Work is not super interesting to me. I come from a highly technical, but very different (not ecommerce/industrial supplies), background where I was doing work I was much more interested in. No doubt there are folks in Systems who love the domain though. - While I'm not on call a ton (1-2 weeks every few months), I really hate being on call. I like to leave work at work. Note that joining at least one reliability team is expected within your first year or so.

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