McMaster-Carr: Mustachian Dream Job?

[livewire516]

I'm curious about the MMM community's thoughts on this company if FIRE is the goal:

McMaster-Carr is a hardware supply company that has a great reputation. Boasting a 555,000 item catalog, they provide excellent technical assistance making sure that orders meet customers' intended applications.

Although salary is in the $40-50k for most positions there, they commonly have the equivalent of 5-6 months salary as a profit-sharing/bonus.  Tuition reimbursement is 100%.  And although I haven't gotten the precise figures, the retirement plan is very generous as well if you stick around for 6 years.

As a company, they supposedly have a very "clock-in, work, clock-out, live" culture. Timeliness and professionalism are expected at all times but it's truly a 9-5.  Apparently the main concern is that if you fail to perform (too many errors) you're let go with little notice.

What are people's thoughts about this, does anyone know someone that works for them?  It seems like you can stash a generous amount in retirements funds with a good match, have decent take home pay with a good work-life balance (and spend that time doing rewarding projects outside of work!!) and can take classes or get a grad degree without paying a thing.  I should clarify that apparently they don't care what you go to school for as long as it's at an accredited university.

[dantownehall]

I'm not sure about working there, but every experience I've had with McMaster Carr as a customer has been good.  The people you talk to there don't sound miserable like most people you talk to on the phone when you call big companies.

And if you're doing it so you can go to school for free, 100% reimbursement while making $40-50k sounds pretty good to me.

[kendallf]

It's funny that I saw your post this morning; my wife and I were just talking about her favorite job ever -- which was at Grainger (one of McMaster Carr's competitors with similar attributes).  She worked in the distribution center/warehouse, had good benefits, great co-workers, and zero job stress.  She even learned to drive a forklift!  :-)

She was going to school while she worked there, and eventually left to go work in the financial industry.  She makes a lot more these days, but isn't as happy with her job.  We were talking about down shifting careers, and I told her she could go back to Grainger. 

All that to say: it sounds like a great company to work for, if you're a disciplined, reliable worker.  Good luck!

[expectopatronum]

The benefits sound awesome. The company has a good reputation from a customer's standpoint, I think, but it actually sticks out in my mind as one of the places on Glassdoor that had bad things said about it. I don't know how true they are. Online reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, but still, if you interview I would pay close attention to the employees there. Do they seem happy? (There's something to be said about having happy customer service people, but ours put on a pretty good facade and at least half of them are looking to leave.)

[dave__]

My co-worker worked at McMaster in their IT/software department for several years (suburban Chicago location). He always speaks very highly of the company/benefits/hours (they only work 35hrs per week!). He left to pursue a startup opportunity.

[enigmaT120]

It would be almost as bad for me as working at REI would.  I would owe them money every pay check.

[Emg03063]

Sounds all good.  If you're asking whether to work for them or not, and you're not FI, it's generally better to be working.  Assuming the option is to work for them vs. somewhere else, what alternatives are you considering?  As a customer, I'm a fan.

[livewire516]

I'm currently a manager in a nonprofit. Making similar base salary - however my benefits package is weak (besides vacation). No 403b match, zero tuition reimbursement and the organization lacks any resources to develop me further. They love me here but for the above reasons I should get out soon. My degree is in nutrition, my top consideration is going back to become a Physician Assistant. That being said, from an FI perspective I realize how much better off a situation I can be in if I get an advanced degree at no cost while capitalizing on their generous retirement package, even if the degree takes longer because I'm working full time. The other wildcard option In considering is a code boot camp.

See, ultimately I still want to have an impact and feel as though my work is making the world a better place. However I've come to the conclusion that I could have much greater impact after achieving FI.